20 years of Lagaan: Aamir Khan: I still wonder how remarkably Reena Dutta had learn everything to produce that film

Lagaan completes 20 years in the film industry today, and we got in touch with the superstar over a podcast call to discuss the film. In this Bollywood Bubble podcast, Aamir shares some special anecdotes from the cult film. There must have been umpteen memories that have stayed with Aamir Khan. So what is that one special memory? While speaking to the media, Aamir shared one specific memory which has a special place in his heart.

He says, “Actually it’s not one thing, so many things have stayed with me for so many years now. One special thing that remains with me is the way Reena handled the film. Reena, my ex-wife,  was the producer of the film. I only asked her to help me when I had decided to produce the film. She had no understanding of films until then even though she was married to me for a number of years. So I requested her to learn and after that, she started and she learnt everything. She met people like director Subhash Ghai, Manmohan Shetty who runs the lab and got to know about all the technicality of filmmaking. I had clearly told her that I am not going to teach her anything. She has to learn on her own. She learnt it and she cracked it and produced a film like Lagaan. That amazed me still since Reena was not a part of the film industry, the rest of us are from the industry itself. I still wonder how remarkably Reena has done it.”

Lagaan released on 15 June 2001. The film received widespread critical acclaim and awards at international film festivals, as well as many Indian film awards. It became the third Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after Mother India and Salaam Bombay!

Written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, and produced by and starring Aamir Khan, along with debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne in supporting roles. The movie was the maiden project from Aamir Khan Productions and was shot in villages near Bhuj.

Also Read: 20 years of Lagaan: Aamir Khan on his father’s bankruptcy: After watching him I had decided to never produce any film