We have a very special throwback interview with Aamir Khan, one that was never published. In this fascinating interview from 2001, Aamir Khan talks with Subhash K Jha on the eve of the Lagaan release.
The shooting of his first home production Lagaan went swimmingly. And the perfectionist in Aamir Khan is pleased with the progress made by his cast and crew in Bhuj. Back home in Mumbai, Aamir returned to a completely changed scenario. The new millennium brought new star attractions like Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan to the scene. But ask Aamir if he cares. If there’s one actor in Mumbai who remains truly unaffected by the highs and lows of the film trade, it’s Aamir Khan.
How was the long stint in Bhuj, and did you complete your shooting on schedule?
It was a good experience, though we went behind schedule. That happened because there were certain sequences that took longer to shoot than we had anticipated. It wasn’t due to any date hassles or technical problems.
Have you been able to make Lagaan within your stipulated budget?
No, we have over-shot there as well. That happened only because we took more number of days to shoot than planned. Yes, the entire unit was housed in a seven-story building. But we only had three of those seven storeys to ourselves. We were a three-hundred-strong unit. The shooting unit was there for five and a half months. But the production unit had moved in some months earlier. And so had the art department. As for myself, I was in Bhuj almost the entire time.
While you were in Bhuj shooting for Lagaan, the millennium changed. Have you noticed any changes like the Hrithik Roshan factor in the film industry?
I haven’t noticed that many changes, actually. The changes, as you call them, don’t mean much to me personally. Every year, some newcomers come into the industry. That isn’t really change. That’s how the industry functions. Not just actors, but we also have new technicians coming in every year. Newcomers are constantly coming into the industry. They don’t mean a drastic change for the film industry.
But then Hrithik is seen as someone very special.
I am sure he is. I haven’t seen his film (Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai). But it is a huge hit. And more specifically he’s a huge hit. That’s really good.
Where does Lagaan fit into the present-day movie scene? Is it a period film? That immediately put off a lot of people in the film trade.
(Laughs) Well, Lagaan is a period film; I don’t deny that. It’s set in the 1890s. That’s more than a hundred years back. And yes, we have tried to be authentic in the film. We’ve researched the period concerned. There are two kinds of looks in the film to go with the two sets of characters: the villagers and the British characters. We haven’t been a hundred percent authentic in recreating the milieu. But wherever we have compromised with authenticity it has been done so with our eyes wide open.
Are the characters in Lagaan taken from history?
No. Lagaan is not a historical. We’ve taken certain cinematic liberties, whether it be in the costumes or music. For example, the colours and fabrics we’ve used for the costumes weren’t really available a century ago. The average viewer may not notice these anomalies. But my director Ashutosh Gowarikar and I are aware of it, and we know why these liberties have been taken. But I don’t think these anachronisms will disturb the storytelling. Again, we have taken certain liberties with the language. A century ago, the Awadhi spoken in the villages of UP is not the language of Lagaan. But no one today would understand that language. We certainly didn’t want to make a film that no one would comprehend. Given the circumstances, I think the compromises are justified.
You have done another film, Deepa Mehta’s 1947—Earth, situated in pre-Partition India. How does your Lagaan compare with that film?
1947 didn’t go much into the British part of the pre-Partition life. In Lagaan, the interaction between the Britishers and Indians forms the main theme. Lagaan is about a small group of villagers and their conflict with the captain of the cantonment in the region, played by Paul Blackthorne. I must say the Britishers gave exactly the performances I wanted.
Although they play the historical enemies of the Indians?
But this isn’t a film about the Indians versus the Britishers. It’s not about India’s fight for freedom. This is the story about a tiny village engrossed in its own problems and how the villagers rise to the occasion and come out of a crisis. It’s a pure feel-good film. I have tried to make it an entertaining film.
As a producer, what did you hope to achieve in this film, and did you achieve it?
What I wanted to do was get the screenplay on celluloid as honestly as possible. When my director first narrated the idea of Lagaan, I didn’t like it at all. I couldn’t even see that story idea as being filmable. Three months later, Ashutosh Gowarikar came back with the same idea. This time, I was blown. This experience taught me a lesson. An idea cannot be fully understood or appreciated until it is developed into a full-fledged screenplay.
Why did you decide to produce this film yourself?
When I decided to make Lagaan, I knew it was going to be costly and time-consuming. Several of my producers have always come forward with the open offer of producing any script of my choice. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to produce Lagaan myself.
Why?
I knew it was going to be a very expensive film, and in the short run, it would make a dent in any producer’s resources. Secondly, I didn’t want to deal with a producer to whom the corp team of actors, directors, cinematographers, etc. would have to constantly answer. For the sake of creative autonomy, I decided to produce Lagaan myself. So, I could be the person in a position to provide creative freedom to my entire team.
