Lagaan
Screening: 15th May 2004
India 2001
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Leading players ~ Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley.
Synopsis
An Indian village in the 1890s. A punitive tax - the “lagaan” of the title - imposed by the colonial British military rulers is all the worse for the recent drought. In response to their protests the commanding officer gives the villagers a sporting chance - if they beat his soldiers at cricket the lagaan is annulled but if they lose it’s tripled. However it’s not much of a sporting chance as they’ve never played cricket.Cue music, cue dance, cue Bollywood as politics, history, love and melodrama (brave underdogs and cruel overlords) play their way through nearly four hours of enchanting cinema.
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The film won seven 2001 Filmfare Awards, the Indian version of the Oscar, including Best Film and Best Actor for Khan who plays the Indian rebel leader.It also received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Feature. Has watching village cricket ever been so much fun and won so much critical acclaim?
