Lagaan: Lesser known facts

Written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India, was the most volatile combo of the two things that make Indians tick – cricket and Bollywood! The result, no doubt, was exhilarating. The film had a running time of three hours, but it passed in a jiffy, each ball being cheered, each shot being egged on. It’s a complete entertainer with songs that became instant hits. A period drama set in the 19th century British-ruled India, the film featured a small village called Champaner. It narrated the story of the simple village-folk struggling to pay off the annual debts (Lagaan) to the British. The film went on to be nominated as one of the five entries at the Oscars, the only film after Mother India and Salaam Bombay. It won eight Filmfare awards in all the major categories.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker had stated that it was almost impossible to make Lagaan. He initially approached Shah Rukh Khan for the lead role, but due to some reason he was unable to take it up, and hence recommended Aamir Khan. After Aamir agreed to do the film, Ashutosh still faced trouble finding a producer. Eventually, Aamir agreed to produce the film after Ashutosh suggested him to do so. He was quoted in reports saying that the faith he had in Ashutosh, the story and script of the film, and the opportunity of starting his own production company inspired him to produce Lagaan.

From the time Ashutosh Gowariker first narrated the story to Aamir Khan, it took almost five years for the film to hit the theatres. Besides, the building in which the Lagaan team stayed for over six months was completely destroyed in the earthquake at Bhuj on January 26, 2001. Lagaan became the first Indian movie to be released in China. The film was dubbed in Chinese and premiered in Shanghai followed by Beijing.

Aamir Khan wanted AR Rahman to score the music for the film, but reportedly he was apprehensive about Rahman's history of not meeting deadlines. Aamir also wanted a first assistant director for the film, but since this concept was new to Bollywood, he wanted to hire someone from the west. It was Farhan Akhtar who suggested Apoorva Lakhia's name, who also had a lot of Hollywood experience. Ashutosh Gowariker has himself penned the English lyrics and dialogues for the film. Interestingly, it actually started to rain when the song 'Ghanan ghanan' began to play during the first public screening of the movie at a theatre in Bhuj.

Aamir Khan was not familiar with the language used in this movie. Being the perfectionist that he is, he had to do a lot of hard work to learn it. Interestingly, Namrata Shirodkar, Ameesha Patel, Nandita Das were in the race for the lead role in the film which finally went to Gracie Singh. The first cut of the film was 7 hours and 30 minutes long. According to reports, Abhishek Bachchan was also offered a role in the film, but he turned it down.