Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker went out of his way to track actress Suhasini Mulay for her role in Lagaan, Mulay said.
The 75-year-old actress recalled that Gowariker was so impressed by her National Award-winning performance in Hu Tu Tu (1999) that he went out of his way to cast her in Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan — the 2001 sports epic that would go on to become one of Hindi cinema’s most celebrated films.
"So, they had to actually track me. The guy who plays Kachra, Aditya Lakhia, I know his mother very well, they got Lakhia and through his mother got my phone number and contacted me,” Mulay told PTI.
As Lagaan completes 25 years on June 15, Mulay looked back on the unusual chain of events that landed her the role of Yashodamai, the supportive mother of Aamir Khan’s Bhuvan.
According to the actress, Gowariker first spotted her in a television promo for Hu Tu Tu and was immediately intrigued. “Who is that woman?” he reportedly asked. His mother, who happened to be in the room, instantly recognised Mulay from her debut in Mrinal Sen’s 1969 classic Bhuvan Shome.
The actress said working on Lagaan required an extraordinary commitment. The cast had to dedicate seven uninterrupted months to the film, a condition on which both Gowariker and Aamir Khan refused to compromise.
“Not everybody was in a position to give seven months for a film. But both Ashutosh and Aamir were not willing to compromise. If you got onto the project, you had to give them seven months straight or forget it,” she said.
Mulay also praised Gowariker’s meticulous attention to detail, recalling that every costume, posture and gesture was carefully thought out. Even actors standing in the background were instructed on how to hold themselves.
“He told me, ‘I don’t want Bhuvan’s mother to look straight and defeated. Hold your dupatta or keep one hand in front or behind. You have to stand in an interesting manner,’” she recalled.
The filmmaker welcomed suggestions from the cast but was firm about his creative vision. Mulay said he rejected Aamir Khan’s idea of giving Bhuvan a moustache and also turned down her own request to change the colour of her white costume to a muddier shade.
Upon its release, Lagaan went on to become a blockbuster hit, besides winning numerous accolades including National film awards and was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film (Now called Best International Feature) award at the 74th Academy Awards. It lost to No Man's Land from Bosnia and Herzegovina.