Kiran Rao Reveals When She Met Aamir Khan For The First Time, Says They Started Dating During 'Mangal Pandey'

Appearing on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, Kiran Rao spoke in detail about her past relationship with ex-husband Aamir Khan. She revealed that they met on the sets of ‘Lagaan’. She said that Reema Kagti had asked her to join the films and she agreed to do so because she was in between jobs. Despite not having seen many Hindi films, she agreed to join. Reflecting on the ‘huge risk’ Aamir was taking with the film, she noted it was a sports film set 100 years ago in Awadhi, a completely different dialect. She said, “When I was in charge of getting all of them into layers and layers of their outfits, it was quite an experience. It was like a film school for me.”

Rao, who was an assistant director on the sets of ‘Lagaan’, recalled that the initial three-month shooting schedule was extended to six months. She shared that it was a particularly eventful year for her, as she also worked on ‘Monsoon Wedding’ during that time. Spilling more details, she revealed that she started dating Khan when she was working on ‘Swades’ and he was working on ‘Mangal Pandey.’

The couple has always maintained an amicable stand after their split. They continue to co-parent their son, Azad. Recently, they collaborated on ‘Laapataa Ladies’ where Khan co-produced the film and Rao directed it.