A remarkable example of documentary filmmaking telling the story of the mammoth production of Lagaan, such a difficult production that went on for 6 months excluding the pre and post production stages.
english Chale Chalo: The Lunacy of Film Making
It's unbelievable that Satyajit Bhatkal, a lawyer by profession with no film experience not only worked on the extremely challenging production of the film but also wrote and directed this fantastic documentary which is a must watch not only for Hindi cinema audiences but for anyone who is interested in the art of filmmaking itself.
Madness in the Desert aka Chale Chalo: The lunacy of film making went on to win the National Film Award for Best Exploration/Adventure Film. Here are all the interesting titbits we found about Lagaan via the documentary.
Aamir slipped into the role of Bhuvan, making sure he not only perfected the art of wearing the turban and dhoti, but also spent months learning the language used in the film. The dialogues, a mixture of Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Braj Bhasha, were penned by Hindi writer K.P. Saxena.
Later on, I read the book called The Spirit of Lagaan and realised that it was such a difficult shoot. It was actually a labour of love, rather than making a film for profit. Every film student, every person of our fraternity should read that book. 2ff7e9595c
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