Lagaan | Film Review | Slant Magazine

FILM MOVIE REVIEW

Lagaan **½

by Ed Gonzalez on April 12, 2002 Jump to Comments (0) or Add Your Own

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The EBE (Evil British Empire) has recently laid claim to a small village in central India. No doubt bored out of his mind, the moustache-twirling Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) cripples the town's villagers by demanding lagaan (triple tax). Silly Russell underestimates the wily Indians by challenging them to a game of cricket—no lagaan if they win, double lagaan if they lose. Led by a sexy farmer (Aamir Khan), a group of men fight and conquer the EBE as well as their own hypocritical caste system. There's back-stabbing, inter-racial desire and, most importantly, singing and dancing. Beyond Lagaan's incredibly long dry spells are the fabulous Bollywood musical numbers that celebrate the film's broad intertexual themes. These moments are so exuberant, life-affirming and deliciously campy you might forget that you've been forced to watch a four-hour cricket match. Oh, if Scarlett O'Hara had only known the words to "Ghanan Ghanan."

Director(s): Ashutosh Gowariker
Screenplay: Kumar Dave, Sanjay Dayma, Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raghuvir Yadav, Rajendra Gupta, Rajesh Vivek, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Javed Khan, Raj Zutshi, Akhilendra Mishra
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Runtime: 225 min.
Rating: PG
Year: 2001