Lagaan: once Upon a Time in India
Composite Score: 84.53
Starring: Aamir Khan, Raghubir Yadav, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajesh Vivek, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Javed Khan Amrohi, Raj Zutshi, Akhilendra Mishra, Dayashankar Pandey, Yashpal Sharma, Amin Hajee, Pradeep Singh Rawat, and Aditya Lakhia
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Writers: Ashutosh Gowariker, Kumar Dave, and Sanjay Dayma
Genres: Drama, Musical, Sport, Romance
MPAA Rating: PG for language and some violence
Box Office: $1.72 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India is the Bollywood film from Ashutosh Gowariker and Aamir Khan about a fictional cricket game played in the 1890s between citizens of a small village in India and the local occupying British forces to save themselves from unjust taxation. The film stars Aamir Khan in the leading role of Bhuvan, a local farmer who cannot stand the British colonial rule. It also features Gracy Singh as his love interest, Gauri, Paul Blackthorne as the villainous British Captain Andrew Russell, and Rachel Shelley as Russell’s sister Elizabeth who has a soft spot for the villagers, and Bhuvan in particular. The film is the most recent film from India to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language/International Feature Film and is one of the most critically acclaimed films from the nation of all time.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
There is one mildly troubling subplot in Lagaan that bears mentioning – the borderline white savior in the character of Elizabeth. While the film on the whole takes a strong anti-imperialist stance, the character of Elizabeth feels a bit off, offering to help the villagers learn the game because she finds Bhuvan attractive. While she doesn’t win the game for them, she is the catalyst that allows the villagers to learn the specifics of the game of cricket, and without her, they’d be up a creek without a paddle. Logically, there’s not really any other way to make this story make sense, so I get that it had to be done, but I don’t necessarily love the vibe that her character gives off – the helpful white liberal, for whom this event really is of little to no consequence. She does rise above that by doing more than just being “mad online” about the issue and actually stepping into the marginalized community she cares so much about, but it still feels a bit off at the end of the day.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Lagaan feels like Bollywood at its finest – jam-packed with love triangles, history, mythology, sports, music, dancing, action, anti-imperialism, and melodrama like you wouldn’t believe. As a sports film, this surpasses the likes of Hoosiers and Miracle in terms of heart and national pride. As a romantic drama, its love triangle overshadows the likes of Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Notebook. As a musical, its musical numbers outshine the modern hits of Hairspray and Camp Rock. Combine all of those elements together under the umbrella of an anti-imperialist period piece, and you have on truly excellent film that simply cannot be denied.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India excels in so many genres of filmmaking and manages to blend them all together into a cohesive film and story about the people of India triumphing over their colonizing invaders that deserve a place among the Greatest Films of All Time. The pseudo white savior subplot might rub some the wrong way, but overall, the film celebrates the character, culture, and accomplishments of Indian people over anything else, so it still works for me. It is currently available to stream on Netflix for anyone looking to give it a watch.
