''Beta, don't do that, it's not healthy.''
Parents and other elders (which include mama-mami, kaka-kaki, dada-dadi and the other extras in Karan Johar's movies) always look down upon children who bite their nails. ''Hits bed four year alt (It's bad for your health),'' they say. But then, these very parents were found biting their nails as if the price of edible food has shot up when South Africa played Australia in the semi-final of the '99 Cricket World Cup.
Lance Klusner's mad dash ensured that Australia went through to the finals, and it broke the hearts of an entire nation. Some banged their heads against their walls and found their hair turning white if the paint used was of an inferior quality. Some helped reduce their nation's population by committing suicide, while some of them reduced the sound pollution by breaking their TV sets.
And the fellow at the fulcrum of this mourning flashed his trademark grin and quipped,
''So what? No one died.''
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Just the same feeling which I was feeling when an over-hyped film met its deserved fate at the Oscars a couple of years ago. While my fellow Indians mourned and cried foul at Lagaan not winning the Oscar, I wondered what the fuss was about. I wondered what the big deal was. No one died, after all!
Did I say over-hyped. Well, add boring. While an entire nation went ga-ga over Aamir Khan's first production, I was the one clutching my forehead in agony. For I saw both Gadar & Lagaan on the same day. And after Sunny Deol's screaming damaged my ear-drums, 3 hours and 53 minutes of Lagaan were a huge strain to my pupils.
Since it was a couple of years ago that I saw this flick, some of my observations may be a trifle incorrect. Blame that on my unexistent memory.
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I am not claiming that it was a bad movie, but it was rather lame considering the hype and hoopla it generated. Some positives were there in the movie, nevertheless.
Lagaan had the perfect formula, a combo of the two things that stir passion in each and every Indian - cricket and movies. The way the story was conceptualized is fascinating. A village, bereft of its harvest pleads to the British Raj to condone their tax. The wily Captain Russel says that he would condone the tax of not one, but three years IF the villagers beat the English at a game of cricket.
The rustic settings of the film are rather appealing and extremely realistic. The potrayal of the British rule is top class. The stiff upper lip is evident, yet the portrayal is not overboard.
Ashutosh Gowarikar has displayed all the stages cricket has gone through. So, while there is the opposition clapping and solemnly saying, ''Well played, sir,'' there also are instances of Bodyline, sledging and even match-fixing! Also, cricketing facts like the old ball turning more than the new one are shown well.
Certain wonderful moments to watch out for include the conversation between Captain Russel, his sister and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.A special mention must be made of the entire sequence where the villagers go to Kulbhushan for a waiver of the tax which is followed by Captain Russel throwing the challenge and the cheeky, headstrong Bhuvan taking it up. The catch that Lakha grabs a la Jonty Rhodes is truly unforgettable.
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Yet, inspite of wonderful moments, Lagaan didn't appeal to my senses. Firstly, the pace. Since this movie dealt with a game like cricket, I expected the pace to be like Allan Donald, but it's not even like Saurav Ganguly. It is mostly slow, and you are left wondering what on earth is happening, and suddenly the film races like Micheal Schumacher and then again, stalls like a pit stop gone all wrong. 3 hours and 53 minutes ?! Sigh ...
Secondly, the screenplay. One of the most flawed in recent times. The film deals with a complex sport like cricket and in the name of 'cinematic liberty', most cricketing rules go for a toss!
One instance is when the bowler bowls a no-ball and runs are scored (I don't remember whether it was a single or a boundary). Now, according to present-day rules, the team would get the number of runs scored + one extra run for the no ball. However, this rule came into effect just recently, and in the 19th century, the rule said that if you score a boundary off a no ball, you get an extra ball and 4 (and not 5) runs.
Neither was the match a limited-overs affair (which is a recent invention in any case), nor did it have two innings!
Laloo Prasad Yadav couldn't learn English till date, but Elizabeth mastered Hindi in no time! Linguistic magic, anyone?
A important flaw is that when the match is won, Elizabeth comes to Bhuvan, and Bhuvan shockingly gives her the cold shoulder. That, inspite of that fact that Elizabeth was the one responsible for teaching the Indians cricket. The story goes that the unedited version of Lagaan (which was a whooping 5 hours in duration) had a scene wherein Elizabeth professes her love to Bhuvan (in Hindi), and a shocked Bhuvan gets miffed with her. The scene was left out at the editing table - and my question is, why not deleted some of the unnecessary scenes and songs which have the entire village dancing in perfect unison, rather than leaving out an important scene, which affected Bhuvan's behaviour towards Elizabeth in the climax?
Music is not chartbusting, but it's melodious. Mitwa is by far the pick of the lot, when it comes to melody and picturisation. I believe that the last song, which is sung in the temple had no place in the story as it is harsh on the eardrums and a hindrance to the already slow pace.
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Most of the supporting cast are over-the-top. We even have a octogenarian called A.K. Hangal who fortunately does not comment on the sannata ... probably because everyone in the film is screaming.
When it comes to the leads, Rachel Shelly, who plays Elizabeth is vibrant and sincere. She exudes a sense of freshness to the film.
Paul Blackthorne as Captain Russell is brilliant - the guy who makes you loathe him, yet someone who is eventually just doing his job for the ones above him in the Empire. All his confrontations with Aamir and the subsequent glares are fantastic.
Her parents may have named her thus, but Gracy Singh shows no grace whatsoever. I personally was shocked when she was appreciated by critics. Please, if somebody plays a simple girl and doesn't expose much, it does not necessarily mean that she is a good actress. Her constantly plastered expression of her mouth being wide open (perhaps she doesn't like Mouthshut.com) awaiting flies to rush into her mouth made me puke. Dis 'grace' ful ... though I must add that she seems to have improved by leaps and bounds and is immensely likeable in the recently-released Munnabhai MBBS.
And here comes the saviour! He saved his town from paying teen doogna lagaan and he also saved Lagaan by making it a watchable fare. Aamir Khan as Bhuvan is as magnificent as ever and the scenes which stood out include the scene when he accepts Blackthorne's offer, the subsequent arguments he has with the other villagers, the way he goes up about forming his team and ofcourse the climax, are all awe-inspiring sequences..
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