The experience of making Lagaan and Swades prepared the filmmaker for Jodhaa Akbar, in a way.
"When I was preparing for Lagaan, I travelled across India to look for suitable locales," he says. "That was like a pilgrimage to me. I was seeing the India I had not really known. And that experience led to Swades. That film was a learning lesson too.
"And Lagaan and Swades led me to Jodhaa Akbar," he asserts. "If someone asked me if I could have made this film before I took up Lagaan, I would say, no. The kind of maturity required for making Jodhaa Akbar has been acquired slowly in the past eight years or so."
In the picture: Ashutosh Gowarikar chats with Aamir Khan during a symposium for directors of the Oscar-nominated Foreign Language Films in California. Photograph: Getty Images
Also see: Hrithik on Jodhaa
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