25 years of Lagaan filming: Co-star Rachel Shelley shares unseen memories

Mumbai: British actress Rachel Shelley, who played the role of Elizabeth Russell in Aamir Khan’s famous film ‘Lagaan’, revisited old memories on Friday.

The actress shared some previously unseen photos from the shoot of this Oscar-nominated classic film.

Rachel posted two special pictures from the film’s production on her social media account.

In one photo, the actress is seen wearing traditional Indian attire and colorful bangles, while in the other, she is happily posing next to an elephant, dressed in her signature Victorian-era costume from the film.

Sharing the photos, she wrote in the caption, “Hey #LagaanLovers – have I ever shared these photos with you..? #lagaan #25yearslagaan.”

For those unaware, Rachel played the character of Elizabeth Russell in ‘Lagaan’. She was the kind-hearted sister of the ruthless British officer Captain Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne).

Unlike her brother, Elizabeth sympathizes with the villagers of Champaner and secretly teaches them to play cricket so they can challenge the British in a historic match.

As the story unfolds, Elizabeth gradually falls in love with Bhuvan (Aamir Khan). Later, she is heartbroken to learn that Bhuvan is deeply in love with Gauri (Gracy Singh).

Written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Aamir Khan under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, the film ‘Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India’ was released on June 15, 2001. Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Raghubir Yadav, Rajesh Vivek, Yashpal Sharma, Raj Zutshi, Akhilendra Mishra, Daya Shankar Pandey, and many other artists played key roles in this film.

The film’s music was composed by A.R. Rahman, and the lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar.

Earlier this year in June, the cast and crew of ‘Lagaan’ reunited to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary and held a special script-reading session.