I think you're right, Mike.  I vaguely recall reading way back in my uni days, that the British government was more forceful in overriding local customs and government structures than say, the Dutch or the French.  Of course this was all relative as colonialism did a lot of harm to the Third World in general.

Kat

On Sunday 24 July 2005 7:38 pm, Mike Collis wrote:
> I think, Kat, for the most part, the Brits looked upon those they colonized
> as inferior culturally (the great white father syndrome). That was what
> Gandhi used against them.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathy
> Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 6:28 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Lagaan (Bollywood Film)
>
> ---<Snipped>---
>
> 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