Aug 10, 2001 09:10 PM
1891 Views
May I be allowed as a Westerner and a dhorio (White) to add my two-penny worth of comment to all the praise and excellent reviews from Ms members that have been heaped upon this film.
Being a European but married to someone of Indian extraction,I must see far more Bollywood productions than the average(white) man in the street. Few Indian films get any sort of national coverage in the British press and even less get onto the mainstream cinema circuit.Most will eventually be shown sub-titled (thank goodness) at an ungodly time of night on U.K television which allows one to video-tape them and watch them at your leisure.
I have to admit now after many years of ''training'' to find a lot of them very enjoyable,especially the dancing scenes where the Star Trek transporter is used to move the cast to far-flung locations within a matter of a few minutes!
I do not write many reviews and when I do I generally spend a fair bit of time on them,altering,adding and amending until I get them just right.This review of ''Lagaan'' is the first that I will have written straight off so excuse me if it is not as fluently put down in writing as some of my others.
Why should I say that I`m writing this with no preparation?For the simple reason that we saw this film at the cinema last night and I was so overwhelmed by it that I felt I had to put words down on screen whilst it was still fresh in my mind.
I do not want to dwell upon the story,more about that later,but would like to say something about feelings,for we men are usually not to good at expressing them.For about 3hr and 45 minutes I was thoroughly entertained.It was a fairy tale of a story with melodrama,baddies getting their cum-uppance,good triumphing over evil,beautiful maidens,handsome and dashing heroes,heart-warming story-lines,fantastic dance scenes,comical characters,caste and religion being put aside for the common cause and not to forget action even if the battle does take place on a cricket pitch.
For all you Westerners who know nothing of the film it is set in British Imperial India in 1893.The evil british captain whose district it is imposes a double tax or lagaan on the area.This is paid in grain but as it has not rained for ages the impoverished villagers tell him it is impossible to pay.The fool-hardy,handsome young hero of our film (Aamir Khan,who also produced) gets up the nose of the captain with the result that a challenge is issued on a cricket match between the villagers and the local British Officers.If they win,the villagers will pay no tax or lagaan for 3 years but the sting is that if the British win the tax will be tripled!It is of course impossible to contemplate the British losing at their own sport,especially as the locals have never played before!
Our hero does get help from the captains sister,a beautiful young English girl who naturally falls for him and also teaches him the fundamentals of the game.The climax of the film is the match itself.Don`t worry if you know ziltch about cricket for you can learn along with the villagers as they pick up the game.!
In no time at all you will be totally absorbed in this film.You will hardly notice the sub-titles as the Indians speak and of course the British speak the Queen`s English amongst themselves.
If you get the chance see this film.It is a hugely spectacular production set in visually stunning country-side.Epic cinema at it`s best.I must see it again one day.Make sure that you have enough pop-corn and soft drinks to accompany the viewing.
