How Aamir Khan ensured Lagaan cast slept for only a few hours, looked worn out during shoot; co-star Yashpal Sharma reveals anecdote

He continued, “So what Aamir Khan used to do was that he’d get everyone together one room, an hour after shooting each day, and we’d play cards together. We formed the LPCC, the Lagaan Playing Cards Club. Every day after work, we’d play cards well into the night. We’d finish by 1 am, then wake up by 5 am and leave in a bus for set. We worked hard all day in 48-degree heat, and you could see the strain on our faces.”

Yashpal, who had done films such as Shool, Arjun Pandit, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa before Lagaan, told Indian Express in an interview that he would’ve done the movie for a fraction of the amount he was actually paid. “Because I had no work, I knew I would’ve still done it in Rs 20,000… Finally when I met Reena Dutta, she told me their budget was limited and they were paying Rs 1.5 lakh to every actor. I just blabbered that I wanted Rs 2 lakh at least, and she agreed,” he said. Released in 2001, Lagaan became a major hit, and is still regarded as an important milestone in the history of Hindi cinema. It remains one of only three Indian films to score an Oscar nomination in the Best International Feature (formerly the Best Foreign Language Film) category.