22 Years of 'Lagaan': Aamir Khan opens up on how the film defied odds & trade talkers in every manner

Today marks a significant milestone for Indian cinema as Aamir Khan's iconic film, Lagaan, completes 22 years since its release. This magnum opus not only became a massive success at the box office but also left an indelible mark on audiences worldwide. Lagaan's exceptional journey led it to the prestigious Oscars, making it a truly groundbreaking achievement not only for Aamir Khan but for the Indian Cinema as a whole.

In an earlier conducted interview, once while talking about how industry producers thought that Lagaan didn’t have the potential and were really concerned for Aamir, the superstar revealed, “When I had decided to make Lagaan, I knew I was taking on a huge challenge because it’s a very unusual film, very demanding. Just a few weeks before I left for shooting, I met with Adi Chopra and Karan Johar. They are very good friends of mine and they were genuinely concerned. 

They said, ‘You are making such a big film as your first production, shooting in single schedule and using sync sound. Shoot for 30 days, and see how it turns out. Don’t go single schedule, you’ll have no time to correct your mistakes. Don’t do sync sound, because no one has done it for the longest time. It will delay your shooting. Get dialogues dubbed later, be sensible.’” While talking about his film being nominated for the oscars, Aamir Khan said “"To see the name of the film and actually hear it being nominated was very satisfying".

Aamir Khan’s Lagaan and the superstar himself saw the triumph getting extended far beyond India's borders, garnering immense acclaim on the global stage. Although it narrowly missed out on the coveted Oscar, Lagaan's presence among the nominees further solidified India's position on the world cinema map.