5 min readMumbaiJun 14, 2026 06:05 PM IST Twenty-five years ago this month, Aamir Khan put Gujarat on the cinematic map by choosing it as the setting of his 2001 seminal period sports drama, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan. But the same year, on January 26, 2001, five months before the film’s release on June 15, 2001, a massive earthquake shook the state to the core, severely affecting parts of Bhuj, which was located very close to the Kunaria village where Aamir and his team shot for the film. Captain Russell to the rescue The earthquake, measured at 7.6 on the Richter Scale, caused massive destruction of life and property across Gujarat. Naturally, Aamir, Ashutosh, and their team returned to Kanuria after the earthquake and around the release of their film to inspect how the land had changed after they shot there extensively to make one of Bollywood’s most enduring period sports dramas. It wasn’t only the Indian artistes who contributed towards the earthquake relief efforts, but also British actor Paul Blackthorne, who made his film debut …