Kiran Rao recalls meeting Aamir Khan for the first time on the sets of Lagaan. The filmmaker also tells when they started dating each other. Read for details.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao announced their separation in 2021, ending a 16-year-old marriage. However, the ex-couple continues to be cordial and recently delivered a successful film, Laapataa Ladies together.

Kiran directed it and co-produced it along with Aamir. Now, the filmmaker has opened up about the first time they met each other on the sets of Lagaan.

Kiran Rao on her first meeting with Aamir Khan

During a recent podcast with Cyrus Broacha, Kiran Rao opened up about how she ended up working with Aamir Khan on the sets of Lagaan. The filmmaker recalled getting a call from Reema Kagti, who asked her if she wanted to join. Kiran was in between jobs at that time, and the schedule was expected to go on for 3 months. Even though she hadn’t seen ‘a lot of’ Hindi films then, she agreed to come.

Talking about the ‘huge risk’ Aamir was taking with the film, she said it was a sports film set 100 years ago in Awadhi, which was 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,” said Kiran.

The filmmaker, who was an AD on the sets of Lagaan, recalled that the 3 months of shooting extended to 6 months. She shared that it was quite an eventful year for her because, along with Lagaan, she did Monsoon Wedding as well. ‘Then Reema and Zoya were doing Dil Chahta Hai, so they sent me to Goa for extra casting,” she added.

Reconnecting with Aamir Khan during Swades and dating him

Kiran shared that she reconnected with Aamir Khan when she was working on Swades, and he was doing Mangal Pandey. ‘That’s when we started dating,’ she said while adding that after Swades ended, Aamir started working on Rang De Basanti.

Kiran also recalled that when Aamir was shooting for Rang De Basanti and was traveling for two-three months, she traveled along with him and started writing Dhobi Ghat. ‘I actually wrote my film Dhobi Ghat when Aamir was shooting for his film,” said Kiran.

About Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies

Laapataa Ladies revolves around newly married Deepak whose wife Phool ends up getting replaced with another bride after they board a crowded train.

Deepak’s life turns upside down when he realizes the blunder but it’s difficult to locate Phool because he doesn’t know where did she go and even she doesn’t know the name of her husband’s village name. On top of that, Deepak doesn’t have any picture of Phool because she would always keep her face hidden under the veil.

The film is directed by Kiran Rao, who has also produced it along with Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande. The film stars Deepak Shrivastava, Nitanshi Goel, and Pratibha Ranta in the lead along with Ravi Kishan in an important role.