Aamir Khan first rejected Lagaan because 'it was bizarre'

The actor was scared to say yes to the project because he found the film's story 'strange'

02 Aug, 2018

What would Lagaan be without Aamir Khan? Now that's a bizarre thought.

The epic sports-drama film by Ashutosh Gowariker was a hard-sell. Reportedly, Aamir Khan wasn't on board initially when approached to play the film's lead and asked the director to change the story.

"When I heard Lagaan, in five minutes of its narration, I rejected it... I was like it is a story of people who are not able to pay lagaan as there are no rains and they play cricket with British people! I was like 'What a bizarre thought is this?' I told Ashutosh, 'This is a strange (ajeeb) story. I told him to get me a different story," revealed Aamir.

Three months later, when Gowariker had finialised the script, he approached the star again, except the story was still the same.

"When I heard the story, I was into it. I loved the final script of Lagaan and found it unbelievable. I told him, 'It is a fantastic script and it does break the record of mainstream cinema. But I am scared to say yes. I can't do it'."

One year later Aamir signed on to the film because his parents told him to.

"I would often think why am I not doing the film? I told Ashutosh to narrate the story to my parents. They heard it and were crying. They told me I should do it."

Lagaan which released in 2001 is one of the best Indian films to date and was even nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.