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O re chori -- Lagaan
I worked with Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker in Lagaan for the first time. The only person I knew was Anil Mehta, who was the director of photography of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. I think Anil recommended me.
Reena [Dutta] asked me to go to Bhuj, where the film was being shot. I reached Bhuj at 2 pm. Every one was still sleeping, as they had shot the previous night. I finally met Aamir and Ashutosh for the first time at 6 pm.
Next thing I know, I’m on a two-hour drive from our hotel to Mandvi Palace [the location], getting a brief from Aamir about the song situation. I reach the location at 8 pm. Shooting starts at 9. And that’s when I learn that I’m shooting the song!
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There were some British actors who had to fly back the next day, so we had to complete a portion of the song that night. And I had done no preparation at all! I must have heard the song only twice or thrice.
There’s a shot where Aamir is wearing an Englishman’s outfit and is ballroom dancing. That’s the sequence we shot on that day. The song was eventually completed in four schedules because there are various combinations in it: Aamir-Gracy [Singh], Aamir-Rachel [Shelley] and then all three. Aamir played a bad prank on me on the first day. It was the eve of April 1. We finished shooting at about 12:30. Then Aamir told me that whatever we had shot was wasted because the cameraman forgot to roll it at normal speed. I was shocked. I didn’t know him so I didn’t realise he was fooling with me. And then, he suddenly jumps and says April Fool! I guess that’s when the ice broke. Aamir is a terrific performer. He’s not known so much for his dancing skills as his performing skills. Very few actors are technically perfect in dancing. Most of them use their acting abilities in their dancing. You always watch the expressions and rarely see the angle that the foot or fingers move in. You just watch them enjoying the dance. It was difficult for Rachel because this was her only song and she had no clue about Bollywood’s song and dance routine. She had never done anything like this before and didn’t understand why she had to sing and dance! To top it, we made her wear a ghagra-choli! We had to really convince her to wear it and not feel awkward. We did a lot of rehearsals. This was the only song I choreographed in Lagaan. I didn’t know Ori chori would be such a big hit. |
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