Mumbai, Aug 17 (NationPress) Director Apoorva Lakhia is celebrated for his works such as 'Shootout at Lokhandwala' and 'Haseena Parkar'. However, prior to stepping into the director's chair, he showcased remarkable talent as an assistant director.

Apoorva lent his skills to Ashutosh Gowariker during the making of the legendary film 'Lagaan', effectively setting a new precedent in Hindi cinema. He recently shared on Cyrus Broacha's podcast how he instilled discipline on the 'Lagaan' set, a change that notably involved Bollywood star Aamir Khan.

He recounted, “Typically, every actor has their own car. I approached Aamir Khan and asked, ‘Are you genuinely going to support my efforts to bring about change?’ His reply was, ‘Absolutely, you have to do it’. I insisted, ‘Then you need to back me up and follow my lead’. Both Aamir and Reema agreed, and I instructed everyone to travel by bus instead of their cars.

To enforce punctuality, I placed clocks outside the lift on each floor, synchronized with my watch. I issued a memo stating that from then on, only my watch mattered. Anyone arriving late for the bus would be left behind after a 5-minute wait.”

Apoorva shared, “On the third day, Aamir himself was the last to arrive. The team was puzzled by the new system. I even overlooked Ronit Roy, who was head of security for Aamir at the time.”

He continued, “I was grateful that Aamir was late that day. I planned to wait precisely 4 minutes and 55 seconds. During this time, Ronit was adamant about keeping the door shut. The entire bus was watching, and I told Reema, ‘Let’s start the bus’. When she said the driver wasn’t responding, I suggested she assertively grab him. After that, I kicked Ronit Roy, who stumbled outside. I shouted, ‘Let’s go!’ and we left.”

“The entire crew was watching, and Yashpal Sharma humorously asked, ‘Tomorrow Bombay, huh?’ I replied, ‘Sure, I’ll go to Bombay, but people will remember that an AD came from America for 5 days and stuck to his guns.’ Aamir eventually arrived an hour and a half later, without a word of reproach, showing his understanding in silence,” he concluded.