Sudish Kamath of The Hindu suggested that "the movie is not just a story. It is an experience. An experience of watching something that puts life into you, that puts a cheer on your face, however depressed you might be."[66] The Times of India wrote, "Lagaan has all the attractions of big-sounding A. R. Rahman songs, excellent performances by Aamir Khan... and a successful debut for pretty Gracy Singh. In addition, there is the celebrated David vs. Goliath cricket match, which has the audiences screaming and clapping."[67]
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Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and wrote, "Lagaan is an enormously entertaining movie, like nothing we've ever seen before, and yet completely familiar... At the same time, it's a memory of the films we all grew up on, with clearly-defined villains and heroes, a love-triangle, and even a comic character who saves the day. Lagaan is a well-crafted, hugely entertaining epic that has the spice of a foreign culture."[68] Derek Elley of Variety suggested that it "could be the trigger for Bollywood's long-awaited crossover to non-ethnic markets".[69] Somni Sengupta of The New York Times, described it as "a carnivalesque genre packed with romance, swordplay and improbable song-and-dance routines".[70] Dave Kehr, another New York Times film critic, called Lagaan "a movie that knows its business -- pleasing a broad, popular audience -- and goes about it with savvy professionalism and genuine flair."[71] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times argued that the film is "an affectionate homage to a popular genre that raises it to the level of an art film with fully drawn characters, a serious underlying theme, and a sophisticated style and point of view."[72]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as "a lavish epic, a gorgeous love story, and a rollicking adventure yarn. Larger than life and outrageously enjoyable, it's got a dash of Spaghetti Western, a hint of Kurosawa, with a bracing shot of Kipling."[73] Kuljinder Singh of the BBC stated that "Lagaan is anything but standard Bollywood fodder, and is the first must-see of the Indian summer. A movie that will have you laughing and crying, but leaving with a smile."[74]
"Lagaan" is an enormously entertaining movie, like nothing we've ever seen before, and yet completely familiar. Set in India in 1893, it combines sports with political intrigue, romance with evil scheming, musical numbers with low comedy and high drama, and is therefore soundly in the tradition of the entertainments produced by the Bombay film industry, "Bollywood," which is the world's largest.
I have seen only five or six Bollywood movies, one of them in Hyderabad, India, in 1999, where I climbed to the highest balcony and shivered in arctic air conditioning while watching a movie that was well over three hours long and included something for everyone. The most charming aspect of most Bollywood movies is their cheerful willingness to break into song and dance at the slightest pretext; the film I saw was about a romance between a rich boy and a poor girl, whose poverty did not prevent her from producing back-up dancers whenever she needed them.
"Lagaan" is said to be the most ambitious, expensive and successful Bollywood film ever made, and has been a box-office hit all over the world. Starring Aamir Khan, who is one of the top Indian heartthrobs, it was made with an eye to overseas audiences: If "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" could break out of the martial-arts ghetto and gross $150 million, then why not a Bollywood movie for non-Indians? It has succeeded in jumping its genre; it won an Academy Award nomination this year as best foreign film, and has been rolling up amazing per-screen averages in North American theaters.
All of which evades the possibility that most readers of this review have never seen a Bollywood movie and don't want to start now. That will be their loss. This film is like nothing they've seen before, with its startling landscapes, architecture and locations, its exuberant colors, its sudden and joyous musical numbers right in the middle of dramatic scenes, and its melodramatic acting (teeth gnash, tears well, lips tremble, bosoms heave, fists clench). At the same time, it's a memory of the films we all grew up on, with clearly defined villains and heroes, a romantic triangle, and even a comic character who saves the day. "Lagaan" is a well-crafted, hugely entertaining epic that has the spice of a foreign culture.
"Lagaan" somehow succeeds in being suspenseful at the same time it's frivolous and obvious. The final cricket match (which we can follow even if we don't understand the game) is in the time-honored tradition of all sports movies, and yet the underlying issues are serious. And there is the intriguing question of whether the hero will end up with his childhood sweetheart, or cross color lines with the Victorian woman (this is hard to predict, since both women are seen in entirely positive terms).
As a backdrop to the action, there is India itself. It is a long time since I praised a movie for its landscapes; I recall "Dr. Zhivago" (1965) or "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), and indeed like David Lean, director Ashutosh Gowariker is not shy about lingering on ancient forts and palaces, vast plains, and the birthday-cake architecture of the British Raj, so out of place and yet so serenely confident.
Watching the film, we feel familiarity with the characters and the show-down, but the setting and the production style is fresh and exciting. Bollywood has always struck a bargain with its audience members, many of them poor: You get your money's worth. Leaving the film, I did not feel unsatisfied or vaguely short-changed, as after many Hollywood films, but satisfied: I had seen a movie.
These lines immediately ring a bell of a well-told gripping story through a popular Bollywood movie Lagaan, released in 2001. While it won lots of popular awards, and almost an Oscar, there were also great lessons to learn from the protagonist of the story - Bhuvan!
As we all survive yet another day of the ongoing lockdown, here's an attempt that I made at noting down some of the learnings that this great movie had to offer for leaders, entrepreneurs, and budding managers. I hope you find this useful.
Of course, while the lessons are for each one to take in their own way, I bet the best phrase from the movie that any leader would like his team to draw inspiration from and work towards would be the last one before the narrator takes over - And that was....
Bollywood films offer a distinctive set of colors, sights, and dance in a unique genre of film that, admittedly, requires some acclimation but ultimately will give you another view of the world and of cinema. www.yashrajfilms.com www.lagaan.com www.mirabaifilms.com
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A video of extraordinary bowling action has taken the internet by storm. The clip reminded people of the character 'Goli', played by actor Daya Shankar Pandey, in Aamir Khan starrer Bollywood movie 'Lagaan'.
On the surface, this is an odd premise for a film. It is similar to a stereotypical 1980s sports movie, only instead of a corporation threatening to close down the youth centre, it is a colonial power trying to starve a whole region for profit. Pretty high stakes! And while the story is not based on actual events, the British Raj lording over Indians of all classes has an all too familiar historical backing.
Set against a realistic background, the Bollywood blockbuster Lagaan (2001) (directed by Ashutosh Gowariker) combines two Indian obsessions: cricket and the colonial past. The movie is set in Champaner, a small village, during the British Raj. The villagers are unable to pay the annual taxes imposed by the British because a drought has destroyed their agriculture produce. The antagonist Captain Russel, head of the British cantonment, challenges the village to beat the English team in a cricket match, failing which the entire province will be charged three times their share of annual tax. If the team of villagers, led by the protagonist Bhuvan, succeed in the match, their taxes and those of entire province will be revoked for three years. Cricket, in this movie, is the primary vehicle for resistance to colonial rule. Within the Anglophone colonial and postcolonial culture, cricket occupies a signal place.
The narration at the beginning of movie sets up two important issues: the main source of revenue for the British Raj and its efforts to expand that revenue which lie in the agrarian policies and military alliance with princely states. The narration goes:
In general, international law occupies limited space in mainstream cinema, and depictions of colonial legal administration are sparse. The literature relating to popular culture and international law has also given little attention to the culture of anti-colonial resistance in art, music, and cinema. Perhaps the reason for the absence of depictions of colonial legal administration in movies is the complex nature of legal administration and its relative value for post-colonial audience.
Glad to hear about the rekindling of your love of Indian movies. I have been a fan for the last 30 years of the masala films, but have recently started watching series on platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Good quality dramas that are on par with Western series.
From the thunderclap in the first torrential rainstorm — a cue for riotous dancing — to the climactic sunlight on the smiling faces of millions of viewers, this Bollywood epic is cause for joy of meteorological proportions. Surely the longest and most enthralling underdog-sports movie ever, Lagaan stars Aamir Khan (who also produced the film) as the leader of 19th century peasants from the western Indian town of Champaner, who strike a desperate deal with the representatives of the English Raj: if the locals defeat the lords of the British Empire in a cricket match, they get a break on their lagaan, or land tax. One guess as to whether the Champaners become champs. 2ff7e9595c
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