For fans who never tire of Lagaan and its spin-offs, lawyer turned filmmaker, Satyajit Bhatkal recreates the lunacy behind the making of the magnum opus Three years after the release of Aamir Khan's Oscar-nominated Lagaan, comes Chale chalo - The Lunacy of Filmmaking. Satyajit Bhatkal's documentary captures the effort that went into the creation of the blockbuster. The 39-year-old lawyer turned writer (he earlier penned The Spirit of Lagaan) and filmmaker, in conversation with Verve

Not at all. After my first visit to Kutch, where Lagaan was shot, I was impressed by the work culture of the unit. It was a magnificent effort that needed to be documented on camera. By the time Aamir okayed the idea, we were already two months into the shoot. Initially, with the help of a local videographer, Prakash Bhatt, we began capturing behind-the- scene moments. I was convinced there was a huge film in what we were shooting. I told Aamir we had to either develop it or abandon it. He appointed me director and told me that I could shoot what I wanted. I finally got about 300 hours of rushes.

Isn't the three-year interval after Lagaan's release a long one?

This film was never intended to piggy back on the film's success. When I began work on it, we did not know whether Lagaan would sink or succeed at the box office.

What next?

I have a script for a tele-serial, focussing on social and ethical issues. I'm also working on scripts for two films. The first, an epic, is my dream project. The second is a more self-contained story dealing with intimate relationships.