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Gracy speaks about her Lagaan experience

Well what can I say? Yes, it was a dream debut for any newcomer. A first film with Aamir Khan. I couldn't have asked for anything better. So where did it all begin? Around the time when I was acting in B.R. Telefilms's "Prithviraj Chauhan", and of course as Dinky in Amaanat, my secretary Joshi met Ashutosh Gowariker who was then casting for Lagaan. I did not know what Ashutosh's past record in directing was ("Pehla Nasha" and "Baazi" were two of his works). I was simply sold on the fact that Aamir Khan was launching his own home production, and I was a huge fan of his.

I did a couple of screen tests. In one I was asked to dance to Vyjanthimala's "Hothon pe aisi baat" from "Jewel Thief". I also read a couple of scenes with Aamir from Lagaan, in another. I got the feeling everyone was extremely positive about my screen test performance. Then came August 20, 1999. Early that morning Ashutosh called, and informed me that I was in. I was on cloud nine.

I had never seen such an atmosphere in my whole life – the kind of hard work and discipline that was put into it. The pre-production work was so meticulously done – I mean the costumes and all. In other films, you meet only the co-actors on the sets, but here we met everyone.

Also read: + Gracy's favourite travel spot: Bidar Click Here + Gracy the Dancing Queen Click Here + Cooking with Gracy Click Here + Gracy plays Radha Click Here + Gracy on Money Click Here

We were supposed to start shooting in just five days time after our arrival in Bhuj, time enough to check out our costumes, the props, and in general get a feel of the place. I remember that I was just dying to get a feel of the sets. I was getting ready, and was running just two minutes later than the stipulated time – and they left without me! The busload of people just left me behind! I reckon that day changed my whole life. I realized that if they left me behind on the day of actual shooting I'd be in deep trouble. Later of course even Aamir missed the bus a few times and we didn't wait for him. We started shooting on January 1, 2000.

I was in awe of Aamir, but only till I started shooting. He put me at ease. I didn't have any inhibitions in front of the camera. And my experience at Amaanat paid off. But I couldn't take any chances. If I were to be intimidated by him, then that would have affected my performance. My first scene was with the astrologer in the film. My character Gauri is slightly worried that Aamir who plays Bhuvan might just succumb to the charms of a "firangee" girl. That shot got okayed without a problem. Later on I remember the scene where I had to comfort Aamir when he doubts his own abilities. I think I did that scene extremely well. Aamir helped me a lot with the reaction shots. Once when dust kept swirling all around, he fetched buckets of water, splashed it on the ground for the dust to settle.

I haven't seen such discipline even in hostels. There were fixed times for meals and everyone had to eat whether you were hungry, or otherwise. After breakfast, the next meal was only at 12-o'clock – so you had to pretty much learn to change your entire body clock to function according to the set schedule. The assistant directors were very strict once we were on the sets, we went to work immediately.

I kept waiting for Sundays our one and only holiday, but the day came and went. We spent it rehearsing – quite terrible. I kept saying to myself "Why are we rehearsing so much – the scenes aren't such hugely difficult after all". There were moments when I'd feel low, cut off from civilisation, ice-cream parlours, and everyday life. My closest friend through those six months was a young kid named Tipu, in the film. I would play video games with him.

I did my own colour combinations for my costumes. Bhanu Athaiya, dyed them with vegetable dyes to get that authentic, ethnic feel. Everyone was doing their own continuity – for clothes, make-up, jewellery, etc, even Aamir did it. If you went wrong, you would have had it. Aamir wanted to get the look of the film right. He even contemplated wearing a moustache. But we all vetoed it saying that it made him look much older.

Saturday nights were party time. Everyone had fun, but I used to get so tired. The others seemed to be full of stamina – it felt like a boy's film. The strict schedules were not meant to be for girls!

But all in all it was a great adventure – the way we lived, walking barefoot, the stones and dust. There wasn't a single day when I could eat my lunch without any dust in my food. It really taught me a lot. I don't think anything could be more difficult than what we faced out there. Even the weather conditions were so difficult – it was very hot in the day, and when we had night schedules, I would freeze! Once while shooting at night, I was lucky enough to hold one of those large torches used during shooting. And as soon as the shoot was over they took the torch, and I froze in that position –  I think they had to defreeze me! :-) Thankfully a make up girl brought me some hot water that time. And if that wasn't enough, during some of the days I got sunburnt – I had patches on my face. So can you imagine that the men were actually playing cricket bare-chested. By the time the shooting was over, I was completely black. Well almost :-)

When we started shooting the songs, there was high expectations of me, particularly in "Radha kaise na jale". But I was sooo exhausted from those gruelling schedules that it became one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. Ashutosh Gowarikar and Saroj Khan kept improvising all the time. The steps were from an earlier era – simple and soft, but Saroji kept improvising, and I kept getting mixed up between what the director wanted and what the choreographer wanted. That was really challenging. But then again, when the men were shooting for the cricket scenes the temperature climbed so high, that I realized how lucky I was – I had only 10% of the difficulties compared to them!

Towards the end though, many of us were despaired that this was turning out to be a never ending journey, but thankfully our spirits didn't desert us – it was always there, alive and well. I think what kept us going was Aamir. He coordinated everything so beautifully. His spirit was unflappable. Right from coordinating the costumes, to the continuity, he worked like a man possessed. The four-month shoot extended to six months, but I never saw him lose his cool for even once. Ashutoshji was always so encouraging, there would be praise for every shot I gave. A.R. Rahmanji also came around often, as did Javed Akhtar.

And then there was Aamir's pranks. Once we were on top of "lover's hill" – a steep climb up, where we would shoot two romantic scenes. It was a difficult take, because we were shooting in natural light, and hence had to wait for the clouds to disperse. Now there also happened to be quite a few snakes around, which of course scare me a lot. That day I was sitting on the hill ready for the scene when I felt something creep up behind me. I thought it was a snake and screamed out so loud. But it was only Aamir – and he cracked up laughing.

When Javedji came around the first time, Aamir went about escorting him around the sets, saying "Javedsa'ab, this is such a beautiful village, but what a pity we cannot shoot here". Javedsaab surmised "foolish people, why wouldn't they let you?". But eventually Aamir revealed that it was indeed the real set for the "Lagaan" village. He knew all along. I observed Aamir all along and was suspicious that he was playing some sort of prank, and hey, I was right. Truly, he never got tired of it.

As for our health, Ashutosh got a slipped disc in his spine, but continued shooting from a reclining position. Quite a few people got sick during those many months we were there, and some even had to be admitted to hospital. Ak Hangal was one; I caught a viral infection; Raghuvir Yadav had to have quite a major operation. Aamir used to visit everyone in hospital, at the end of the day, exactly like in a family. He took good care of us all.

The only traumatic moment came after we were back from shooting. The earthquake hit Bhuj. The apartment we were staying in, was ripped into two. The ground we shot on wasn't there no more. I just hope the people who'd flock every day to watch us shoot are still there. I remember a village girl in Bhuj presenting me with handmade cholis and duppattas before I left. Everyone had tears in their eyes on that last day of shooting.

After Lagaan's release, I took up learning Bharatnatyam seriously. Also I got to go touring along with the Lagaan troupe to do promotional shows overseas – they were a highlight wherever we went. The reaction from the audience was massive, and I realized just how thrilling it was to be part of such a live performance.

My friends from the cast of Amaanat, tease me now that after Lagaan, I'll be having spot boys running after me with umbrellas. But I know nothing will change. I'll always be the same person I was before.

The whole Lagaan journey has been an achievement of a lifetime for me. I think my first film will always be the most special for me. As I look back I realize that I was extremely shy, during the whole time. I was too new, really.