Highlights
- Amin Hajee said it was difficult to find roles that matched Aamir Khan’s Lagaan
- The actor recalled struggling financially after turning down several acting offers
- Hajee said the pressure to provide for his family made him feel like a “failure as a man”
Amin Hajee has opened up about the difficult years that followed his role in Aamir Khan’s acclaimed film Lagaan. While the film became a landmark in his career, the actor said its exceptional standard made it difficult for him to accept the work that came afterwards.
Hajee, who played Bagha in the 2001 film, recalled the professional and financial struggles he experienced during a conversation with Siddharth Kanan. He said he turned down several offers because he did not believe they were worthy of following Lagaan.
‘Lagaan’ set an impossible benchmark
Hajee described Lagaan as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity and said the projects that came his way afterwards failed to compare.
“To be honest, Lagaan was a unique script. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I was fortunate enough to get Lagaan, but whatever offers or narrations I received after that were zero compared to it. So I was destroyed after Lagaan, because I simply couldn’t work after that,” he said.
The actor reflected on the extraordinary opportunities he had received around the film, including working with Aamir Khan and getting the chance to write for Swades. He said the experience left him questioning what he could possibly do after having been given opportunities of that scale.
His expectations, however, also meant that he rejected roles that did not meet his standards.
His wife wanted him to take up work
Hajee’s decision to turn down roles became a source of frustration for his wife, Charlotte Whitby-Coles.
“She was angry with me because I wasn’t signing any more work after Lagaan,” he recalled.
Whitby-Coles remembered Hajee frequently dismissing acting offers after hearing the narrations. She eventually urged him to take up work rather than wait for another project that matched the quality of Lagaan.
The lack of consistent work eventually affected his finances. Hajee recalled a period when even buying clothes became difficult.
“I didn’t have money to buy a good shirt and pants. Upkeep in big cities is too much. You won’t have enough money for household expenses, but you still want a big car. That’s the kind of lifestyle you see in cities,” he said.
Whitby-Coles said their relatively simple approach to life helped them cope with the financial uncertainty, adding that neither of them was particularly interested in expensive possessions.
‘I am a failure as a man’
Hajee later worked with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and said he earned well during their association. His credits from that period included Haunted 3D and 1920: The Evil Returns.
However, he eventually left that work to pursue his own story, Koi Jaane Na. Hajee spent eight years developing the psychological thriller, which eventually became his directorial debut in 2021.
Leaving financially stable work brought another period of uncertainty, and Hajee said he felt considerable pressure to provide for his family.
“I am a husband, and my culture tells me that I have to earn. There is a lot of pressure on men, actually. I am a failure as a man because I never really had money. I was never able to earn consistently. I have seen some very difficult days,” he said.
At one point, Hajee admitted to Whitby-Coles that he feared leaving Bhatt’s work had been a mistake because they were struggling financially.
Charlotte stood by him through the struggle
Rather than asking him to abandon his ambitions, Whitby-Coles encouraged Hajee to finish the project he had spent years developing.
“Don’t worry about how much we have or don’t have. We are managing with whatever we have. You work. You have to fulfil your dream, so focus on that,” she told him.
She also challenged the pressure Hajee placed on himself to be the sole provider.
“Why do you think you are the only provider for me? Why are you putting that pressure on yourself to be the provider? I am with you too. If you don’t bring money home today, I will do something. I will earn it.”
Hajee said his wife had “stood by me like a rock” through both the difficult and successful periods of his life.
Hajee and Whitby-Coles live in Panchgani, Maharashtra, with their two daughters. His most recent film as a writer and director remains Koi Jaane Na, released in 2021.
