Lagaan and Gadar will air on June 15 at 11 am and 7:30 pm, respectively, on ZEE Bollywood. (Express archive photos)It has been 20 years since Sunny Deol-starrer Gadar and Aamir Khan’s Lagaan released in theatres to an overwhelming response. While social media is afloat with messages for the teams, the cast and crew of Laagan and Gadar talked about the experience of making the period dramas.
Talking about Lagaan, Aamir Khan said in a statement, “Lagaan was, is, and continues to be, an amazing journey for me. It has been a journey in which I have met exciting new people, made new friends, started relationships that have lasted over 2 decades, shared so much with these wonderful people, learnt so much, experienced so many emotions, experienced so much. This journey has shaped me in so many ways. And in this journey, I want to thank Ashu, the entire team of Lagaan, all the different teams that took it to the various audiences across the world, and all of you who have seen the film. We have all come together in this journey, some early, some later as we went along, but all of us are fellow travellers. I want to thank all of you for being my fellow travellers, and for making this journey so unique and fulfilling for me. Thank you for your time, your love, and your generosity of emotions.”
Lagaan director Ashutosh Gowariker added, “The box office response to my first two films jolted me. It also enlightened me to come back with a story that I believed in. A story that will all encompass a cinema-loving audience. And the outcome was the script of Lagaan. And I was fortunate to have Aamir back me on this one, despite our previous film not setting the box office on fire. It is extremely difficult to convince Aamir to do a film, but once he commits, that is the greatest moment for the director. And I can’t thank him enough. Lagaan has been a most cherished and fulfilling experience for me. I thank the audiences for showering so much love and admiration to Lagaan over the years – 20 to be precise!!”
Aamir Khan's production team shared a video featuring the actor where he could be seen expressing his gratitude to director Ashutosh Gowariker, the team of Lagaan and the audience for showering their love on the period drama.
"A King chooses dharam over karam and his powerless, oppressed subjects are left on their own to fight a foreign invader using everyday jugaad. When they win, even the King is relieved even though he did nothing to help them. #Lagaan is a contemporary fairytale," tweeted Varun Grover.
Composer AR Rahman and actor Aamir Khan talk about the music of Lagaan.
Trade analyst Kaushik LM shared on Twitter that the Aamir Khan movie was a hit in Chennai, and ran for several days outside of Chennai too. "#20YearsOfLagaan: This epic film is iconic and world renowned, we all know that. But it's extra special to TN. The film ran for so long outside Chennai too. #AamirKhan's films have always been redhot here & #Lagaan was the root cause for his current craze in TN. @arrahman music," he tweeted.
Film trade analyst Girish Johar shared on Twitter, "One of the 1st film which did around ₹100crs at Domestic BO, unreported in those times. #Gadar is an iconic film, one of the best action love story of Indian Cinema Collision."
#MyLagaan is trending on social media marking 20 years of Aamir Khan’s film Lagaan. Many fans are sharing memories from the time they watched Lagaan and what the film's release meant to them. On 15th June 2001, Lagaan hit the silver screens and struck a chord with millions of people. It became a massive hit at the time of its release.
Aamir Khan shared how every day on the film’s shoot, he doubted if he had taken up on too big a project. “Every day I used to have that doubt. There’s a scene in the film in the second half where the Champaner team is not doing that well and the British players kind of demoralise the Indian players. Post that, there’s a scene when Bhuvan is standing inside the temple, looking disheartened and for the first time has doubt on his face. And his mother comes from behind and is surprised to see that expression on his face. He replies, ‘Maa, eeh beeda uthake humne kauno galti toh nahi ki (Have I made a mistake taking up this challenge)?’ Now, there were problems on the shoot every day. The cricket part of it was unending. We would finish 10 shots and Ashutosh would come up with five more, the film was anyway over budget. So, one day I told Ashu, ‘Eeh beeda uthake humne kauno galti toh nahi ki?’ He laughed so much and that became a running joke on our set. Whenever we would be in a problem, either he would say to me or I would use that line. Read more
The song
"Main nikla gadi leke" in the voice of Udit Narayan became a chartbuster hit and is still loved by many.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, the cast and crew of the period sports drama are coming together for a reunion special. The reunion titled 'Chale Chalo Lagaan - Once Upon an Impossible Dream' will soon start streaming on Netflix India's YouTube channel, the streamer said in a release on Tuesday.
Utkarsh Sharma, who played the on screen son of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, and was named Jeete, was around seven when Gadar happened. 20 years on, he is trying to impress the audience as a lead actor. Post Gadar, Utkarsh also acted in two other films by his father, Anil Sharma – Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon and Apne, where he rubbed shoulders with Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. Interestingly, in the former, he played the younger version of Bobby Deol, and then the childhood of Sunny Deol in latter. Read more on him here.
When indianexpress.com asked filmmaker Anil Sharma to share his favourite scene from Gadar, he shared, "There are so many scenes, I cannot pick one. But I’ll say the scene in the end when Jeete sings “Udja Kale Kawan” with a violin for his mother, I love that scene. Also when Tara comes to Pakistan and sings the song, Jeete picks it from a point, and Sakeena comes running to them. That’s a big moment in the film. I’d also pick the hand-pump scene and then the one of “agar mohar nahi lagi toh kya Tara Singh Pakistan nahi jaayega”. Gadar is all about moments, so picking one or two is impossible. If I have to choose one moment, I’d say just watch Gadar, because in its entirety, it’s a moment in itself."
Ashutosh Gowariker said it was his 'ultimate dream' to create something which will linger in the audience's mind and Lagaan made that possible. In a statement, he said, 'That it would be appreciated 20 years down the line is something that is unimaginable. It is overwhelming for me as well as the entire team of the film that this dream became a reality. 'Lagaan' is the story of people coming together and standing united against all odds."
Film critic Shubhra Gupta revisited the screenings of Gadar and Lagaan which were a 'riot'. She shared on Twitter, "For the record, both screenings were a riot: dancing in the aisles (yes,really) and coins being flung at the screen ( also). Bhuvan hitting the ball out of the grounds, and Tara Singh plucking that hand pump from the ground, unforgettable #Bollywood moments."
Aamir Khan shared an anecdote about the silver earrings that his character Bhuvan wears in the film: they actually belonged to his wife Kiran Rao, who was an AD on the film at that time. "I did not know her very well. We had just met once or twice. When I saw her earrings, I was like 'Yaar, ye earrings mujhe thik lag rahe hain' (they seem perfect). But Kiran said, 'If it comes to continuity, you won't have them'. I was like, 'We will give you new ones. Let me try this'. So she gave me her earrings and when I put them on, they were perfect." The actor said he has all his accessories from "Lagaan", including Bhuvan's costumes, the jewellery worn by the cast and the clapboard.
Sony Music released a few BTS snippets from the making of Lagaan's soundtrack.
Film critic Shubhra Gupta cannot forget the Friday when she watched Gadar and Lagaan back to back in the theater. She wrote on Twitter, "Those of us who watched #Lagaan and #GadarEkPremKatha back to back will never forget that Friday. Both films were about how ‘we love our India’, but one was about nationalism, the other jingoism. #TwentyYearsOfLagaan"
Lagaan’s Kachra, actor Aditya Lakhia remembered Sundays as their off days when they played badminton, table-tennis and cards. Raghubir Yadav further shared, “There was professionalism and discipline. We even got very friendly with the British cast, they had guitar so we used to sing songs. We were like a one big happy family in Bhuj.”
Talking to the journalists on the 20th anniversary of his film, Aamir Khan shared, "Gadar was at least three times bigger than Lagaan. So, today I think how did we manage to last in front of that film?’ Gadar was a tsunami. If Lagaan was even one per cent less than it was, we wouldn’t have lasted.” Read more