AAMIR KHAN
QS Cutie comes of age

From being a child artiste, to the QS Cutie, to the carefree journalist in Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahi, to the street smart guy in Ghulam or the suave Casanova in Mann… it has been a long journey for actor Aamir Khan, who in his 13-year stint in the industry has earned for himself a reputation of being a perfectionist. And now with his latest venture Lagaan, Khan steps into the producer's shoes as well.

No wonder, Lagaan has possibly been the most hyped and the most awaited film of the year. And why not? Aamir himself feels that the film has been 'a highly rewarding experience' producing the film. "It has taught me a lot… a lot about filmmaking and a lot more about dealing with people and coping with SOS situations," says he flashing his trademark smile.

For over 165 days, more than 200 extras, who were employed on a daily wage basis on scenes that mostly required over 50 actors each (whew!) Aamir today accepts that the film, without a shadow of a doubt, has been a very demanding one. "But I think we finally achieved what we set out to." And that is much more than giving the right opportunity to his director friend Ashutosh Gowarikar.

It was long ago when one fine morning, Ashutosh talked about Lagaan to Aamir. "I rejected it outright. I thought it won't work," says he. But adamant Ashutosh would not let Aamir stay in peace till he lent his ear again. This time, it was quite a few months later, and Ashutosh had developed the script further. "This time, the narrative was so impressive, that I knew this film had to happen."

Aamir says he knew that he could have asked any producer to make the movie… "But then, the question would have been that they would be looking at another director, who would safeguard their money…."

Aamir very well knew that Ashutosh had only non-successful albeit good ventures like Pehla Nasha and Baazi to his credit.

"So I decided to be the producer. If I believed in Ashutosh's project, I might as well put my money where my mouth was. And hence, I decided to produce Lagaan myself."

But what is Lagaan all about? Explains Khan, "Lagaan is a tale of the tax: A tax that every farmer had to pay to the ruler of the kingdom for the crop that he grew. The submission of a portion of the farmers harvested crop in the form of agricultural tax was called Lagaan."

Based in a village in Central India, around the 1890's, the film is inspired by Gandhiji's Champaran Satyagraha. A British officer, Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) and his unit are camped outside the village and even as the sleepy hamlet looks up to the heavens anticipating the elusive rain that had evaded them last year.

Russel's sister Elizabeth falls in love with Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) a young villager and the leader of the farmers. An irked Russel arrests Buvan. Interestingly Bhuvan also likes Gauri (Gracy Singh)…

Coming back to the taxing bit… in the meanwhile the tax is doubled in spite of the drought that had hit the village! The villagers rebel. But well… this rebellion does not have any weapons… but bat and ball instead! A cricket match, which is played between the trained Brits and the rustic villagers, decides their fate!

Shot entirely in Bhuj in a 165 days stretch single schedule, the film is a launch pad for actress Gracy Singh of the Amaanat (Zee TV) fame. Looking at her performance it would definitely not be the fair to say that she was signed because the other heroines had rejected the offer and was the only heroine who could give the dates.

Besides Gracy, British actress, Rachel Shelly is the other woman to look out for. Having acted in a few films like The Lighthouse and Photographing Fairies among others, she has also done a variety of plays and worked on some good television series.

Another interesting bit about Lagaan, what makes it different from the rest of the movies is the Sync Sound technique that is being used. The last time it was used in Bhopal Express. But before that, it must have been at least four decades ago that the practice went out of fashion when the Arri Flex camera came into vogue. Recollects Aamir, "In the beginning there were quite a few problems, since we weren't used to this new technique. But then thanks to Nakul Kamte (who also worked on Bhopal Express) things went on smoothly."

Continues Khan, "The reason why I insisted on Sync Sound was that the quality and emotion of sound and the locale cannot be recreated in a dubbing theatre."
And trust him when he says that the honesty of the voice has been retained by the sync sound.

Talking about sound brings us to the music, which Aamir considers the film's strong point. "I should say that AR Rahman has done a very good job on the music. So also Javed saab, I guess had a very tough job on hand. He had to maintain a balance between poetry and the kind of dialect used in the film."

With all these efforts going into the making of the film, it definitely seems that it has something unique to offer. But ask Aamir when's he taking up to direction and Aamir is terrified. "No way, he says. I have a lot to learn. I think let me perfect myself as an actor first. As a matter of fact, acting and producing is itself very taxing. Thanks to the pre-production work that took off a year before the actual shooting, I wasn't even prepared for the role. And for a person like me, who needs at least three months to prepare for a role, I was very uncomfortable and it seemed that I was the only unprepared actor on the set!"

But whatever he may have to say, the audience knows one thing for sure… that this perfectionist has something unique and good up his sleeve.