Kiran Rao met Aamir Khan for the first time on the sets of Lagaan. They tied the knot in 2005.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao announced their divorce in 2021. (Express Archive Photos)

Kiran Rao, who is basking in the success of Laapataa Ladies, recently revealed how she first met Aamir Khan and started dating. The filmmaker also recalled that it was not possible for her to write the script of her first film Dhobi Ghat until Rang De Basanti went on floors.

In an interview with Cyrus Says, Kiran recalled how she got a call from Reema Kagti, which paved away for her work on Lagaan, which was her first time collaborating with Aamir Khan.

She said, “I was in between jobs when Reema Kagti called me and said there is this happening in Bhuj, do you wan to come? And I was like okay. She was like ‘It’s good, it’s for three months.’ We did for six months. It was a film called Lagaan. Back then, I hadn’t seen a lot of Hindi movies. I didn’t have a reference point to know how different it was in some ways. Aamir was taking a huge risk making this sports film, backing 100 years ago in Awadhi, a different dialect altogether. When I was in-charge of getting all of them into layers and layers of their outfits, it was quite an experience. It was like a film school for me.”

Kiran Rao shared how the shooting meant for just three months extended to six months, making it quite challenging for everyone associated with the film.

“The film shoot started really cold, it started in January and it went on until June. So, when it was May, we would shoot until say 11 am max and then we wouldn’t shoot for 4-5 hours and then start again at 4 or 5 pm. Because it was based on cricket, the three month shoot became six months. That year was quite eventful, I did Lagaan and then Monsoon Wedding. Then Reema and Zoya were doing Dil Chahta Hai so they sent me to Goa for extra casting,” said Kiran.

The Laapataa Ladies director whose original passion and dream was to write was waiting for the right time and break to do so, which came to her after she started dating Aamir Khan and accompanied him for his Rang De Basanti shoot.

Kiran reveals she wrote the script of her first film Dhobi Ghat during those three months when she was out with Aamir.

She said, “When I was working on Swades, I reconnected with Aamir. During that time, he was shooting for Mangal Pandey. That’s when we started dating. After Swades was over, Aamir had started Rang De Basanti. And when he was shooting for Rang De Basanti, because he was travelling for two-three months, I thought let me just travel with him and write. I actually wrote my film Dhobi Ghat when Aamir was shooting for his film.”

She added, “I had not written a screenplay before and honestly I had never even made a short film except for when I was studying in Jamia. I narrated it to Aamir, who was terrified that he would hate it.”

Kiran Rao tied the knot with Aamir Khan in 2005. The couple who share a son together are now separated.