Creating History
Aamir Khan steers away from mushy romance in lush locations in his first production, Lagaan. The formula-busting period film on colonial arrogance, backed by good acting, promises to give Indian cinema a classy makeover.

Governance On
The Hold
Absent ministers, coalition politics and an unwell prime minister paralyse all decision making at the Centre. With business sentiments diving and industrial growth rate receding, the alarm bells have begun to ring.

Super Clinic Inc.
Patients will be treated as customers with some companies hoping to revolutionise the Rs 60,000-crore private healthcare market. They are setting up a chain of neighbourhood health clinics that will provide quality medical care.

Fostering Ill-will
The arrest of Jayalalitha's foster son may be linked
to the sour relationship.

Crescent Classroom
An organisation has given madarsa education in the state a communal slant.

COVER STORY: LAGAAN

Can Aamir Trust His Hunch?

Aamir's belief in Lagaan could be attributed to what Farhan Akthar-his director in the forthcoming Dil Chahta Hai-calls the man's "commitment to and total involvement in any role". Aamir himself attributes it to "a gut feel about being right". While sounding both comforting and idealistic this doesn't take away from the fact that a magnificent obsession can be potentially ruin-ous. Twenty years ago, Kamaal Amrohi made Razia Sultan, his most ambitious film since Pakeezah. It failed miserably, confirming every stereotype about over-expensive costume dramas.

So can Aamir trust his hunch? For Vikram Bhatt-a director with whom Aamir took a gamble in the immensely successful Ghulam-Aamir's "gut feel" is actually "a very keen sense of what works for the audience. Aamir may have a problem with awards but he is in love with the box office", says Bhatt.

There is certainly a method to Aamir's madness. The Rs 25 crore Lagaan has been sold for an average of Rs 2 crore per domestic film distribution territory. That should have fetched Rs 10 crore. A matching amount is estimated to have accrued in overseas rights. Music rights have been sold for Rs 4 crore. If you add the deferred payment for television and DVD rights, you realise that Aamir needn't really bother about ticket sales.

The pre-release windfall may satisfy Aamir's bankers, but it certainly won't fire what filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt calls Aamir's "obsessive desire for perfection, bordering on the pathological". Lagaan is the ultimate gamble for the "honest bloke" of the Hindi film industry. Previous period film specialists like Sohrab Modi made their mark in the era just before and after Independence. Then, nationalism wasn't just a theme, it was a habit. India has moved on. While Komal Nahata, editor, Film Information, believes that "in this country two emotions rule: mother and Mother India", a bad film cannot succeed simply because it evokes the right emotions. In investing his millions in the sort of detail that would have done Cecil B. DeMille proud-scouring the sports shops of London for a century-old bat-Aamir has given the world's biggest film industry new attitude: dare to be different, think big, execute bigger. If it works, the returns could be exponential. Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra is excited: "This film is not shot in the Swiss Alps. As against the bikini-chiffon look, its draw is in the story. It will trigger a change."

Hindi cinema is usually a mug's game where producers are constantly in search of the next "formula": foreign locales with Sangam, the multi-starrer with Waqt, the angry young man with Zanjeer. With his first starring role in Qayamat se Qayamat Tak (1988), Aamir re-revived the cyclical teen romance theory of filmdom. Now, fertile imaginations are talking of life after Lagaan-of back to the roots, rural films. Movie maestro Subhash Ghai is dismissive: "It's not a trend. People accept all kinds of cinema. It's like eating out. You choose the cuisine to suit the mood." As for Lagaan, Ghai is sure "the box office will recognise Aamir's sincerity and effort". In other words, Lagaan's success will not signal a flood of dhoti-kurta films.

That said, while Aamir the actor may be "heartbroken if it doesn't work", Aamir the producer is taking a karmic view: "We have managed to make what we set out to. It's important that we have to be bold and do the right thing." As Bhuvan tells the villagers after accepting the wager, "Sach aur sahas hai jiske man mein, jeet usi ki hogi (Honesty and courage will win)." In cinema or cricket, it's the best policy for the slog overs.

--With Anupama Chopra

MetroScape

Pak Unplugged
Fresh-faced youngsters were cheering through qawwalis, pop songs and poetry reading at India Habitat Centre, Delhi. The occasion? A week-long workshop, "Rehumanizing the Other", was all about promoting neighbourly feelings in a period of bad press.
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The Delhi Government's campaign to clean up the Yamuna was impressive but needs to backed up by measures that can weed out the root causes of the pollution. INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Sayantan Chakravarty reports in Long Drive