Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India

views updated

Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India ★★ 2001 (PG)

Bollywood musical set in 1893, in the drought-striken village of Champaner. The lagaan is a tax levied by the occupying British on the local rajahs, which the village can't pay. The region's nasty British commander, Captain Russell (Blackthorne), states that if the villagers can beat his soldiers at cricket, the lagaan will be cancelled for three years; if they lose, the lagaan will be tripled. Heroic Bhuvan (Khan) persuades the locals that even if they don't understand the game, they can certainly show those arrogant Brits a thing or two! English, Hindi and Bhojpuri with subtitles. 225m/C DVD . IN Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbashan Kharbanda, Raghuvir Yadav; D: Ashutosh Gowariker; W: Ashutosh Gowariker, Kumar Dave, Sanjay Dayma, K.P. Saxena; C: Anil Mehta; M: A.R. Rahman.

More From encyclopedia.com