Ashutosh Gowariker, best known for directing epics like Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), began his career as an actor.
He also starred alongside his Swades actor Shah Rukh Khan in Aziz Mirza’s 1989 television show Circus and Kundan Shah’s 1994 romantic drama Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
“When you’re directing a film, it’s such a deeply demanding movie that you can’t focus on anything else.
Ashutosh Gowariker (centre) starred in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
Ashutosh Gowariker (centre) starred in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
Ashutosh Gowariker, best known for directing epics like Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), began his career as an actor. In fact, he and his Lagaan actor and producer Aamir Khan made their debut together in Ketan Mehta’s 1984 coming-of-age film Holi. He also starred alongside his Swades actor Shah Rukh Khan in Aziz Mirza’s 1989 television show Circus and Kundan Shah’s 1994 romantic drama Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
“When I was younger, there was always pressure that you had to be the quintessential hero and try and be that positive character, and look and be a particular way on screen. Today, it’s liberating. You don’t have to worry about your hairstyle. I love it now,” Gowariker tells SCREEN in an exclusive interview. He recalls being asked to constantly check his hair before every shot. “I’m sure the girls still have to do that. I don’t have to,” he adds, smiling.
The actor-director feels times are more “liberating” today, which he’s enjoying. After helming the three epics mentioned above, and then facing a slump in his directorial career with duds like What’s Your Raashee? (2009), Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010), and Mohenjo Daro (2016), Gowariker returned to acting after 16 years with Rajesh Mapuskar’s 2016 National Award-winning Marathi film Ventilator, which was produced by his What’s Your Raashee? actor Priyanka Chopra’s banner Purple Pebble Pictures.
“When you’re directing a film, it’s such a deeply demanding movie that you can’t focus on anything else. You have to focus only on that. I always wanted to act, but I never had the time,” says Gowariker. “So, Ventilator came at a time when Mohenjo Daro was in the post-production, and I could give it the time I had to,” he adds.
Ashutosh Gowariker (centre) starred in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Ashutosh Gowariker (centre) starred in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
Gowariker then got busy with directing his next epic Panipat, which also failed at the box office. But he didn’t jump back into immediately, and returned only seven years after Ventilator with Sameer Saxena’s 2023 survival thriller Kaala Paani on Netflix India. “After that, I’ve always played parts I get attracted to and which I feel the entire experience would be good for me,” he says, having appeared in three Marathi films, followed by his latest Hindi movie, System on Prime Video India.
System happened when Gowariker bumped into fellow filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari at an afterparty during International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa in 2024. “She said, ‘Hey, Ashu sir! I want to cast you in my movie!’ I said, ‘Done, I’m doing.’ That was the end of that. I thought raat gayi baat gayi. One year later, she connected and told me it’s a courtroom drama. She wanted me to play a lawyer, who’s known as the ‘fox’ in the lawyers circle,” recalls Gowariker.
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“I feel you get your due at the right time. And whenever you get it, that is the right time. There’s no such thing as ‘this should have happened earlier,'” says Gowariker, who’s yet to start working actively on his next epic. But in the meantime, he’s busy shuttling between acting gigs, helming the docuseries Temple Raiders, and producing films for other directors. “You’ve to explore different avenues. I was always shying away from a web series, the documentary genre, and producing for other directors. I’m doing all of that now,” adds Gowariker.
