"Hero dhoti mein…": Why Javed Akhtar warned Aamir Khan against acting in 'Lagaan'

Lagaan may have been one of the pivotal films of Aamir Khan’s career, but he was warned not to do it by the film’s lyricist himself! To celebrate Aamir Khan's 60th birthday on March 14, a film platform unveiled a special film festival titled "Aamir Khan: Cinema Ka Jadugar," honoring the actor's impact on Indian cinema. The trailer launch event featured the presence of lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar. During the launch, Aamir revealed that Javed Akhtar had initially advised him against taking on some of his iconic films, including Lagaan and Rang De Basanti.

Why did Javed Akhtar warn Aamir Khan against signing his biggest films?

At the trailer launch, Aamir talked about his relationship with Javed and said, “Javeed saab told me not to do Lagaan. He said, ‘Ye kya kar rahe ho? There is everything wrong with the film. Hero dhoti mein kaise ho sakta hai? You are wearing dhoti. Hero yaha period story mein nahi ho sakta.’ But I was convinced and I still did it.”

Released in 2001, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starred Aamir Khan. Aamir played the character of Bhuvan in the historical drama set in colonial India, where a group of villagers challenges the British to a cricket match. The film achieved significant success at the box office and received critical acclaim, eventually being nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards.

Aamir added that Javed Akhtar also told him not to do Rang De Basanti, and said, “'Climax mein hero hi nahi hain. Bina hero ke kaise hogi? The main lead is playing some random role.' But, main humesha film ko bada banana chahta hoon. For me, the film is more important than me, or the other stars. So I do everything that goes for a film and get that aligned.”

Aamir Khan also revealed an interesting tidbit involving Amitabh Bachchan. In those days, any film which featured Amitabh Bachchan's voice over and narration, would flop. So it was widely believed that Lagaan would definitely be a flop. Aamir recalled Bahchan himself commented on this superstition. “Mr Bachchan told me that. He said 'Okay, Aamir, I will become the narrator but in whichever films I have given the narration, those films never worked',” shared Aamir.