When Ashutosh Gowariker first told Aamir Khan the idea for Lagaan, Khan turned it down within five minutes as “a strange story.” Gowariker came back three months later with a full script. Khan loved it, but he said: “I am scared to say yes. I can’t do it.”
Gowariker then told the story to Khan’s parents. “They were crying throughout,” Khan recalled. “Mother said you should do this and it gave me confidence.” Lagaan was released in 2001.