‘Aaj Lagaan banane jao, jaan nikal jaye’: Aamir Khan explains why it will be difficult to make his iconic film again, takes sly dig at…

Aamir Khan is known for putting out his thoughts without hesitation, and recently he admitted that a film like Lagaan is almost impossible to make today. While appearing in the podcast Just Too Filmy, Aamir was asked to share his opinion on the evolution of filmmaking and audience preferences by actors like Zahaan Kapoor, Shriya Pilgaonkar, and writers like Sapan Verma, and Prashasti Singh.  

Aamir was asked what he thinks about the audience’s attention span, which has been affected majorly due to Insta reels and social media. When the panellist asked how difficult is to bring the public to cinemas, Aamir said, “Aaj ke time log sochte hai theatre ke liye kya banaye. Kyuki theatre mein sirf action hi chalta hai. Agar action nahi hai toh main ghar pe bhi dekh sakta hu. Agar big screen spectacle nahi hai, toh main big screen pe kyu dekhu? Main apne ghar mein I-Pad pe dekh lunga, phone pe dekh lunga, TV pe dekh lunga. There are many more choices today (Today people think what to make for theatres. Because only action happens in theatres. If there is no action then I can watch it at home too. If I don’t have big screen spectacles, then why should I watch it on the big screen? I can watch it at home on my iPad, phone, TV. There are many more choices today).” 

Aamir further explained why a film like Lagaan isn’t possible today and took a sly dig at pan-India massy actioners. He said, “These are the questions we need to ask and answer collectively and individually ki kis type ki film banni chaiye. Iske baad kya hum bas action-adventure hi dekhenge? Is that what we’re restricted to in cinemas as an audience? Yeh question audience ko bhi puchna chaiye ki sirf maar-dhaad ki film dekhni hai? Toh hum sahi ja rahe hai. Lekin agar mujhe har kism ki film dekhni hai jo main ek time pe dekha karta tha jaise Lagaan ho gayi (The audience should also ask this question that do we want to watch only violent films? Then we are on the right track. But if I want to watch every kind of film that I used to watch at one time, like Lagaan).”

He continued, “Aaj aap Lagaan banane jao, aapki jaan nikal jaye. (Audience would say) iss mein action hi nahi hai, end mein usko (Bhuvan) ko stump nikal ke maarna chaiye tha (If you go to make Lagaan today, you might die. There is no action in this, in the end, he (Bhuvan) should have hit with the stumps),” and laughed about it. On the work front, Aamir will soon be seen in Sitaare Zameen Par.   

Also read: Aamir Khan admits he is ‘unhappy’ with PK, reveals advising Rajkumar Hirani not to care about…: ‘Luckily film chal gayi’