25 Years of Lagaan EXCLUSIVE: Amin Hajee reveals his brother-in-law Jamie married co-star Katkin on the temple set: “Aamir Khan, Reena Dutta performed Katkin’s KANYADAAN for real; the couple wanted an Indian Hindu wedding, and Aamir gave them that”
Lagaan (2001) completed 25 years on June 15 and the team of the film has extensively spoken about in detail about their memorable moments on the sets. Yet, there’s much more that is yet to be fully explored. One such anecdote involves the marriage that took place on the sets of the film. The groom was Jamie Whitby Coles, who played the role of Wesson and the bride was Katkin Allen Coles, who is credited as ‘British Extra’ in the film. Interestingly, Amin Hajee, who plays Bagha, is married to Charlotte Whitby Coles, who’s the sister of Jamie. Hence, Jamie is Amin’s brother-in-law.
Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to Amin Hajee about this episode and he was too glad to share details. He said, “Jamie and Katkin expressed their wish of getting married in India. They said that they’ll head to Pushkar to tie the knot. I told Katkin, ‘Are you mad? Will you get married with Jamie in isolation? That’s not how we do it here’. She asked me, ‘Then how do you do it here?’. I said, ‘There’s a baaraat. We do dance and masti. There are ceremonies’. She asked me, ‘But who’ll dance in my baaraat?’. I replied, ‘The whole unit! All of us would love to be a part of it’.”
Amin continued, “She had apprehensions about it. She thought it’ll be akin to becoming a burden on someone. I informed Aamir about the situation. He told me, ‘You are right’. He was so amazing – he did all the arrangements and even got a priest. The temple, which was a part of the story and where I reside in the film, is where the wedding was organized on a massive scale. The pandit ji recited the shlokas.”
Amin Hajee added, “A night before, we didn’t allow the couple to see each other’s faces! They were shocked (laughs). We told Jamie, ‘Apshakun hai. You can’t see the bride’. Katkin said, ‘Yes, even we have this tradition where the groom can’t see the bride in her wedding dress until she enters the church’.”
That’s not all. Amin revealed, “We divided ourselves into ‘ladkiwaale’ and ‘ladkewaale’. We played the ‘how well do you know each other’ game with them. We told them jokingly, ‘If you guys give wrong answers, we won’t approve of the marriage’! Katkin asked Jamie if she remembered the nickname of her grandfather. Jamie knew the answer. The ladkewaale went crazy; I still remember that moment vividly! A similar tough question was asked by Jamie to Katkin. He also gave the right answer. Every time that happened, we would hoot and scream. We also had a sangeet ceremony. Katkin applied mehendi. Kahan se kaun kya leke aaya, God knows. Aamir told Rao Sahab (production manager Shamala S Rao), ‘Iss shaadi mein koi kami nahin rehni chahiye’.”
View this post on Instagram
As per the April 29, 2000 issue of Komal Nahta’s Film Information magazine, the groom had to shell out Rs. 5,000 to retrieve his stolen shoes from the bride’s friends. When asked about it, Amin Hajee laughed and said, “The funny thing is that the bride and groom had no idea about these rituals. The ladkewaale tried to save his shoes while the ladkiwaale tried to steal the shoes. Jamie was wondering, ‘Why are they taking away my shoes’! We told him, ‘You don’t have to know the answer. We know what we are doing. Just go with the flow’!”
Amin Hajee then revealed how Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta assumed the role of the bride’s parents during the wedding ceremony, “The couple were required to pour ghee or other stuff in the fire. Aamir would explain the rituals to Jamie while Reena would do the same to Katkin. The temple, which was made for the set of a film, ended up becoming a real temple. A real pooja and wedding were performed there. It was surreal.”
He also said, “I am so proud of Aamir. I don’t think anybody would have created such a magical wedding for these two the way he did. There were tears and applause galore. He was shooting such a big film and yet, he took out time for their wedding. He and Reema did kanyadaan of Katkin, for real, jaise hota hai. He did it with shiddat and mohabbat. They wanted an Indian, Hindu wedding. Aamir gave them that. The pandit ji couldn’t believe his eyes that all this was happening!”
An emotional Amin Hajee said, “These moments helped us build relationships for life. Katkin said something which made me weep, ‘I don’t believe in religion or God. But that evening, God was present at my wedding’! Imagine, both were going to get married alone in Pushkar. And the universe gave them an entire family with Lagaan to celebrate and make their wedding a memorable one.”
The veteran personality signed off by saying, “Lagaan has been a magical journey. We made relationships for life. Aamir was the best man at my wedding. I became a writer with Swades (2004). Do you think it would have been possible had I not signed Lagaan? I made a film called Koi Jaane Na (2021) in which Aamir did a special appearance. This is when he was at his peak. There’s no one like him (smiles).”
Also Read: Rachel Shelley reunites with Aamir Khan in London as Lagaan celebrates 25 years
The post 25 Years of Lagaan EXCLUSIVE: Amin Hajee reveals his brother-in-law Jamie married co-star Katkin on the temple set: “Aamir Khan, Reena Dutta performed Katkin’s KANYADAAN for real; the couple wanted an Indian Hindu wedding, and Aamir gave them that” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.