Aamir Khan on Lagaan losing out on the Oscar race: "We fail to acknowledge that the jury loved Lagaan"

It has been 20 years since Lagaan released. The film had not just been iconic upon release, but also made it to the Oscar race. It was amongst the top 5 in the Best Feature Film in a Foreign Language category in the 74th Academy Awards. In a virtual press conference, the actor revealed how he felt when the film lost out.

Addressing the media, Aamir Khan said, "I often get asked, ‘how disappointed were you for not winning the Oscar’? Of course, I was disappointed I would have liked to win. Many have asked me if the songs and length of the film was an issue for the Academy members? The fact that the film was nominated and was in the top five, says that the members loved it. It’s not easy to be nominated. You have to understand you cannot compare films. Can you compare Lagaan and Dangal? Both are good films. It just means that a certain jury found another film better. Sports doesn’t have subjectivity. Either you’ve run the fastest or you have not. Cinema is subjective. Oscar widens the reach of your film globally. The people who had no clue what Lagaan was all about also saw the film. Biggest award for me is people loving the film and they did."

The actor also added, "In LA, all nominees are at the finish line and one person is asked to take one step forward and he is the winner. But everyone else is at the finishing line. We fail to acknowledge that the jury loved Lagaan, otherwise we would not have been there (in the nominations). They loved it - the music, the length of the film, the cricket...they loved it all. All that was loved by the jury, only then we got nominated. Do not look at it negatively."

The film released in 2001 and had clashed with Gadar upon release.