this story originally appeared in on nov 19 2019just three weeks before he unveils his next period extravaganza panipat ashutosh gowariker looks amazingly calm and not battle weary as youd imagine the voice is soft as he takes you into the war zone excerptsyou choose subjects that challenge you as a filmmaker from lagaan and jodhaa akbar to mohenjo daro and now panipat what makes you want to create big screen spectaclesi love history and within that the theme is important be it religious tolerance jodhaa akbar or the concept of unity lagaan i also love to create different worlds and learn what were the smallest sparks that fired these big eventsand just how difficult is it creating these worldsits very difficult and is all in the prep which is why i make one film in three years the research doesnt end with the script but blossoms through different departments from art to action from costumes to hair and makeup and since every department needs time the key is patience and singular focus in this im not alone along with my crew of likeminded people i need committed actors wholl shave their head and stay in that look for sixeight months building that commitment is like building an army in itselfweve read about the battle of panipat in history books but in modern times how do you plan to whip up interest and bring people to the theatresyes we have read about the battle but how many know that there were three battles of panipat and the third which we are bringing to the screen was the most inspiring for the first time in history anywhere in the world an army travelled 1000 kilometres to stop an invader since film is an audiovisual medium itll take you beyond textbooks and while i like to be authentic in my depiction i also like to tell a story in an entertaining way i cant think of making a film without songs elements like music keep the audience engagedyouve always cast against type but what made you opt for sanjay dutt arjun kapoor and kriti sanon who had never done a historical film before panipataccording to descriptions sadashiv rao bhau was a large man a warrior with brute strength arjun fitted the bill also he was free then to give me the commitment i wanted and having seen his ishaqzaade 2 states and finding fanny i knew him as a natural understated performer kriti is beautiful and having played the girlnextdoor in all films i thought it would be nice to see her in regality as parvati baisanjay and i go back a long way having been coactors on naam when i asked him why hed never done a historical before he said simply that no one had asked him so i did hes my afghan invader ahmad shah abdali all three were my first choices along with them i have an interesting ensemble cast in mohnish bahl nana saheb peshwa padmini