"Out of the 51 films competing, eight have been liked and Lagaan is one of them. It is difficult to say who the best five (which will be nominated) among these are because they all are almost equally good," he said.

"Even if we don’t win any award, it will at least show the Americans that an Indian film called Lagaan exists. Lagaan has taken on a life of its own – the Britannia cricket match, the Egmont merchandise were not part of our plans; they just happened and we went along with the flow. I’m very grateful to Ashu for making Lagaan, but sometimes I curse him under my breath - Yaar Lagaan se chutkara milta hi nahin [There's just no getting away from Lagaan]," he smiled.