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Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

 -  Adventure | Drama | Musical  -  8 May 2002 (USA)
8.1
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Ratings: 8.1/10 from 24,476 users   Metascore: 84/100
Reviews: 221 user | 67 critic | 21 from Metacritic.com

The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers...

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(story), (screenplay), 3 more credits »
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Title: Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

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Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 44 wins & 19 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Gracy Singh ...
...
...
Suhasini Mulay ...
Yashodamai
...
Rajah Puran Singh
Raghuvir Yadav ...
Bhura (as Raghuveer Yadav)
Rajendra Gupta ...
Mukhiya
Rajesh Vivek ...
Guran
Shri Vallabh Vyas ...
Ishwar (as Sri Vallabh Vyas)
Javed Khan ...
Ram Singh
...
Ismail (as Raj Zutshi)
Akhilendra Mishra ...
Arjan
Daya Shankar Pandey ...
Goli
Yashpal Sharma ...
Lakha
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Storyline

This is the story about the resilience shown by the Indians when they were under the British Rule. They are already taxed to the bone by the British and their cronies, but when Jack Russell announces that he will double the Lagaan (tax) from all villagers, they decide to oppose it. Leading the villagers is a handsome young man named Bhuvan, who challenges them to a game of cricket, a game that is to be played by veteran British cricket players, versus villagers, including Bhuvan himself, who have never played this game before, and do not even know a bat from a piece of wood. As the challenge is accepted, the interest grows and attracts Indians from all over the region, as well as the British from all over the country - as everyone gathers to see the 'fair play' that the British will display against their counter-parts, who are aided by none other than the sister, Elizabeth, of Captain Rusell. Written by Sumitra (corrected by Sonia)

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

british | villager | village | land tax | rain | See more »

Taglines:

Once upon a time in India


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language and some violence | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

| | |

Release Date:

8 May 2002 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Lagaan  »

Filming Locations:


Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Bollywood production in 30 years to use synchronized sound. An Arri535 camera, brought over from Germany, was used to facilitate sync-sound recording. Most Indian films are dubbed entirely in the studio in the process known as ADR. See more »

Goofs

After the first day's play, the direction of light-and-shade don't seem to correlate to the time-of-day (may be this is continuity?) See more »

Quotes

[Gauri is walking away in tears, Bhuvan shouts after her]
Bhuvan: Hey Gauri! There's only one house in the village with a neem tree in the yard. There's also a big field beside it. There's some chickens, two cows, and three goats. And I know whose house that is! It's mine, you silly girl! One thing before you go. Mother likes you, too!
See more »

Connections

Featured in 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

"O Rey Chhori"
Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Performed by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Vasundhara Das
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Boy, was I surprised!
1 March 2002 | by See all my reviews

Okay, I am not from India, not even close. I am from Scandinavia. Before Lagaan I had never watched any Hindi movies of any kind. I know about 3 words from the hindi language. And I don't like musicals much. I viewed the movie on a DVD of rather poor quality compared to the state of the art DVDs I am used to. And I was told the movie lasted close to 4(!) hours... I figured this would be a complete waste of time... BOY was I wrong! This movie is completely the opposite! It is just amazing! Mr. Gowariker has selected an incredible cast with Aamir Khan in the lead. He makes an stunning performance as the village rebel, Bhuvan. He tries to unite the village in a struggle for life against the greedy Britons. The Britons exploit the villages by collecting lagaan (tax). This means that most of the harvest surplus is gone and there is just enough left for food for the farmers themselves. It's a classic war between "David", the native villagers of India, and "Goliath", the powerful and greedy Britons. But what makes it really interesting is that this war is fought in a Cricket arena. This is a challenge from the Britons, who are well known with Cricket, against the village, where most people have never laid eyes upon a cricket bat. If the villagers win, there will be no lagaan at all, for three years! And if the Britons win, they will collect triple lagaan, which will mean the end of the village. The stakes could not be higher!!

I can't remember a movie being this thrilling and having so much life in it. And the music has a huge impact thanks to the great voices of Udit Narayan, Lata Mangeshkar etc. And the dancing is a chapter in itself! Few or none will leave this movie not remembering the song "Mitwa, sun Mitwa". It is a must see for everyone, inside and outside of India. And this movies has been totally righteously nominated for an Oscar too, and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes all the way to the top. It has my vote! It gets 10 out of 10 from me. Excellent!


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