Lagaan:
Once Upon a Time in India, directed by Shutosh
Gowariker, is a musical, complete with ragas and choreography,
about a mythical event that takes place in the British cantonment
of Champaner (actually filmed in Kutch) during 1893. Musicals
tend to have cardboard roles, a comicbook story, exaggerated
emotions, and sharp contrasts between good and evil characters,
and Lagaan is no exception, so audiences
will occasionally laugh joyously in the most melodramatic
parts of the story. The plot is simple. Arrogant Captain Andrew
Russell (played by Paul Blackthorne), the commanding officer
of the cantonment at Champaner, is fully aware that continued
drought makes difficult payment of the annual lagaan
(tax). As the British engaged in indirect rule of India, the
local Rajah (played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda) must collect
the tax, which is assessed to pay the British military stationed
at Champaner and elsewhere. One day, Russell tells the Rajah
that he will waive the tax if the latter will break his religious
vows and eat a piece of meat; the Rajah refuses, even when
Russell says that the tax will be doubled unless he submits.
Thus, the Rajah must inform farmers in the region, who cannot
possibly pay, that the year's assessment has been doubled.
When a group of farmers goes to see the Rajah to plea for
him to lower the tax, which of course is not a decision that
he can make, they wait while a cricket game is in progress.
When Bhuvan (played by Aamir Khan) criticizes the sport as
"silly," Russell overhears. Accordingly, Russell
issues a challenge: If a team comprising members of the native
population defeats the British of the cantonment in a game
of cricket within three months, no taxes will be collected
for three consecutive years; if the British win, however,
taxes will be tripled. After hesitating at first, Bhuvan accepts
the challenge, though he knows little about the sport.. Russell's
unmarried sister Elizabeth (played by Rachel Shelley) objects
that the challenge is unfair and later visits Bhuvan's team
to provide instruction about the rules and finer points of
the game. At first she does so secretly, but when Russell
learns of her assistance to the team, she continues defiantly.
Meanwhile, Gauri (played by Gracy Singh) is eager to marry
Bhuvan, who is reluctant to get hitched, but after the challenge
her support wins the affection of Bhuvan, whose kind and eloquent
manner soon causes Elizabeth to fall in love, too. A cricket
team has eleven players, so Bhuvan has the difficult job of
recruiting villagers who know nothing about the game. In so
doing, he breaks down traditional barriers when Ismail, a
Moslem, joins the team, and he even taps Kachra, an untouchable,
who is only accepted by the rest of the team after Bhuvan
makes an eloquent plea, obviously aimed at Hindu militants
in India today. Meanwhile, Russell's superiors hear of his
challenge, summon him, and give him a dressing down, fearful
that all throughout India the native population will learn
cricket and avoid taxes in the same manner. So they tell him
that if the farmers of Champaner win, the taxes will be collected
from his paycheck and he will be reassigned to a post in Central
Africa. When the game begins, his superiors attend along with
British umpires, demonstrating that Russell is the only asshole
despite the intense hatred expressed by several Indian men
toward the colonial overlords, whose taxes support their unwelcome
colonial presence in the country. The outcome of the game
is no surprise, though suspenseful until the last run. Russell
is indeed reassigned, and Elizabeth returns to London to nurse
her unrequited love after the glorious wedding of Bhuvan and
Gauri. Although Lagaan is approximately
four hours long, the pace is so rapid that the intermission
seems less for weary eyes than for popcorn concession consumerism.
Musically, the film is the best of the year so far. MH
I
want to comment on this film
