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Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India(लगान)

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India · 2001
Rated PG · 3h 44m
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne
Genre Adventure, Drama, Music, Romance

Champaner, an Indian village under the British Raj, is beset by drought. The worried villagers of Champaner ask the local authorities for a temporary repeal of their taxes. The evil British governor wants to settle the matter with a game of cricket, and a band of misfits strive to beat him in this epic sports drama.

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What are people saying?

What are critics saying?

80

Film Threat by

Not only the best I've ever seen, but also the Indian film that'd be most accessible to a Western audience.

80

Variety by Derek Elley

Neither pure masala musical nor pure masala meller, Lagaan is an involving, easily digestible hunk of pure entertainment that could be the trigger for Bollywood's long-awaited crossover to non-ethnic markets.

63

New York Post by Jonathan Foreman

If you've never seen a "masala" musical, you may find Lagaan hilariously bad. Cartoony acting, dreadful dialogue, obvious dubbing, and meandering but ultrapredictable plots are simply part of the Bollywood package, along with six musical numbers and a bizarre mixture of romance, comedy and melodrama.

80

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Gowariker's stunningly choreographed, four-hour spectacle (reportedly one of the most expensive films in the industry's history) is a fascinating mix of Hollywood genres and tropes.

80

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

Raises it to the level of an art film with fully drawn characters, a serious underlying theme, and a sophisticated style and point of view.

100

Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten

A movie that amply delivers on the epic promise of its title, entertaining, enlightening, and emboldening viewers with its deceptively simple premise and execution.

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