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Lagaan Movie Review

Lagaan is a 2001 Bollywood historical sports musical film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starring Aamir Khan. It’s a familiar, but highly entertaining movie.

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“Whether you support me or not,

Kachra will play“

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During the British Raj, a farmer named Bhuvan accepts the challenge of Captain Andrew Russell to beat his team in a game of cricket and enable his village to not pay taxes for the next three years. This movie is one of the most famous in the history of Bollywood cinema, and it’s easy to see why. It has widespread appeal, so that there is hardly anybody who cannot find it enjoyable.

The movie is very familiar in most of its plot beats, but this is a Bollywood movie, meaning that it has that genre-bending edge that significantly reduced that familiarity factor. There is a lot to unravel here, so here we go. First and foremost, this is a sports movie, and right off the bat (pun intended), that’s the least interesting part of the movie as I am not a sports fan and these movies are usually typical underdog success stories.

Still, there is a lot of joy to be had with the Indians winning this cricket game. The whole getting the team together and learning how to play was the most endearing part of this storyline and the conclusion was rousing despite it being expected. My only issue here is that the game itself lasted for way too long, so that its impact was blunted. And cricket is still puzzling to me.

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The movie is also a very moving historical picture that deals with British colonization of India in a very emotional manner. Seeing how all of these cantonments work was interesting and the film is definitely a strong epic that has a big patriotic quality to it, which is in this instance understandable.

There is another big component to the film and this is the musical romance component. The movie is sort of a love triangle, and I actually really liked that element. Again, it’s nothing new, but it’s so well executed that it was easy to fall in love with these characters and their relationships.

As for the musical numbers, they are among the best when it comes to Bollywood music. Though somewhat too modern, the songs were so breezy, catchy and just fun. They are very long, but the dance choreography is excellent and the songs have a very energetic beat to them.

Aamir Khan not only acted, but he produced Lagaan as well. He is such a huge star in India and it’s great seeing him somewhat earlier in his career. He is reliably charming and charismatic and a true star throughout. Gracy Singh is also terrific as his love interest and the interactions between the two are very endearing and lovely. I loved their romance.

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The comedic sidekicks are fun and the whole cricket team is very goofy and fun. The humor in the movie is quite strong. The British characters are also well realized, at least the two main ones. Andrew is one-note, but memorable in his villainy while Elizabeth is so wonderful and likable. Lagaan is also very well scored and well written, but the 4-hour runtime was mostly not earned as clearly some scenes here and there could have been shortened.