A movie-only backdrop to Lagaan

There is even a poster and other material lying around somewhere in my computerharddiskrdquo Shah Rukh Khan told me during an interview once about how at one point he was actively scouting for moneybags for Ashutosh Gowarikerrsquos Lagaan so he could star in itOnly the funding was hard to find After a failed meeting with producer Ratan Jain Venus SRK told Gowariker to remember all these people who had no faith in himmdashonce he made it big Jain promptly called me after this SRK interview was published I asked him to sort it out with the star insteadTo be fair to Jain and others Gowariker coactor of SRK from Circus Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa Chamatkar and Aamir Khan from Ketan Mehtarsquos Holi had directed two films before Lagaan Neither had workedBoth were heavily inspired by Hollywood productionsmdashAamir starrer Baazi 1995 from Die Hard and Pehla Nasha 1993 practically lifted from Brian de Palmarsquos Body DoubleAlso rural settings had fallen off Bollywoodrsquos map Along with a period film expensive by their very nature even a movie on sport according to Aamir was a nogoHe had himself starred in a cricket movie Awwal Number 1990 directed by Dev Anand that was a disaster all right But has lately been championed by connoisseurs of deliciously trashy Hindi pictures No mean featAgainst the advice of veterans like Javed Akhtar once Aamir came onboard Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India 2001 as a debuting producer sufficiently mitigating commercial risk finance in the form of Jhamu Sugandh mustrsquove naturally followedLate Jhamu had been a prolific film distributor until he backed some seminal films as presenterproducer before LagaanmdashBombay Rangeela Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Daud Chachi 420 Earth AstitvaThe filmmaking behind Lagaan unusual for the timemdashsync sound for a massive outdoor production AD system call sheets oneschedule shoot etcmdashhas been meticulously detailed by Satyajit Bhatkal in documentary Chale Chalo and book Spirit of LagaanWas Lagaan the biggest hit of 2001 That boxoffice record continuing for years was held by the Sunny Deol IndoPak jingofest Gadar which released on the same day June 15Its relatively shorter running time 3 hrs 11 mins as against Lagaanrsquos 3 hrs 43 mins wouldrsquove also allowed for an extra show if that was the only film playing at a singlescreen cinema And there were mainly singlescreens thenWas Lagaan a trendsettermdashreflecting zeitgeist In hindsight that position has been awarded to the other Aamir starrer from the same year Dil Chahta Hai which set the idiomtone for urbanemetropolitan lsquomultiplexrsquo films that followed What was so special about LagaanIts postfilm journey to be precise Which started with bagging the Best Film audience choice award at its premiere at Locarno film festivalmdashsending rare advance notice of a worldclass festivalcred emerging from within hardcoreBombay mainstreamWhich wasnrsquot so uncommon in rsquo50srsquo60s with Raj Kapoor blockbusters Awaara Boot Polish Jaagte Raho simultaneously competingwinning at Cannes or Karlovy Vary Likewise with V Shantaram Do Aankhein Baarah Haath Silver Bear at Berlin or Chetan Anand Neecha Nagar Palme drsquoOr at the very first Cannes in 1946 By the rsquo70s the split between Indian arthouse for criticsfestivals and commercial for Joe public seemed complete Among others Mrinal Senrsquos Bhuvan Shome 1969 is specifically credited with birthing Indiarsquos parallelcinema movement Bhuvan Shome has a bit in common with LagaanmdashAmitabh Bachchan as narrator Suhasini Mulay as heroine in one herorsquos mom in the other lead characters named Bhuvan and Gauri both films shot in GujaratBhuvan Shome won National Award whereas desi mainstream say Shammi Kapoorrsquos Brahmachari would ideally aim for Filmfare Although Hindi cinemarsquos major hit Mother India was nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar 1958 only in the second year that the category had been introduced When Lagaan was announced as Indiarsquos entry to the Oscars 2002 I called up a few filmmakers for a newsfeature on its chances at a nom One of whom laughed it off so badly I nearly dropped the story idea altogetherThe night it got nominated since nobody had expected it I was the only rookie casually sauntering in to Aamirrsquos apartment unannounced uninvitedmdashwhile he was celebrating with the cast and fobbing off NDTVrsquos Samar Khan on the phone because there was no way he could visit a TV studioThe morning of the Oscars itself of course with Lagaanrsquos cast and crew watching together was a media jamboree Bosnian Danis Tanovicrsquos No Manrsquos Land won that day Tanovic made a film with Emraan Hashmi later titled Tigers 2014 Donrsquot know if anybody recalls No Manrsquos Land Lagaan regularly features in global lists of some alltime favourites or the otherIts real victory of course lay in its 27minute scintillating cricket match climaxmdashsounds suicidal when you think of it Aamir says he knew they were home when he noticed Sachin Tendulkar excited during the preview screeningMacabre as it sounds the second time I saw Lagaan I was only looking at thousands of extraslocals in crowd sequences hoping they were safealive Bhuj where the film was shot had been ravaged by earthquake killing tens of thousands only six monthrsquos before Lagaanrsquos release No you rarely watch a cricket match twiceMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper