Movies - Lagaan

	Movies - Lagaan

Lagaan, (लगान, meaning land tax in Hindi) (also known as Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India) is an award winning movie made in India, released on June 1, 2001 and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (the award actually went to No Man's Land
that year). Unusually widely distributed throughout the world, this was for many Westerners the first opportunity to see a genuine Bollywood film in their own movie theaters.

Plot

Lagaan is set in late 19th century India. Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne), the vicious commanding officer of a British cantonment, oppresses the people of the region with high taxes (lagaan) while they are also suffering under an unusual drought. Impulsively, Russell offers the peasants of nearby village Champaner a wager: he will cancel the taxes of the whole province for three years if a village team can beat his men at cricket—a sport hitherto unknown to the villagers. Led by the courageous Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) and helped by the officer's good-hearted sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), the villagers start training for the cricket match that will decide their fate.

Film style

The film is generally a dramatic musical. However Bollywood and Indian cinema in general has a very distinct way of pacing its musical numbers. Indian culture has always been very richly musical, and films like Lagaan show this to great extent. Despite some of the film's supposed hokeyness, the movie has generally been regarded with high praise for its vibrant atmosphere and exciting storytelling, and its hokeyness may even be considered one of its strengths. Influential critic Roger Ebert in a largely positive review called the movie 'surprisingly entertaining' and stating that the film 'succeeds in being suspenseful at the same time it's frivolous and obvious'. Ebert placed particular praise on the use of Indian landscapes and compared it to other period epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago
.

Lagaan along with Dil Chahta Hai
released later that year had a considerable impact on the Indian audiences who were plain tired of the stale formulaic films of old. The originality of the story influenced other directors and members of the film fraternity to experiment with newer stories and different film styles.

Awards and nominations

2002 Oscar Nominated for Best Foreign Film
2002 National Film Awards, India Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film
2002 National Film Awards, India Best Music Director - A.R.Rahman
2002 Filmfare Award Best Actor: Aamir Khan
2002 Filmfare Award Best Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
2002 Filmfare Award Best Film
2002 Filmfare Award Best Music - A.R.Rahman
2002 Filmfare Award Best Playback Singer Male - Udit Narayan
For the song "Mitwa Re"
2002 Filmfare Award Best Story
2002 Locarno International Film Festival Audience Award
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Actor - Aamir Khan
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Debut - Female Gracy Singh
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Director - Ashutosh Gowariker
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Film - Ashutosh Gowariker
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Lyricist - Javed Akhtar For the song "Radha Kaise Na Jale".
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Music Director - A.R. Rahman
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer Female - Asha Bhosle
For the song "Radha Kaise Na Jale".
2002 Zee Cine Award Best Story - Ashutosh Gowariker

Cast and crew

Crew

Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Music Director: A. R. Rahman
Lyricist: Javed Akhtar
Producer: Aamir Khan

Cast

Aamir Khan as "Bhuvan"
Gracy Singh
as "Gauri"
Rachel Shelley
as "Elizabeth Russell"
Paul Blackthorne
as "Captain Andrew Russell"
Suhasini Mulay
as "Yashodamai"
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
as "Raja Puran Singh"
Raghuvir Yadav
as "Bhura"
Rajesh Vivek as "Guran"
Raj Zutshi as "Ismail"
Pradeep Rawat as "Deva"
Daya Shankar Pandey as "Goli"
Yashpal Sharma as "Lakha"
Amin Hajee as "Bagha"
Aditya Lakhia as "Kachra"
A.K. Hangal as "Shambukaka"

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Lagaan ]

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