Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2002)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Lagaan is film that I watched without any expectation and it absolutely blew my mind.The film revolves around three characters Bhuvan played by Aamir Khan,Gauri played by Gracy Singh and Elizabeth played by Rachel Shelley.The film's central character is Bhuvan,who is a spirited and outstanding young man who firmly stands for the rights of the villagers who are oppressed by their British dictators.Lagaan was a tax that was a compulsory payment at the time of British rule.The price of tax increased at the will of the British and people couldn't afford to pay their taxes.Village people had to starve to pay their taxes.Therefore,the young and brave Bhuvan made a deal that the British would waive the tax of villagers on the fate of cricket match.This is the main plot of the story and the rest of the parts make up the movie. The first frame of the movie explains the meaning of Lagaan and setting the tone of the 19th century in India.The first few frames of the film showed the beautiful Indian villages in the late 19th century and immediately setting the tone for the audience to pull them into the ancient Indian world.The film took its time to introduce its characters to the audience to firmly understand the sentiments of the Indians during that time.The important characters who were Bhuvan and Gauri were introduced first in the opening scenes while the character of Elizabeth was introduced later on.Along with these three main characters,there were more than ten characters which had important dialogues throughout the film. The first positive that I noticed from the beginning is the lush cinematography of the film.The man behind the camera deserves all my salutes for really raising the bars in the level of making films.The camera angles in the day time and the aerial shots of the village were excellent.The use of color and the tone of cinematography really brought me back to that time zone.The second positive was the art design the of the film.The art director deserves all credits for creating sets that looked and felt real.The sets of the villages and the palaces were really beautiful and made me feel that I was in that period.Coming the curtain raiser,the performances of the cast.The life of the this film,actor and producer Aamir Khan.Aamir Khan absolutely lived his character as Bhuvan throughout this film.He has outclassed himself in this film.The film showcased his full acting potential and great credit has to go to the director for pulling this off.His eyes in this film were razor sharp absolutely piercing through the lenses directly into the hearts of the audience.The dialogue delivery by him was simply hard hitting an sitting in the hearts of those watching.Hats off.The other actors Gracy and Rachel did an outstanding job in portraying the characters.Other smaller characters really made a standout performance throughout the film as well.The people in the village and the British actors completely gave life to and done justice to the roles given by the director.They acted their hearts out. A.R Rahman the two time Academy award winner in 2008,yet again proved why the Oscar's needed him in 2002 itself.The background score of this film was absolutely a bliss to hear and in a class on its own.This was one of the very few Indian films where I enjoyed every single song because of its inspiring and spirit lifting lyrics,my personal favorite in "Mitwa".Some songs made me laugh and some made me cry.The only reason has to be the hearty composition of a man who had his full dedication,hats off for this gem. Finally,a man who I really needed to salute,director Ashutosh Gowariker.He has revolutionized Indian cinema with his creation.It was no surprise that this is the only Indian movie till date that has been nominated in an Academy award and a deserving special mention in that award.It might not have won the award,but it certainly won everybody's hearts and the person to stand behind is Ashutosh Gowariker.Hats off to you. Lagaan is about hope, courage, fighting against injustice, the human spirit and about Indians.This is one the very few movies that I can call a masterpiece just because of its magnanimous spirit lifting story line.Lagaan is a film that teaches Indian films where I enjoyed every single song because of its inspiring and spirit lifting lyrics,my personal favorite is "Mitwa".Some songs made me laugh and some made me cry.The only reason has to be the hearty composition of a man who had his full dedication,hats off for this gem. Finally,a man who I really needed to salute,director Ashutosh Gowariker.He has revolutionized Indian cinema with his creation.It was no surprise that this is the only Indian movie till date that has been nominated in an Academy award and a deserving special mention in that award.It might not have won the award,but it certainly won everybody's hearts and the person to stand behind is Ashutosh Gowariker.Hats off to you. Lagaan is about hope, courage, fighting against injustice, the human spirit and about Indians.This is one the very few movies that I can call a masterpiece just because of its magnanimous spirit lifting story line.Lagaan is a film that teaches unity and harmony to all,thank you Ashutosh,for this master touch.

This is the story about the resilience shown by the Indians when they were under the British Rule. They are already taxed to the bone by the British and their cronies, but when Jack Russell announces that he will double the Lagaan (tax) from all villagers, they decide to oppose it.So, Aamir Khan seems to be in every Indian film, and every Indian film seems to be three to four hours long. And often for no reason. This is another one of those.I appreciate the idea of having a film made by Indians about the Indian resistance to British rule. There is certainly more to that story than simply "Gandhi". But the Bollywood way of telling these stories just ruins them. Would people fighting against their oppression really burst into song at random times? No.

"Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" is an Indian musical movie in which we watch the people of a small village in Victorian India try to survive due to difficult circumstances. In these difficulties came one more about the taxes and everything will be judged on a game of cricket between the locals and the British.I liked this movie because it was something different for me and I found it very interesting and beautiful. I also liked this movie because of the plot and the storyline. The direction which made by Ashutosh Gowariker was magnificent and equally good was the music and dancing. About the interpretations I have to mention the interpretation of Aamir Khan who played as Bhuvan and he was simply outstanding. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned are Paul Blackthorne's who played as Captain Andrew Russell and of course the beautiful's Rachel Shelley's who played as Elizabeth Russell.Finally I have to say that "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" is a very interesting movie to watch because it shows what happened to India in the Victorian times. What difficulties Indian people got through and how were their lives back then. Musical movies are different than the classic movies but I believe that this movie is not just a musical movie because it teaches us many things about India and its culture.

The year is 1893 in a small village in the heart of India. A British Cantonment bordered the village. They protect the local Raja from neighboring Rajas as well as the other Rajas. So they are able to demand Lagaan (tax) from the hard-upon local villagers. There is a drought but the cruel arrogant Captain Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne) doesn't care and doubles the Lagaan. Local villager Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) rallies the villagers to appeal to the Raja. There they witness their first game of cricket played by the British. Russell offers to forgive the Lagaan for the entire province for the next three years if Bhuvan can lead a team to beat the British. If the villagers lose, he will triple the Lagaan. Few villagers believe in the gamble except for Gauri (Gracy Singh) who loves Bhuvan. The captain's sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) comes to teach the hopeless villagers how to play the foreigner's game.Indian movies are not usually my thing but this one works very well. I'm still not a big fan of the Bollywood song and dance. However the story works here. The Captain is a bit of a cartoon who needs to be a better villain. The love story is good but the love triangle needs to hold off its resolution. The game is pretty much a Bad News Bear situation where all the disparate players join together. The game is interesting. They made it compelling and almost understandable.