Law to Lagaan

Satyajit Bhatkal, Films From law to Lagaan — from the legal practice to filmmaking — a seeming about-turn? But then, perhaps not so. However, imperceptibly, every step in life leads to the next. My career began 15 years ago as a law student, working for the legal magazine edited by Indira Jaising, From The Lawyers Collective. Two years later, I qualified to practice law and for a decade thereafter did a variety of work for slum dwellers, trade unions and women in distress.Very often, the battle became difficult but the team spirit and camaraderie at The Lawyers Collective helped me persevere. The greatest privilege of a lawyer is the opportunity to observe life, often its grimy underbelly, first hand and close-up. A decade into the process and I had the strong feeling that I had something to say about life. I needed to express this and was considering the first love of my youth — cinema. Around this time, Aamir, a childhood friend approached me to work on the production team of Lagaan. I plunged in, little knowing that my Lagaan journey would turn into a seemingly never-ending saga. Lagaan was like film school. It had a knowledgeable and experienced team. I strongly felt that the Lagaan journey must be documented. So, along with my production duties, I began filming the story of how the movie was being created. Three months into the shoot, I realised that justice could be done to my chronicle only if I could devote myself to it single-mindedly. Fortunately, Aamir concurred. I was relieved of my production duties and appointed director of a documentary film on Lagaan. Later, several important aspects of the story that I could not express on film required the written word. So, I wrote the book, The Spirit of Lagaan, which expresses this dramatic story in its entirety. Have I been able to make a difference, wield better the 'power of one' as filmmaker than I did as a lawyer? Have I in fact been able to make any difference at all? Who's to say? Ultimately, life's all about trying. Don't forget each step leads to the next.