Yeah, I actually think I danced a bit while watching the film (checked to
make sure no one was watching).  Did you notice though that to win, everyone
from every cast and a variety of religions had to work together?


Beth .t

-----Original Message-----
From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathy
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 5:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Lagaan (Bollywood Film)

This is mainly for Beth (and Rayna, who I think said liked Bollywood films,
too).  I finally leased Lagaan yesterday and I must say I loved it!  As some
of you may know, I love to watch cricket matches and boy, does this film
have cricket!

The film is set in 1893 India, when the British still occupied the country
and had a tax system in place - the local rajahs would collect the tax from
their subjects, take their share, and pass the rest on to the Brits.  This
tax was called lagaan, and the story centers around a bet a local famer
places with the local British governing official - if the local town plays
the Brits and win, they don't have to pay the double lagaan being imposed
that year; in fact they won't have to pay any lagaan for three years.  But
if they lose, they will have to pay triple lagaan.  The colonel -- a nasty
piece of work -- makes the bet knowing that the local have never seen a
cricket match and in fact they don't even know what cricket is or how it's
played. The town is aghast but it becomes clear they don't have a choice as
there has been no rain that year and if they even pay double lagaan, they
will starve.  So the town eventually falls in behind the farmer.

The music is fabulous and I didn't find the singng and dancing jarring.  The
only beef I had with the film was that for the most part, the British are
portrayed as brutish prejudiced and without any consideration for their
Indian subjects.  Of course as I have never studied British colonial policy
and governance in India, I can't say if this was generally the case or not.
I think it's time I did some reading up on the subject.

In any case, I love the film and highly recommend it. :)

Kat