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By PAUL BRENNER
Would you ever believe in a million years that you'd ever love a four-hour Bollywood musical about
a cricket match? See the Columbia/Tri-Star release "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" and you'll be a believer.
"Lagaan" is a spectacular crowd-pleaser, directed by first-time director Ashutosh Gowariker like Josh Logan and David
Lean meet Krishna. Taking place in Champaner, "a small village in the heart of India," in 1893, the film stars Indian
matinee idol Aamir Khan as the too-good-to-be-true hero Bhuvan, who convinces the local villagers to "come together to
form a fist" and challenge the arrogant, effete, supercilious British colonial rulers to a winner-take-all cricket
match. If they win, they don't have to pay taxes ("lagaan") to the British occupiers for three years. If they lose, they
have to pay triple lagaan, a debt that would ruin the villagers.
"Lagaan" has it all – exciting action, rousing production numbers, an attractive love triangle. Not only that but the
film swirls into the entertainment broth pointed criticisms of western imperialism, the Indian caste system, the role of
women in a repressive society, and instructions for the locals to "learn the game" in order to defeat western invaders.
"Lagaan" plays the Hollywood game and succeeds in going Hollywood one (or two) better. "Lagaan" is the best Hollywood
summer movie in years and it comes at a fraction of Hollywood production costs from Bombay. And if all that were not
enough, "Lagaan" offers something more – you'll find out more about cricket that you'll ever want to know.
The special features include filmographies and a deleted scene. |
