Raju Khan Reveals the Challenges Behind Filming Lagaan’s Iconic Song ‘Ghanan Ghanan’

19th June 2026, Mumbai: On ‘India’s Best Dancer Season 5’, while celebrating the vibrant spirit of ‘India Wala Dance’, choreographer Raju Khan revisited the making of the iconic track and revealed the immense planning and challenges that went into bringing it to life on screen. More than two decades after its release, “Ghanan Ghanan” from Lagaan continues to be remembered as one of Indian cinema’s most visually memorable songs. Recalling his experience, Raju Khan shared that the song was filmed during the early days of the Lagaan shoot and required extensive preparation despite tight timelines.

He said, “Kaafi stressful tha woh shoot. Jab pehli baar main set dekha, uske agle din hum gaana shoot kar rahe the. First day muhurat hua tha. Woh shot liya gaya tha jahan Yashoda maa, Aamir ki mom hai, woh kuaan se paani nikal rahi hai aur paani khatam ho chuka hai. Aur woh aasman ki taraf dekh ke, baarish aayi. That was the first shot taken of the Lagaan film. Aur uss hi din mujhe kaha gaya ki bahot bada set hai, jaake dekh lo set. Saare actors ke saath mila, extra primary cast. Aur phir woh gaana suna maine set par. Overnight humne planning kiya how it happened, even I don’t know. Approximately it took 8 days to film that song kyunki challenges toh baad mein aaye ki jab second half ke gaane mein jab baadal chhaate hai. Ab actual mein toh baadal nahi chhaate. Itne bade set ko cover karna impossible tha and you can’t show shadows because it’s overcast. Toh phir mujhe jo shots design karne pade, woh limited areas mein the, without showing the feet of the actresses. Aur plus mera plan yeh tha ki jitna maximum one-by-one shot le sakun, utna zyada interesting lagega gaana because itne saare actors hai,Unko saath mein laao, achha lagta hai. Alag-alag cut karke kuch matlab nahi hai. That was the challenge.”

He continued, “Toh second half ka gaana aap dekhenge toh it is nearly during sunset when we have taken the shots, when the sun is gone and we have only about 45 minutes left for shoot. That is the time we could put the white, when there were no shadows. So it was quite a challenging job.”

The conversation became even more special when it was revealed that Ghanan Ghanan went on to earn Raju Khan the National Film Award, further cementing its place as one of the most acclaimed songs in Indian cinema.

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