Twenty-five years after Lagaan became one of Indian cinema's most celebrated films, British actor Paul Blackthorne is still surprised by the impact his character, Captain Andrew Russell, continues to have on audiences. During a recent visit to Mumbai, the actor opened up about revisiting the film, his friendship with Aamir Khan, and why saying yes to Lagaan remains one of the best decisions of his life.
'People Still Recognize Me as Captain Russell'
Blackthorne admitted that the passage of time sometimes makes it difficult for him to recognize his younger self on screen. "I look in the mirror now and you have that feeling. You go, 'Who is this guy? When did this happen?' And then watching the film the other night, I'm looking at the screen going, 'Who the hell is that guy? I don't recognize that guy,'" he told Just Too Filmy. While he often manages to move around unnoticed, recognition eventually catches up with him. "If I sit somewhere... people are trying to work it out and then they go, 'Captain Russell.' And you go, 'Oh, hi. How are you?' It's quite funny."
'Lagaan Was One of Those "Say Yes to Life" Moments'
Looking back at how he landed the role, Blackthorne said he never imagined the film would become a global phenomenon. "You read a script and either have a response or you don't. I had a response. I thought, 'My God, this is epic. This is incredible. This is completely different to anything I've experienced before.'" Calling it a defining moment in his career, he added, "I think it was one of those 'say yes to life' moments. So many people don't take that moment and then they regret it. I recognised that this could be an amazing experience."
On Playing a British Officer During Colonial India
The actor said he had no hesitation portraying a representative of the British Raj, despite being aware of the painful history associated with colonialism. "Being aware of the tyranny of what that was all about — the British Raj and colonialism — I was very happy to point a finger at it and show it," he said. Blackthorne praised the way Lagaan handled the subject matter. "It was shown, not told. It demonstrated the context of that time without becoming preachy. I had the opportunity to have a lot of fun being the dastardly representation of that."
'I Was Nominated for a Negative Role and Didn't Understand It'
The actor laughed while recalling his nomination for Best Actor in a Negative Role. "I was being told, 'This is the Indian Oscars and you've been nominated as Best Actor in a Negative Role.' I thought, 'That doesn't sound very good. What is it?'" He joked that he was disappointed not to win. "I didn't get it. I was very upset. I was like, 'How negative have I got to be to get this award?'"
Watching Lagaan After Nearly Two Decades
Blackthorne recently watched the film again after almost 20 years and found himself experiencing it from a completely different perspective. "It was the most objective viewing I would have ever experienced because of such distance from the last time I saw it and not really recognising the guy that's on the screen," he said. One sequence, in particular, continues to move him deeply. "The Kachra scene... it makes me go every time. The power of that scene just goes through every pore of my body. It's incredible." He was also struck by the film's humour and the tension created during the cricket match. "The intensity as the cricket match is building up, the camera angles, the tension — it's brilliant directing, brilliant cinematography, brilliant execution of everything."
Learning Hindi for Captain Russell
Playing Russell required months of preparation, especially because Blackthorne had to perform in Hindi. "Aamir set me up with a great tutor in London and I spent about four months going over these lines," he revealed. The actor explained that acting itself is challenging enough, but doing it in another language added an extra layer of complexity. "It was a double leap of faith that hopefully the Hindi words would come out."
The Hilarious Story Behind 'Lagaan Pasta'
One of Blackthorne's favourite memories from the shoot involves what the cast later nicknamed "Lagaan pasta". After the British actors casually mentioned they had been eating a lot of Indian food and wouldn't mind some variety, the production arranged a pasta meal. "We walked in and somebody shouted, 'It's pasta! It's pasta!' Everyone was scooping it up. Then we realised it was curry pasta," he laughed. The experiment was mostly successful, though not without consequences. "One time I had the most unfortunate experience of it cooking inside me and expanding and expanding. I genuinely felt like I was going to explode."
'Aamir Khan Led by Example'
Blackthorne credited Aamir Khan's work ethic and commitment for inspiring everyone on set. "If this was Hollywood, the star would be tucked away in an air-conditioned trailer somewhere. Aamir was under an umbrella like the rest of us, drinking chai like the rest of us." The actor recalled seeing Khan actively engage with thousands of extras during large-scale scenes. "When you're seeing that kind of spirit, you just shut up and get on with your stuff. It doesn't matter if you've got a blister on your foot."
A Friendship That Has Lasted 25 Years
What began as a professional collaboration eventually turned into a lasting friendship. "Aamir has been incredibly generous toward me over these 25 years," Blackthorne said. "Even this weekend, inviting me out to come here is outrageous. I'm so grateful for it." Reflecting on the unexpected journey that Lagaan set in motion, the actor admitted he never imagined he would still be talking about the film in Mumbai a quarter of a century later. "If someone at the end of 1999 had said I'd be sitting in Mumbai experiencing this 25 years later, I'd be pinching myself too. I feel very fortunate. It's been an unbelievable experience."
