Lagaan actor Amin Hajee reveals he met wife Charlotte on film sets; joke, ‘Wo abhi tak bechari 3guna Lagaan bhar rahi hai’ |

as Ashutosh GowarikerRecently celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iconic film Lagaan, the actor Amin Haji Takes a nostalgic trip, recalling how the film changed his career, as well as his personal life.The actor, who played temple drummer Baga in the 2001 historical sports drama, attended Aamir Khan Productions’ film’s anniversary celebrations in Mumbai with wife Charlotte Whitby-Coles and their daughters. Looking back on the milestone, Amin revealed that he first met Charlotte on the sets of Lagann, where an unexpected connection blossomed into a lifelong partnership.

How Amin Hajee met his wife on the sets of ‘Lagaan’

Amin recently revealed that his wife’s brother Jamie Whitby-Coles played a key role in bringing Charlotte to the film set.“Jamie, my brother-in-law today, was playing county cricket. They tested him and they liked him. He was 6ft 5in. So they told him, ‘Here you go,'” Amin recalled.The makers of “Lagaan” are also looking for British extras to play the spectators at the climactic cricket match. Jamie was asked to appear in crowd scenes with the women in his family.“They said, ‘We will pay for their tickets, we will even give them a stipend. We want them to sit in the pavilion for two weeks, with parasols and wearing those period costumes, just like the wives and families of British actors,'” Amin told PTI.Charlotte, then 23, had just completed her studies in anthropology and was intrigued by the experience of visiting Bhuj, Gujarat, where the film was shot.Amin recalled their first meeting with his trademark humor, saying, “She saw me and she thought, ‘You’re so weird. Ye specimen ko mujhe study karna hai thoda. Aur ispe jo Research ho raha hai, 26 saal ho gaye aur aaj wo abhi tak bechari 3guna Lagaan bhar rahi hai. “(“This is weird. I need to do some research on this specimen. This research has been going on for 26 years and this poor thing is still paying three times as much as Lagaan.”)

Charlotte played a key role in a difficult phase of his career

After dating and eventually marrying, Charlotte moved to India. The couple now lives in the mountains with their daughters, Summer and Sky, who they homeschool.Amin also credited his wife for helping him through challenging times in his career after Lagan’s huge success. Surprisingly, the actor revealed that the film’s success made it difficult for him to accept subsequent acting offers.“I didn’t even want to act. I got offers, but neither the script nor my character came a mile away from Lagan. At one point, Ashutosh and my wife Charlotte asked me, ‘So what will you do from now on?’ So I said, ‘You tell me’ because I didn’t want to do that,” he admitted.The actor explained that he was reluctant to take on projects that didn’t match the quality of his critically acclaimed films.“I basically didn’t want to destroy the respect I had earned. Also, I am not a great actor. Thanks to Ragan’s script, director and team, I managed to perform. They all helped me,” he added.

How Ashutosh Gowariker helped Amin Hajee reinvent herself

Seeing Amin struggling for direction after Lagann, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker stepped in and encouraged him to explore writing.Keeping his future and family responsibilities in mind, Gowariker offered him an opportunity to co-write the 2004 film Swades.Gowariker reportedly told him: “If you want to start a family, you have to make money.”This opportunity proved to be a turning point in Amin’s career. He subsequently co-wrote Vikram Bhatt’s horror films Haunted 3D (2011) and Dangerous Ishq (2012) before directing the psychological thriller Koi Jaane in 2021, starring Kunal Kapoor and Amyra Dastur Na”, which is his directorial debut.