Cinema

OTHER STORIES RELATED TO CINEMA Interview: Aamir Khan

On March 25, after losing the Oscar to No Man’s Land, Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowarikar stayed up late. They were reflecting on the loss as well as the opportunities the Oscar had offered them. The next morning Gowarikar was up early, attending meetings around Hollywood, but Aamir overslept. “We had a great time,” he says, “Of course, we were disappointed that we did not win. But we lost to a good film. And we were very proud to represent our country at the stage of world cinema.”

Bravehearts: Aamir (left) and Gowarikar (right, with wife) on their way to the big ceremony in Los Angeles

In Lagaan, Bhuvan played for broke and won. But life didn’t follow the script. In a perfect world, after a month of breathless hype and hope (newspapers reported that prayer meetings were also held) the indefatigable pair of Aamir and Ashu would have come home holding the golden statuette. They did not. But as the dust and tears settle, it is apparent that their efforts—the two orchestrated a publicity campaign for a month from the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood—weren’t entirely wasted. In 1988, seconds before the announcement of the award for the Best Foreign Film Category, Mira Nair, whose Salaam Bombay was nominated, turned to the film’s co-writer Sooni Taraporewala and whispered: “India is still too far away.” Not any more.

“The nomination of Lagaan is an acknowledgement by Hollywood that quality films are being made in India,” says Bhanu Athaiya, the film’s costume designer and the only Indian to have won an Oscar in the competitive category for her work in Gandhi in 1983. Indeed Lagaan has pried open Hollywood’s parochial blinkers. “I think Lagaan is great for India,” says Ashok Amritraj, the former tennis star who has turned into a Hollywood-based entertainment entrepreneur. The film found mention in frontline newspapers like the influential Los Angeles Times and a host of trade journals. “Lagaan is an audacious film,” said Michael Mann, director of Heat and Ali. “An exuberant venture. This is a film where you take Dr Zhivago, mix it with the Sound of Music and then have a four-hour party.”

Goldie Hawn and Indian Ambassador to the US Lalit Mansingh with Aamir

The four-hour party may have not swayed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but it has generated interest in both Gowarikar and Aamir. While there are no concrete offers yet, scripts have been sent to the duo. “People who have seen the film are exploring the possibility of hiring either of us for American films,” says Gowarikar. Meanwhile, Aamir is deciding which agent to appoint. He met with agents at leading firms like Endeavour and William Morris. While still to confirm it, Aamir is believed to have opted for Endeavour. “They have been calling every day,” he says, “even today they called and said that it doesn’t matter that you did not win, you made a great film.” There has also been an interest in a co-production but Aamir isn’t in a hurry to strike a deal. “I’m more a creative person than a business person,” he says. “Unless the material excites me, I won’t agree.”

Why didn’t Lagaan win? In Hollywood, Oscar lobbying often gets dirty—like the whisper campaign against A Beautiful Mind—and expensive. And this time the foreign film category included the presence of Miramax, known for its spending prowess. According to Beverly Walker, an Academy member who voted for Lagaan, the ratio of ad spending would be 9:1 for Miramax and others (Miramax, of course, which promoted Amelie, eventually lost out to the Bosnian film, No Man’s Land). Aamir and Gowarikar’s relative inexperience may have queered the pitch. Walker also believes that the failure to have a publicist at the nomination stage may have harmed Lagaan’s chances. “Because then many more people would have seen it. Or if there had been some publicity of the film leading up to the voting so that people were inspired to go and see it. Because this is Hollywood and bringing films from other countries to it is the same as taking a Mercedes or a Porsche to Detroit.”

The failure to do a mainstream launch might also have marred the chances of Lagaan in the final analysis. Such a launch would have ensured that the Academy’s 6,000-odd members worldwide would have seen it and Lagaan would have been eligible to compete in other categories also. But the charge is hotly denied by Melody R. Korenbrot, the veteran publicist brought in by Sony Classics in January after they acquired distribution rights for the film’s relaunch in the mainstream market. “It was not a mistake. This film was made to make money. Nobody knew then that it would run so huge. Everyone has been surprised. Nobody knew what India would choose. People thought it would be Monsoon Wedding.”

But losing has been a learning experience. Aamir and Gowarikar have had a crash course in Hollywood politics, lobbying, marketing and distribution. Aamir, keenly aware of the global interest in Indian films, wants to have another go at making a crossover film. “Let’s see if we can find something that can appeal primarily to a world audience,” he says. “Not more than two hours long. I think it is time that talent from India moved into the world arena of making films because the world is ready for it and the audiences are ready for it.”

But first, he is taking a two-month holiday with his family. He hasn’t still decided where to go. It probably won’t be Los Angeles.