Movies in
India are a part of our life here as most families would prefer to watch a
movie in a theater than go out for hiking or other adventure sports. This is
why cricket and movies have so much influence on any Indian living on this
planet. Let me continue this journey for all my international readers who can
explore much more about India through films.
Lagaan:
Once Upon a Time in India
iMDB Rating
– 8.3/10
If you are
passionate about good cinema and sports, this is one movie that you should not
give a miss. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India focuses on rural Indian problems
and expertly connects all contemporary Indian society issues with it. This
fictional story takes you back in time when India is still under British rule
and how Indian villagers are heavily taxed to the bone. However, story takes a
turn when situation go wrong between a common village man Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) and
Captain Jack Russell (Paul Blackthorne). In order to break Bhuvan
psychologically and emotionally, Captain Jack Russell challenges him to a game
of cricket which will be played between veteran British cricket players and
rural Indian villagers who have never played this game before. To make the
challenge enticing enough for Bhuvan, Captain Jack Russell announces that if
veteran players win, Indian villagers have to pay three times their tax in a
single year. However, if Indian villagers win they do not have to pay tax for
the next three years. On hearing that villagers can relieve themselves of tax
for next three years, Bhuvan instinctively accepts the challenge on behalf of
all. He is heavily criticized by the villagers and all for his stupid act as
they believe that it is impossible for them to beat veteran British players
while they don’t even know anything about the game, but Bhuvan sticks to his
task. Captain Jack Russell’s sister Elizabeth sees this as a cruel and
one-sided competition as the villagers are no match for the team that his
brother has chosen. She secretly decides to help Bhuvan and the villagers to
know about the game and how it is played allowing them a chance to fight back.
What comes next is an interesting tale of courage and determination that will
keep you glued to your seats until the last bowl of the match.
The movie
is 224 minutes long, but trust me it will not bore you at all. The movie has
great story and screenplay that keeps you involved and on the seats for what will
happen next. Produced by Aamir Khan himself and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker,
Lagaan (which means Tax) is one of the recent Indian movies that got nominated
for Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film category in the year 2002. The
movie also won American Choreography Awards in 2002. The movie also won Jury
Award at the Bergen International Film Festival. It was nominated for European
Film Awards and won Audience Award at Leeds International Film Festival and
Locarno International Film Festival and Portland International Film Festival
and many local and national awards.
Well, if you really liked the story and if you have time and want to see it. I am providing a YouTube link below that has the entire movie with English subtitles. You can open it in YouTube window and enjoy it. Above, I have provided an international trailer completely in English so you can watch and get better idea and down here is the full movie.
What a great movie; I love the whole premise of this - the hopeless cause of the underdog can't help but bring out the 'good' in most people, wanting to see the underdogs triumph against the scheming duplicity of their oppressors - a real tear jerking feel good factor to it! At 3:33 when you realise the underdogs have won, it's like watching the Anglo-Indian equivalent of Rocky2 -
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