Twenty-five years after ‘Lagaan’ changed the face of Indian cinema, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has shared a fascinating and funny behind-the-scenes anecdote about the making of the iconic film. And according to him, director Ashutosh Gowariker paid a surprising price for bringing his ambitious vision to life his hair.
Speaking to Aamir Khan Productions on the occasion of Lagaan completing 25 years, Kashyap jokingly remarked, “Ashu went to Kutch with a head full of hair and came back bald.” The statement may have been humorous, but it perfectly summed up the immense pressure, challenges and sheer intensity involved in making one of Bollywood’s most celebrated films.
Released in 2001, Lagaan was considered an enormous gamble. The film was nearly four hours long, set in colonial India, revolved around cricket and featured sync sound recording—an uncommon filmmaking technique in Hindi cinema at the time. Industry insiders were skeptical and unsure whether audiences would accept such an unconventional project.
Kashyap recalled that even before its release, Lagaan had become the talk of the industry because of its highly organised production. He particularly admired how Gowariker and producer-star Aamir Khan approached filmmaking with discipline, proper planning and budget control. According to Kashyap, the film’s production process ended up teaching valuable lessons to an entire generation of filmmakers.
The Gangs of Wasseypur director also revealed that Lagaan had a direct influence on his own filmmaking journey. Hearing about the use of sync sound in Lagaan inspired him to adopt the same technique in his debut project, Paanch. For Kashyap and many others, the film proved that Bollywood could experiment with storytelling and still create commercially successful cinema.
He also fondly remembered watching Lagaan on its first day at Mumbai’s Gaiety Galaxy theatre. Despite concerns about its lengthy runtime, the audience became completely immersed in the story. By the middle of the film, viewers were no longer merely watching the characters they were cheering for them like spectators at a real cricket match.
Today, Lagaan remains one of the most influential films in Indian cinema. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starring Aamir Khan, the period sports drama earned international acclaim, became India’s official entry to the Academy Awards and won multiple National Film Awards.
And perhaps that is what makes Kashyap’s light-hearted remark so memorable. Behind every cinematic masterpiece lies years of dedication, sleepless nights and immense pressure. In Lagaan’s case, it seems the journey was so demanding that it jokingly cost its director his hair—but in return, it gave Indian cinema one of its greatest classics.
