Aamir Khan reveals Ashutosh Gowariker showed him 'Lagaan’s first cut spanning seven hours: 'I told distributors I will take the entire risk; you will be safe'

Ashutosh Gowariker’s 2001-released movie 'Lagaan' is undoubtedly one of the best films of Aamir Khan’s career. Lagaan was not only India’s official entry to the 2002 Oscars but also marked Aamir's debut as a producer. In a recent interview, Aamir shared that the movie's first cut was longer than they all expected, and they had to remove many scenes to make it fit within the bounded run time.

Aamir Khan watched seven hours long first cut of Lagaan

In a conversation with Mashable India, Aamir revealed that Ashutosh had shown them the first cut of the movie, which spanned seven and a half hours. Four hours of the footage was the lead-up to the cricket match in the film. “We removed several sequences, and some sequences were very long—we cut them short. We came down to 3 hours, 42 minutes. We had to cut around half of the film.”




Aamir had to discuss with the distributors before releasing the movie

Aamir recalled that distributors were displeased with him for not selling the rights in advance. “We weren’t happy. I felt that even a three-hour film was enough, but we couldn’t tell the story in that duration. So, the distributors were very upset, because I didn’t sell the rights of the film,” he said.

He shared that he chose to wait until the film was completed before approaching buyers, as it was his first project as a producer and he wanted to ensure everything was in place. He felt pre-selling it early would have been irresponsible.

The 'PK' actor further shared that distributors were concerned about the film’s impact on theatre schedules. He explained that since the film was nearly four hours long, theatres would have to cut down from four shows a day to three, which distributors felt would cause a 25% daily loss in revenue.

Aamir proposed a practical solution. “So, I told them to give me a price that suits them, a minimum guarantee (MG) for your territory. I will take the entire risk; you will be safe. I showed them the film,” he said.

Aamir came up with a solution for distributors' initial doubt about release

Aamir arranged for distributors across India to watch 'Lagaan' before release, and he wanted them to share their feedback and suggestions on what to cut. During a discussion, one person suggested removing the bhajan ‘O Paalan Haare’. But others disagreed with the suggestion and called it emotionally important. After a brief debate among themselves, they unanimously decided not to cut anything from the film and agreed to reduce one show instead.

About Aamir's Sitaare Zameen Par
Aamir is all set for the release of 'Sitaare Zameen Par', directed by R.S. Prasanna, on June 20.