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Lagaan Details

2001 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 4318 members

Considered to be a modern classic of Indian cinema, LAGAAN is a musical drama which tells the story of a central Indian farming village in 1893. The village waits for the monsoons to come and rain on its crops, but the ground remains dry and infertile. Meanwhile, British ruler Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) demands lagaan--.. Read more

Starring Aamir Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rachel Shelley
Director Ashotosh Gowariker
Genres Drama, Indian Cinema

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Lagaan

Considered to be a modern classic of Indian cinema, LAGAAN is a musical drama which tells the story of a central Indian farming village in 1893. The village waits for the monsoons to come and rain on its crops, but the ground remains dry and infertile. Meanwhile, British ruler Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) demands lagaan--or double normal taxes--from the villagers. When it becomes clear that they can't pay, Russell challenges the villagers to a game of cricket, a game they know nothing about. Teaching the villagers about the game falls on the shoulders of farmer Bhuvan (Aamir Khan). As they begin to learn, the villagers are inspired to go up against Russell, with tax negotiation as the stakes for the game. Full of choreographed musical numbers and climaxing in a pulse-pounding cricket match, LAGAAN is a fun, heartwarming British/Indian production that should have no difficulties translating across other national borders.

Starring Aamir Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rachel Shelley
Director Ashotosh Gowariker
Studio SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 3 hrs 36 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Genres Drama, Indian Cinema
Language DVD: Hindi
Dubbed English
Subtitles DVD: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish
Released DVD: not available
Production year: 2001
Format DVD

  • Most helpful member's review of Lagaan

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  • 55 out of 96 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    A golden duck

    I find the rave reviews of this overlong (3 hours plus!) and painfully predictable film mystifying. If, like me, you are a moderate cricket fan, you are better off watching a real game. If you were hoping for a fresh take on British imperialism in India, forget it. True, there are some decent Bollywood song and dance set pieces, but this is not enough to overcome the tedium. As for the outcome of the life-or-death match, the film’s dramatic centre point, anyone over the age of 10 would have guessed before it had even started. That’s particularly disappointing after wading through the lumbering plot and mind-numbingly dull stereotypes (brave but downtrodden Indian villagers/ nasty pooterish British).

    The cricketing action is absurd, an overblown mix of sub-Murali bowling actions, swash-buckling slogging, dropped catches, pompous umpiring and OTT celebrations on the fall of a wicket. There was even a match commentator, despite the game taking place in 1877! The six-off-the-final-ball climax, with the future food supply of an entire Indian province hanging in the balance, should have been nerve-jangling. Instead it was lame in the extreme. I much preferred the recent British film, Wondrous Oblivion, which, despite the cliches, convincingly shows how cricket, and therefore all sport, can help overcome prejudice and build bridges between different peoples.

      • mozdoz from London
      • Posted 19 Jul 2004 14:08

  • Most recent members' review of Lagaan

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  • 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    A great character driven story

    Lagaan is an old fashioned feel-good musical story, with a lot of colourful and fun characters, and in general a lot of fun itself and rich in culture. It takes you back to the golden days of Hollywood, when filmakers would be much more imaginative, colourful and human with their stories. You can really let go with this escapist Indian fantasy.Time really does fly by you.

      • Raj from England
      • Posted 14 May 2005 03:11

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Rating breakdown

4,318 Member ratings
  • 100
886
  • 90
522
  • 80
800
  • 70
591
  • 60
474
  • 50
297
  • 40
197
  • 30
198
  • 20
234
  • 10
119

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      Considered to be a modern classic of Indian cinema, LAGAAN is a musical drama which tells the story of a central Indian farming village in 1893. The village waits for the monsoons to come and rain on its crops, but the ground remains dry and infertile. Meanwhile, British ruler Captain Russell (Paul ...