Backdrop
Lagaan in hindi means ’’Tax’’. This story takes place in pre-independence India where the Britishers were ruling India. The Britishers were very brutal and employed all kinds of strategies like Doctrine of Lapse to grab kingdoms in India. One another strategy commonly used was they promised Kingdoms protection against other nearbly kingdoms, if they were allowed to collect taxes from the residents of the kingdom and this is the focus point of this movie.
Story
Champaner is a Indian village where for the past few years there has been no rain. The people of this village are finding it difficult to make two ends meet, leave alone pay the taxes. So they give a petition to their king, to waive of the taxes. The king takes this matter to Captain Russel who refuses to budge. Bhuvan, a young villager, happens to be in the committee that goes to meet Captain Russel. He has a rush of blood and shoots his mouth in front of Russel who is enraged. Russel then thinks of a way to humiliate Bhuvan, he challenges him to game of cricket ( a game played by 11 players a side) and if Russel’s team wins, they would collect three times Lagaan (tax) else if Bhuvan’s team wins they get three years waiver from taxes. Before any other villager can say anything Bhuvan accepts the challenge.
Only one small problem, the Britishers are the inventors of the game and have played it for ages, the Indians have never played the game and know nothing about it. Russel’s sister is tired of his tyranny and decides to help the Indians to give them a fair chance. She goes out to meet Bhuvan and starts instructing him on the game. Bhuvan meanwhile is stuck with another problem, he can’t get 11 players to play in his side as the whole village have ganged against him for accepting such a silly challenge. So the story takes a light hearted turn as Bhuvan tries to convince each member in his village to play the game. Finally he manages to get a team of 11 going.
Then begins the practice as soon the whole village starts getting behind him and soon the whole area of country get behind this team. Then the D-Day arrives and the two sides take on the ground. What happens next? Check the movie out!!
Music and Songs
A.R. Rehman has given one of the best musical perfomances by an indian in this movie. The songs have beautiful lyrics, beautiful settings, brilliant music and great performances. The music includes:
’’Ghannan Ghannan’’ - A rain song and dance sequence highlighting the joy of farmers on the onset of rains.
’’O rey Chori’’ - A beautiful mix of Hindi and English song wherein the English Lyrics pick up where the Hindi ones end and vice-versa.
’’Radha kaise na jale’’ - A beautiful dance sequence by Gracy Singh, Amir Khan and group.
’’Baar Baar haan’’ - An inspirational song inspiring team spirit.
Apart from these, the background score is brilliant again. Thumbs up to A.R. Rehman.
Performances
Acting performances from Amir Khan as Bhuvan, Gracy Singh as Gowri(his lady love), Captain Russel and all the crew members is brilliant. Each person seems to gel in his/her role perfectly. The screen play and direction by Ashutosh Govarikar is brilliant.
The movie sets reflect the period in which the movie is set. Ashutosh got the actual Cricket Kits which was used during this period from a British Museum to give the authentic effects. The dresses and the roles all match the period descriptions.
The match sequences have been so spectacular and has been visualized in such a brilliant manner that it is the best sports event I have ever seen captured in a hindi movie.
Cricketing aspects of Lagaan
Lagaan relates all the modern concepts of the Cricket Game like
Huge Crowds
Night Cricket
Spin Doctors
Hat Trick
Hit Wicket
Mankadding
Special care has been taken so that these should not look out of place in the period in which the movie is set.
Verdict
Lagaan is one of the best movies ever made in India. Outside India, this movie might not strike the right chord as it has lot of constituents which make sense only to those familiar with the context in India. For e.g. Indian rituals, Indian beliefs, Indian struggle against British etc.
But for audiences who are interested in period films, this is the best place for them to have sneak lookback at what was India in a different era under different circumstances.
My verdict from an Indian standpoint is perfect 10 for Lagaan. Better watch it in theatres than in videos.
PS: Taken from my review published earlier at https://epinions.com/content_112667954820