Movie: Lagaan
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Genre: Drama, Musical and Romance
Time: 2001
Stars: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh and Rachel Shelly

Snapshot of the story

This is based on a true story during the British rule in India. Ashutosh Gowarikar has worked well on the plot where Bhuvan (Played by Aamir Khan) assemble a cricket team against Captain Russell’s challenge to play a cricket match to cancel the land tax. Land tax called as “Lagaan” is something which was been forced by the British regime on locals as protection money during their rule in India.

Theme of Story

It has been two yeas since there was no rain in the village “Champaner” and as a result farmers could not harvest the crop and and with no business in these two year civilians were not able to pay land tax “Lagaan” to the British regime. This time captain Russell was in no mood to waive the tax and challenged Bhuvan to play a cricket match as he is confident that villagers do not have any idea about the sport. The bet goes like this if the villager wins then British regime would cancel the “Lagaan” and if the villagers loses then they have to pay three times of annual “Lagaan”. This sets the mood of the film for the audience as Bhuvan starts assembling a team which can give a tough fight. Bhuvan believes that they can win this game as the game was very similar to Indian “gilli-danda” and to learn this game came in the help from captain’s sister Elizabeth (Played by Rachel Shelley). Story also has the love triangle as Rachel started to like Bhuvan while teaching the basics of the game and on the other side Gauri (played by Gracy Singh) liked him since childhood.

The High Time

The story takes a dramatic turn with the cricket match and offers the twist in the story and ends with a nail biting finish when Bhuvan hits the much needed “Six” (Like a home run in baseball) and wins the match for the local team.

On Screen Chemistry

Aamir Khan is called as Mr. Perfectionist of Indian cinema (Bollywood) and did prove this with his performance in “Lagaan”. The movie does not have a strong story line but a strong direction by Ashutosh Gowarikar, brilliant screen play, best cinematography and best music by Oscar award winner A.R. Rahman which became an instant hit. “Lagaan” was nominated as best foreign film in the 74th Academy awards (2002).

The Happy Ending

After wining the contest Captain Russell has to cancel the “Lagaan” (land tax) to “Champaner” villagers, and when this news reach the British high command they do not over rule the challenge but did announce the transfer order of campaign Russell. Bhuvan and Gauri find their true love for each other but for Elizabeth it was an heart broken affair.

Conclusion

The movie gives a clear message that even if you are not going through the best of time and situations are against you and even with nature not on your side, you can still come out standing tall and confidence and believe that nothing is impossible.

Rating
8.5/10

Lagaan Video on YouTube

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