Lagaan is one hell of a movie. The movie is a clear departure from the typical bollywood flicks.
The movie is set in a small village in Bhuj during the times of the British rule. The villagers are forced to pay a part of their produce as ’Lagaan’ which means Tax. When the villagers go to the king (who is helpless as the british are pressurizing him), he expresses his inability to bring down the tax. At this instant, Col. John, the chief of the local british settlement challenges the villagers to a game of Cricket. He promises that if they would win, the tax for 3 years would be waived but if they would lose, they would have to pay 3 times the tax. The movie is all about how Aamir Khan builds a cricket team with the help of Col. John’s sister, Elizabeth (played by Rachel Shelly) and the cricket match itself.
Despite being a long (3 hours, 45 minutes) movie, the director has managed to keep the audience interested throughout. Aamir Khan is terrific as usual and all the others are pretty good as well. Everything about the movie seems so good. The actors have put in a brilliant performance, the songs are good, the picturization and sound effects are excellent.
One has to give a lot of credit to Aamir Khan for coming out with this masterpiece on his debut as a producer.