Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

Director:

Ashutosh Gowariker

Writers:

Ashutosh Gowariker (story)
Ashutosh Gowariker (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Once upon a time in India

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

British | Villager | Land Tax | Rain | 1890s

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 44 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Aamir Khan	...	Bhuvan
Gracy Singh	...	Gauri
Rachel Shelley	...	Elizabeth Russell
Paul Blackthorne	...	Captain Andrew Russell
Suhasini Mulay	...	Yashodamai
Kulbhushan Kharbanda	...	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
Rajendranath Zutshi	...	Ismail (as Raj Zutshi)
Akhilendra Mishra	...	Arjan
Daya Shankar Pandey	...	Goli
Yashpal Sharma	...	Lakha
Amin Hajee	...	Bagha
Aditya Lakhia	...	Kachra
A.K. Hangal	...	Shambukaka
John Rowe	...	Col. Boyer
David Gant	...	Maj. Warren
Jeremy Child	...	Maj. Cotton
Ben Nealon	...	Lt. Smith
Anupam Shyam	...	Namdeo
Raja Awasthi	...	Ramprasad
Pramatesh Mehta	...	Harikaka
Bhim Vakani	...	Kazi
Amin Gazi	...	Tipu
Anu Ansari	...	Jigni
Parveen Bano	...	Kesarya
Chris England	...	Yardley
Howard Lee	...	Burton
Simon Holmes	...	Brooks
Ray Eves	...	Willis
Jon House	...	North
Neil Patrick	...	Harrisson
Jamie Whitby Coles	...	Wesson
Barry Hart	...	Benson
Alex Shirtcliff	...	Flynn
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Narrator
Pradeep Singh Rawat	...	Sardar (uncredited)

Directed by
Ashutosh Gowariker

Writing credits
Ashutosh Gowariker		(story)
Ashutosh Gowariker		(screenplay) and
Kumar Dave		(screenplay) and
Sanjay Dayma		(screenplay)
K.P. Saxena		(dialogue)

Produced by
Reena Dutta	....	executive producer
Aamir Khan	....	producer

Original Music by
A.R. Rahman

Cinematography by
Anil Mehta

Film Editing by
Ballu Saluja

Casting by
Uma Da Cunha
Danielle Roffe

Production Design by
Nitin Chandrakant Desai

Costume Design by
Bhanu Athaiya

Makeup Department
Nicole Demers	....	makeup designer
Geeta Gujjar	....	assistant hair stylist
Joginder G. Gupta	....	assistant makeup artist
Nitin Indulkar	....	assistant makeup artist
Shobha Kamat	....	assistant hair stylist
S. Maliq	....	wigs
Shrikant More	....	assistant makeup artist
Sharad Pawar	....	assistant makeup artist
Pina Rizzi	....	hair designer
Simmi Shanmughan	....	assistant hair stylist
Sunil Shedge	....	assistant makeup artist
Meera Singh	....	assistant hair stylist
Naresh Tannir	....	assistant makeup artist
Yogesh Yewale	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Nikhat Hegde	....	production manager
Ranjit Indori	....	production manager
Datta Jamkhande	....	production manager
Shamala S. Rao	....	production manager
Akram Shah	....	production manager
Ashok Shinde	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Urvashi Chugani	....	assistant director
Sanjay Dayma	....	chief assistant director
Reema Kagti	....	second assistant director (as Reema Katgi)
Apoorva Lakhia	....	first assistant director
Priyamvada Narayanan	....	assistant director
Kiran Rao	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dhanabhai Ramji Ahir	....	set contractor
Hemant Bhatkar	....	assistant art director
Eknath Kadam	....	assistant art director
Mavji	....	set contractor
Sanjay Panchal	....	assistant art director
Girish Patil	....	assistant art director
Kalpesh Salve	....	assistant art director
Dilip Satam	....	assistant art director
Dhananjay Thorat	....	graphic designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
J.D. Babu	....	Dolby mixing: Prasad Video Digital
Balu	....	foley artist
Michael C.A.	....	sound management and coordination
Stephen Gomes	....	dialogue editor
Stephen Gomes	....	location sound effects editor
Sheikh Gulam Hassan	....	boom operator
Shankar J.	....	sound assistant
Nakul Kamte	....	production sound mixer
Nakul Kamte	....	sound designer
Nakul Kamte	....	sound
Nakul Kamte	....	supervising sound editor
Ashraf Khan	....	second boom operator
V. Kishore	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Kumar	....	foley artist
S. Chandra Kumar	....	Dolby mixing: Prasad Video Digital
Sekar L.	....	sound assistant
Lingam	....	foley artist
Murali	....	foley artist
Karthikeyan N.	....	foley and sfx track laying
T. Kamatchi Nathan	....	audioworks station
Tappas Nayak	....	sound assistant
Nazim Naseer Peshiman	....	second boom operator
C. Sethu	....	foley artist
H. Sridhar	....	final mixing engineer
Baylon Fonseca	....	DTS mix engineer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Vishal Anand	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Sherry Bharda	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Amit Chomal	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Vinit Dutt Mannan	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Sanjay Francis	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Rahul Kallankandy	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Pankaj Khandpur	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Bharat Sachdev	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Piku Shahani	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay
Aquil Unia	....	special effects: Western Outdoor, Bombay

Visual Effects by
Giles Livesey	....	digital film colorist
Satish Ratakonda	....	digital compositor: Mantra-RFC (as Satish Babu)
Vishal Anand	....	senior CGI artist (uncredited)
Shakti Banerjee	....	digital compositor: Mantra-Ramoji Film City (uncredited)

Stunts
Ejaz Gulab	....	assistant action
Javed Karim	....	assistant action
Abbas Ali Moghul	....	action coordinator
Salam	....	assistant action

Camera and Electrical Department
G.R. Adam	....	grip
Nasim Ahmed	....	spot boy
Amina A. Amlani	....	generator operator
P. Amos	....	spot boy
Babu Batliwala	....	spot boy
Paramjit Chawla	....	assistant still photographer
Chandi Das	....	assistant camera: second unit
Mulchand Dedhia	....	gaffer
Anthony Fernandes	....	crane operator
Shivaji Gawda	....	spot boy
Shankar Ghatge	....	spot boy
Kusha Gowda	....	spot boy
Lava Gowda	....	spot boy
Sachin Gowda	....	spot boy
R.J. Gururaj	....	chief camera assistant
Hari	....	spot boy
Tukaram Joshi	....	lighting technician (as Tukaram S. Joshi)
H. Karmali	....	generator operator
Rajesh Khale	....	assistant camera
Nizam Khan	....	lighting technician
Rasool Khan	....	lighting technician
Harindra Kotain	....	spot boy
Krishna	....	assistant camera
Ravi Kuduur	....	crane operator
Rafey Mehmood	....	camera operator: second unit
K.U. Mohanan	....	additional photographer
Namdeo	....	spot boy
Sudhir Palsane	....	camera operator: second unit
Joginder Panda	....	camera operator: second unit
Satyajit Pande	....	assistant camera: second unit
Shiva Poojari	....	spot boy
Rajesh	....	spot boy
Ramana	....	crane operator
Ramprasad	....	assistant camera
Narsimha Reddy	....	assistant camera
Raj Reddy	....	assistant camera
Sampat Roy	....	assistant camera: second unit
Hardeep Singh Sachdev	....	still photographer
Kamlesh Sadrani	....	lighting technician
Abdul Hamid Sheikh	....	lighting technician (as Abdul Hamid Shaikh)
Ashu Solanki	....	assistant camera
Subramanium	....	spot boy
Baban Ganpath Tambe	....	lighting technician (as Baban Tambe)
Lalit Tiwari	....	assistant still photographer
Nagesh S. Vagade	....	lighting technician
Barkhat M. Zaria	....	lighting technician (as Barkat Zaria)

Casting Department
Ashutosh Gowariker	....	casting: Indians
Dinesh Anchan	....	casting associate (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sayed A. Aziz	....	dressman
Seikh Shakil Aziz	....	dressman
Shabbir Baig	....	dressman
Shashikant Dhavan	....	dressman
Rekha Mondal	....	wardrobe in charge
Sayed Raju	....	dressman
M.D. Sanaullah	....	dressman
Shakti Siddhu	....	wardrobe in charge
Kashinath Sutraye	....	dressman

Editorial Department
Haribabu	....	negative cutter
Nanadlal Prasad	....	assistant editor: avid
C.M. Ravichandran	....	color timer
Rajeev Singh	....	editor: steinbeck
Sunil Wadekar	....	assistant editor: steinbeck

Music Department
Asha Bhosle	....	playback singer (as Asha Bhonsle)
Vasundhara Das	....	playback singer
Kishori Gowariker	....	playback singer
Noell James	....	music coordinator
Shankar Mahadevan	....	playback singer
Lata Mangeshkar	....	playback singer
Udit Narayan	....	playback singer
A.R. Rahman	....	playback singer
Sadhana Sargam	....	playback singer
Shaan	....	playback singer
Sukhwinder Singh	....	playback singer (as Sukhvinder Singh)
S. Sivakumar	....	song recordist
H. Sridhar	....	song recordist
Srinivas	....	playback singer
Anuradha Sriram	....	playback singer
Vaishali	....	playback singer
Alka Yagnik	....	playback singer

Transportation Department
Komal Bhatti	....	travel and transportation: Ashapura Tours and Travels
Naresh Gyani	....	travel and transportation: Krishna Internationals

Other crew
Nabeel Abbas	....	media consultant
Nabeel Abbas	....	web site designer
Abdul	....	office boy
Adinath	....	office boy
Richa Arya	....	Bhuj artiste
Sarla Arya	....	Bhuj artiste
Raja Awasthi	....	dialect supervisor: on location
Satyajit Bhatkal	....	production executive
Baby Neha Bhatt	....	Bhuj artiste
Gaurav Bhatt	....	Bhuj artiste
Meera Bhatt	....	Bhuj artiste
Nitin Bhatt	....	Bhuj artiste
Ritu Bhatt	....	Bhuj artiste
Baskar Bhuch	....	Bhuj artiste
Baby Dhara Bijlani	....	Bhuj artiste
Suresh Bijlani	....	Bhuj artiste
Jakraj Boha	....	Bhuj artiste
Simrit Brar	....	publicity design and printing
Bipin Budhbhati	....	Bhuj artiste
Paresh Budhbhati	....	Bhuj artiste
Husaini Budhwani	....	web site designer
Gaurav Chanana	....	studio assistant (as Gaurav)
Mamta Chauhan	....	Bhuj artiste
Chinna	....	assistant choreographer
L.L. Chinyara	....	Bhuj artiste
Sanjeev Chopra	....	accountant
Christopher	....	through MAPS Bangalore
Kumar Dave	....	associate director
Gautham	....	production assistant
Georgé	....	through MAPS Bangalore
Gokul	....	office boy
Atul Gor	....	Bhuj artiste
Adrian Grew	....	through MAPS Bangalore
Rajesh Grover	....	web site designer
Jayesh Hathi	....	Bhuj artiste
Kirti Hathi	....	Bhuj artiste
Ganesh Hegde	....	choreographer: "Mitwa"
Faisal Hindustani	....	web site designer
Imam Husain	....	accountant
Niranjan Iyengar	....	web site copy
Jayanti Lal Jethi	....	Bhuj artiste
Dinkar Jhala	....	Bhuj artiste
Pankaj Jhala	....	local artiste coordinator
Pankash Jhala	....	Bhuj artiste
Master Sagar Joshi	....	Bhuj artiste
Pradeep Joshi	....	Bhuj artiste
Suryanarayanan K.M.	....	chief technical engineer
Ujjwala Kadam	....	web site designer
C.D. Karamshiani	....	Bhuj artiste
Nuzhat Khan	....	subtitling assistant: NFDC
Raju Khan	....	choreographer: "Ghanan, Chale Chalo, O Paalanhaare"
Reshma Khan	....	assistant choreographer
Saroj Khan	....	choreographer: "Radha Kaise Na Jale"
Shaheen Khan	....	accountant
Maliaka Kirtikar	....	accountant
Krishnan	....	production assistant
Kumar	....	studio assistant
Hassan Kutty	....	continuity
Hassan Kutty	....	script supervisor
Terence Lewis	....	choreographer: "Waltz for a Romance"
Mabel	....	assistant choreographer
Dinesh Maheshwari	....	Bhuj artiste
Nanaso Mane	....	web site designer
Kamalji Maru	....	Bhuj artiste
Usha Maru	....	Bhuj artiste
Mehul	....	assistant choreographer
Alnoor Merchant	....	web site designer
Vaibhavi Merchant	....	choreographer: "O Rey Chhori"
Sadruddin Jiva Mistry	....	generator department (as Saddrudin Jiva Mistri)
Noor Mohamed	....	technical assistant
Janakiraman P.	....	technical coordination and disc mastering
Binny Padda	....	promos
Paras	....	generator department
Kishan Poruva	....	generator department (as Kishan)
Rajesh	....	office boy
Ramchandra	....	accountant (as Ramachandran)
Dhruti Rana	....	Bhuj artiste
Samrudhi Rana	....	Bhuj artiste
Seema Rana	....	Bhuj artiste
B. Shrinivas Rao	....	chief executive production
Maithili Rao	....	subtitling: NFDC
Rajendra Rao	....	public relations officer: print media
Ronit Roy	....	security officer
Samidurai	....	studio assistant in charge
Clemintina Santos	....	production assistant
Sathyamoorthy	....	production assistant
K. Satish	....	technical coordination and disc mastering (as Satish K.)
Amin Sayani	....	radio promotions (as Ameen Sayani)
Devang Shah	....	web site designer
Kalpana Shah	....	assistant choreographer
Shakti	....	office boy
Anand Sharma	....	Bhuj artiste
Anand Sharma	....	local artiste coordinator
Geeta Sharma	....	Bhuj artiste
Master Sampan Sharma	....	Bhuj artiste
Vikas Sharma	....	assistant choreographer
Himanshu Sheth	....	television publicity coordinator (as Hemanshu Seth)
Prakash Shukla	....	Bhuj artiste
Vinod Kumar Singh	....	censor: PRO
Hansa Soni	....	Bhuj artiste
Ramesh Sonpal	....	Bhuj artiste
Manoj Sonpar	....	Bhuj artiste
Rajeev Soorti	....	assistant choreographer
Subhash	....	office boy
Arvind Thakar	....	Bhuj artiste
Hency Thakar	....	Bhuj artiste
Jigna Thakar	....	Bhuj artiste
Robin Thakar	....	Bhuj artiste
Ashish Tharthare	....	production executive
Jhelum Tripathi	....	Bhuj artiste
Nidhi Tripathi	....	Bhuj artiste
Baby Brinda Trivedi	....	Bhuj artiste
Girish Trivedi	....	Bhuj artiste
Master Samarth Trivedi	....	Bhuj artiste
Raju Udhasi	....	Bhuj artiste
Unnikrishnan	....	production assistant
C.B. Wadhwa	....	legal consultant
Baba Yadav	....	assistant choreographer (as Baba)
Mohamed Yousuff	....	studio assistant

Thanks
Dhanabhai Ramji Ahir	....	thanks
Amitabh Bachchan	....	thanks (as Shri Amitabh Bachchan)
Bharat Chotani	....	thanks
Maharao Pragmulji III	....	thanks
G. Rao	....	thanks (as Dr. G. Rao)
Nikhil Shah	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Aamir Khan Productions
• Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd.
• Jhamu Sughand Productions (presented by)

Distributors

• Cinema Mondo (2002) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Rézo Films (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• B4U Entertainment
• Columbia TriStar Film (Germany)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2002) (Argentina) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (video)
• Eros International
• Filmfreak Distributie (2003) (Netherlands) (video)
• Keyfilms Roma
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (VHS)
• STAR TV
• Sony Entertainment Television Asia

Special Effects

• Western Outdoor (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Akanksha Travels, Bombay  travel and transportation
• Akash International, Delhi  travel and transportation
• Ashapura Tours & Travels, Bhuj  travel and transportation
• Bakshi Caterers, Delhi  catering
• Bimal Parekh & Co.  chartered accountants
• Blue Moon Caterers, Bhuj  catering
• Carewell Maintenance  housekeeping
• Corporation Bank  banking services
• Crescent Media  web site
• Deutsche Bank  banking services
• Digital Film Lab London  digital scanning and recording
• Emirates  international carrier
• Endeavour  web site
• Ghanibai, Bhuj  horses
• Hotel Aadithya  hospitality at Chennai
• Jyoti Travels, Bhuj  travel and transportation
• Kodak India  film stock supplied by
• Krishna Internationals  travel and transportation
• Lights & Grips  light equipment
• MAC Cosmetics  makeup material
• Mantra, Ramoji Film City  telecine transfers
• Media Artists  DTS sound mix
• Midtown Resorts, Gandhidham  catering
• National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)  camera equipment provided by
• National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)  subtitling
• Panchthan Recording Inn, Chennai  song recording
• Power Point  generator
• Prasad Studios, Chennai  Dolby Digital sound mix
• Property Guards Securities Pvt. Ltd.  security
• Rajshree Pictures  camera equipment provided by
• Ramoji Film City  camera equipment provided by
• SRP Enterprises  crane
• Sandhu Roadways  travel and transportation
• Shiv Regency, Gandhidham  catering
• Sony Music  audio cassetes and CDs
• Sync Sound  audio post-production
• Sync Sound  audio rental
• Tinu Devraj & Company  junior artists supplier
• Trimurthi Equipments  rain and storm equipment
• United India Insurance Co. Ltd. (I)  insurance
• Vamshi Enterprises  crane
• Venus  crane
• Verma & Sons  horses

Also Known As:

"Land Tax" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and some violence

Runtime:

224 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English | Awadhi | Urdu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bhuj, Gujarat, India

Company:

Aamir Khan Productions

Trivia:

During the final cricket match, one of the British players, Smith, gets run out. As the actor ran back to the crease he fell, landing on his cricket bat and dislocating his left shoulder.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Gauri is singing alone at the end of "Radha Kaise Na Jale", she inhales while singing.

Quotes:

Burton:[smugly hits Yardley's ball for 4] How was that?
Yardley:[bowls a fast ball, knocking Burton back onto his own wicket, sarcastically] How was *that*?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Pran Jaaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye (2003)

Soundtrack:

Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India

the theatre cheered

This is actually the first ever film I have seen where the audience clapped cheered and booed effectively as if they were a part of the actual proceedings in the film. I heard someone say that they felt that they were really at a cricket match. I loved the movie even though admittedly at the time (surprising for an Indian) I didn't know cricket at all...I learned while watching it with the help of a friend but also found I didn't need to! It certainly renewed my interest and made mea cricket fan soon enough, the next match that year I watched with grave interest.

About the fikm, the acting was good. Rachel Shelly and Paul Blackthorne were impressive and unlike in other Hindi films where they are usually clichéd versions of foreign characters, they were very drawn out believable characters. Aamir Khan was definitely the star attraction (obviously) as in any case it was 'his movie' but honestly he was very good, one of hsi best performances i'd personally say. Gauri was given very little to do in the movie but she did stand out in her own way. The supporting cast were all excellent in each of their roles, although some characters were a bit too starkly depicted. The British cast on the other hand had precious little to do except look foreboding.

The setting in the Gujrati village and country was beautiful. The sets were historically accurate I've been told and the backdrop just right for the match and one would it imagine it fit into the time frame suggested. The costumes were also appropriate. I especially liked that scene where Elisabeth imagines Aamir in a suit, it worked because being who she is of course shed see him like that.)Some historians might nitpick on small points, but they were so minor that the rest of the story overshadowed these errors.

At first I wondered whether foreign viewers would understand it what the unusual concept of musical numbers, but most seem to have understood the game of cricket (non cricket playing countries I mean) and the historical context as well and seem to have also taken the musical numbers in their stride.

The only thing that got to me was the length of the movie. I really wish that they had done some serious editing, it just ran too long and the cricket match was too dragged out. It should have either focused more on the cricket match for the majority of the film, or reduced the footage of the rest of the film to balance it out. I saw many scenes that could have been edited out and were totally unnecessary.

The songs were enjoyable and only one or two were unnecessary and could have been cut down or deleted entirely, like the 'Radha Kaise Na Jale' and the song where both girls sing. Honestly this movie was one Hindi movie that did not require many songs at all if at all. A background score maybe but not 6 songs. It got tedious and it gets on the nerves especially when you've been sitting in the theatre for 2 hours and you know that there is 1 more hour to go. Luckily people with DVDs will be able to fast forward!

Although Predictable in places with characters being over-drawn or under-drawn and everyone knew the ending that was inevitable, ending, (it isn't much of a long shot at all) but we watched it for the thrill of it anyway.

The overall effect the movie was so good that I fully believe that it deserved a nomination and I never say that about most Hindi movies. Even though it did not win I'm very proud of this movie.