Recalling the “exhausting” 30-day climax shoot, Lagaan cinematographer Anil Mehta claims he “walked up to Aamir Khan and told him this is not how it’s going to work.”

Ashutosh Gowariker’s film “Lagaan” has a cricket match climax sequence that is regarded as a cinematic marvel and is indelible in the annals of Indian film history. The meticulously crafted scenario was masterfully shot by cinematographer Anil Mehta, who recently returned to the set of ‘Lagaan’s’ pivotal cricket match.
Anil Mehta recently told Film Companion that he approached Aamir Khan on the first day of the 30-day filming and informed him that his recommendations wouldn’t work for the moment.

He went so far as to constantly remind the team of Ashutosh Gowariker that they were filming a movie and not covering a sports event throughout the production.
Anil discussed Aamir’s proposal for the last scene, saying, “Now that we have the booklet, he remarked. You may continue to shoot, and we can keep bringing the batsmen one by one. When they reached a six or a four, we would be informed.” On the first day of the filming, the cinematographer did what Aamir asked, but he subsequently approached Aamir and told him, “This is not how it is going to work.” This coverage is beyond me.” “It must look like that if I am filming a drama,” he continued. I wanted to be up near Bhuvan (Aamir’s character) when he batted. The feelings that Kachra (Aaditya Lakhia) feels while batting must be shown on television. Every character has distinct feelings. Given that Kachra was differently abled and was unable to adopt the proper stance in order to elevate his bat, I took a series of frightening shots of him using a zoom lens. Every bowler and batter have to be shot in accordance with their character.”
In the film “Lagaan,” a group of Indian peasants fight a group of Englishmen in an effort to keep their taxes down. Mehta said that filming the “Lagaan” conclusion was “exhausting.” “We spent 30 days filming. Repetition of the same scenario may become tiresome and boring.” Moreover, Gowariker had promised Mehta that details on how the “crucial” cricket matches for the film would be shot would be included in a booklet that would be mailed out. However, that pamphlet was “never written till a day or two before” the filming of those scenes took place.
Before starting to film the movie’s climactic moment, the actors and crew stayed in the hotel room for many days. “Everyone on the crew was seated at the hotel. Mehta said, “We took a two-day break to write the scenario and talk about the ball-by-ball recount of this match. He went on to add that he refused to back down and that he thought it was a bad idea to set up the match’s finale with eight cameras.
“This isn’t news about sports. Isn’t it still a drama? That early in the meeting, we had that talk. Ultimately, just two cameras were used to record the incident. We often remind ourselves that we don’t cover sports. “We’re filming a scene,” Mehta said in closing.
“Lagaan,” which was helmed by Ashutosh Gowariker, debuted on June 15, 2001. It was a huge smash and is still seen as a significant turning point in Hindi film history. The film was not successful in winning an Oscar, even though it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.