Movie: Lagaan

Actors: Aamir Khan, Gracie Singh
Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar, Producer: Aamir Khan



Writer/Director: Ashutosh Gowariker

Actors: Aamir Khan

Gracy Singh

Rachel Shelly

Paul Blackthorne



Music Director: A.R. Rahman Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Website: www.lagaan.com

On a recent Friday evening, I sat in a cinema theatre watching Lagaan. Friends had watched it earlier and recommended it — so, in spite of a strong resolution to never again subject my son and myself to Indian cinema, we were here. My worries about violence and lewd histrionics dissolved almost immediately into rapt attention. I wasn’t alone since the guy next to me smiled and clapped his hands in spontaneous joy at a scene. His exclamation was the same as mine. And ours was similar to the two ladies in the front of the hall. A small group of South Asian migrants and visitors to Canada sat enthralled in a little cinema. What is the reason for the widespread appeal of this movie to a South Asian public brought up on a diet of Hindi movies rife with sexual innuendo and substandard story lines? What has wooed people? Of-course, I have a theory or two.

Cinema is a major cultural artefact. Like Cinema from many other cultures, Hindi Cinema has also focused on themes of injustice, romantic love, poverty, albeit crudely and simplistically. In comparison with standard Indian fare, this movie enjoys a higher level of sophistication, in line with a more contemporary treatment of the theme of injustice. Its depth of research, script and authenticity of acting is arresting. Instead of playing with one-dimensional caricatures the creators have sought to develop characters. Instead of a plastic flick about the return of the NRI to India, the audience is treated to a real story in the grand old tradition of a solid yarn. Yes, yes, but what is really special?

The fact that it shows a clash of cultures, without tampering with the cultural facts of the time. Its relative restraint cuts through the morass of forgettable junk we watch in the hope for entertainment from India. It appeals to a very wide audience—across many boundaries, as the plot is kept simple and most of the production has focused on making sure the story knits well. A detail I found noteworthy was the lack of rubber on the villager’s cricket bats—which is why their bats slipped more. It made sense, since villagers can’t realistically get rubber for the handles. Because of its better focus and attention to detail, the audience can dive right in and live out the characters as one of us, our very own.

The Fereengi (foreigner) is part of our common history. The Fereengi always won and still does; the Fereengi’s culture is stronger—it has always been that we always had to adapt to their culture; so this attempt to create a fantasy fight showing us as we really were before we became ‘civilized’ and learnt hinglish appeals immensely. The moment the audience caught on ----this is us, brown, naked, underfed, ignorant, but with the spirit and the native intelligence to fight—the movie caught you and took you away to 1893 hoping for rain. A social psychologist might say that the movie reflects the desire to reinvent our image from apathetic ignoramuses who let another civilization dominate them to a more positive one. All I know is that it is all to the good. If India produces more movies as authentic as this, Indian Cinema looks set to become the most humanistic cinema of this century leaving the acidic, clinical and impersonal style of modern Western cinema behind.

The humour of the movie reminded me of Asterix the Gaul. There are many parallels in the movie to this delightfully clever comic strip, especially the tiny village persevering against a dominant invader and the humorous painting of the characters. The leadership of Aamir Khan is so like little Asterix himself—persevering against impossible odds. I loved the movie, and will happily go off to watch it again for its nail-biting cricket match, its songs, its innocent villagers who are my very own—especially Kachra (garbage collector), and Guran (the hilarious wise man). I loved its sweet love story, the home made cricket equipment, its spirit of hope and its gorgeous songs that just cannot be praised too much. Aah, for a cotton ghagra and chunri. Or maybe a ball gown swishing on a wooden floor. The movie carries you away to another world and keeps you there for a long while.

I happily recommend it to all people starved for some light and air in their dull cubicle lives. Even the subtitles have been carefully written and the translation is authentic, for those who cannot follow the Awadhi tongue. And don’t forget to take your kids along for some family fun and an opening for a conversation on colonial history. My almost seven-year old son loved it and sat at the edge of his seat during the match, rooting for Kachra. Thankfully, violence is limited to a few slaps and yells, and these can be forgotten.