Lagaan an enjoyable cricket match (film)

Topic started by Siby Koodalloor (@ 61.11.12.9) on Thu Jun 21 04:25:24 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Yesterday I watched Lagaan. The story is that a village youth accepts a challenge from a British Resident of the local Kingdom to play cricket with the British to earn waver from unjust tax.
A 100% entertainer, that is Lagaan and it is long like a cricket match in 3 ¾ hours. It is a boisterous comedy. Under Aamir Khan’s captaincy a patriotic village team progresses providing a show chequered with folk dances, hilarious scenes and copious nationalistic fervour.
Like most other Hindi movies, whose stories were drawn from the anecdotes of pre-independent India’s struggle with colonial British, this movie too pitches fork for nationalistic sentiments, but on a low scale and quite delightfully too.
The story revolves around the pivot of Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), a village lass whose will and determination make a saga for a fiefdom under the British Raj. His leadership in galvanizing a supinely resigned village community to doing things that seemed impossible.
The movie has wonderful songs laced with the simple but rapturing strains of folk music, all done by AR Rehman. And one would be amazed to see some Indipop dances in the village celebration of 19th century’s India!
Though this movie delightfully stands out from the majority mainstream Hindi movies, it has not escaped the too villainous and arrogant-looking portrayal of the colonial masters that has tastelessly cliché marked movies dealing with topics of enslaved India. It also has the formulaic Bhajan-at-the-temple (on evening of the 2nd day of match) with redoubtable Lata rendering it. But that is a well-shot piece with adequate visual play.

The 2nd part of the film is all cricket match but cricket as it is with the Indians, as obsessive and time-killing, it wouldn’t bore them (you) to death. But people who don’t know cricket, who have no interest in cricket, beware!

The film has some refreshingly exhilarating funny scenes like the ‘Pagla Sadhu’ being disturbed by a humming bee, funny batting by village cricket team. The antics of ‘Pagla Sadhu’ are hilarious. I had it with augmented enjoyment as I could get ticket only in the middle rows with the applause and roaring of the every-day cine-goers.
The cast are: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh (new face) Paul Backthorne (the British officer who challenges aamir khan to cricket), Rachel Shelley(who helps out the aamir team in learning cricket and goes out of the way for it). The commentary is provided by Amitabh Bachhan.

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