Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

classicsoncall Aamir Khan not only stars in this Hindi film, but sings, dances and even plays the flute at one point, one of the most versatile actors you'll find anywhere. Along side the central cricket match in the story, the movie offers a colorful display of festive song and dance, a hallmark it seems of many films emanating from India. For this American viewer, the sport of cricket is somewhat off beat and try as I might, I couldn't follow the concept of runs and wickets scored. To a degree it resembles baseball, but the way batters and bowlers (pitchers) come and go was quite confusing. I did like the Indian name for their version of cricket though. it was called gilli-danda; if given a choice, I think I'd rather play gilli-danda. The only thing is with these Hindi films, most of them go quite the distance. This one was almost four hours long and it appeared that there were any number of opportunities to shorten the movie by eliminating elements unnecessary to tell the story. Even the song and dance routines run a five minute minimum, which doesn't sound like a lot, but are quite long when you're watching them. I guess this all plays favorably to an Indian audience, as the foreign reviewers on this board are lavish in their praise. What I thought was most positive for the story was the way Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) used his authority to denounce the caste system in his village of Champaner, calling on the members of his cricket team to accept the 'Untouchable' named Kachra (Aditya Lakhia). I think my favorite character in the movie was the fortune teller Guran (Rajesh Vivek). If you check the picture of him posted on the credits page for this movie, he's clean shaven and bears only the slightest appearance to the wild looking seer that joined up with Bhuvan's team. For this long time fan of another sporting entertainment, he had a remarkable resemblance to pro wrestler Pampero Firpo.

Navenkumar Selva Lagaan is film that I watched without any expectation and it absolutely blew my mind.The film revolves around three characters Bhuvan played by Aamir Khan,Gauri played by Gracy Singh and Elizabeth played by Rachel Shelley.The film's central character is Bhuvan,who is a spirited and outstanding young man who firmly stands for the rights of the villagers who are oppressed by their British dictators.Lagaan was a tax that was a compulsory payment at the time of British rule.The price of tax increased at the will of the British and people couldn't afford to pay their taxes.Village people had to starve to pay their taxes.Therefore,the young and brave Bhuvan made a deal that the British would waive the tax of villagers on the fate of cricket match.This is the main plot of the story and the rest of the parts make up the movie. The first frame of the movie explains the meaning of Lagaan and setting the tone of the 19th century in India.The first few frames of the film showed the beautiful Indian villages in the late 19th century and immediately setting the tone for the audience to pull them into the ancient Indian world.The film took its time to introduce its characters to the audience to firmly understand the sentiments of the Indians during that time.The important characters who were Bhuvan and Gauri were introduced first in the opening scenes while the character of Elizabeth was introduced later on.Along with these three main characters,there were more than ten characters which had important dialogues throughout the film. The first positive that I noticed from the beginning is the lush cinematography of the film.The man behind the camera deserves all my salutes for really raising the bars in the level of making films.The camera angles in the day time and the aerial shots of the village were excellent.The use of color and the tone of cinematography really brought me back to that time zone.The second positive was the art design the of the film.The art director deserves all credits for creating sets that looked and felt real.The sets of the villages and the palaces were really beautiful and made me feel that I was in that period.Coming the curtain raiser,the performances of the cast.The life of the this film,actor and producer Aamir Khan.Aamir Khan absolutely lived his character as Bhuvan throughout this film.He has outclassed himself in this film.The film showcased his full acting potential and great credit has to go to the director for pulling this off.His eyes in this film were razor sharp absolutely piercing through the lenses directly into the hearts of the audience.The dialogue delivery by him was simply hard hitting an sitting in the hearts of those watching.Hats off.The other actors Gracy and Rachel did an outstanding job in portraying the characters.Other smaller characters really made a standout performance throughout the film as well.The people in the village and the British actors completely gave life to and done justice to the roles given by the director.They acted their hearts out. A.R Rahman the two time Academy award winner in 2008,yet again proved why the Oscar's needed him in 2002 itself.The background score of this film was absolutely a bliss to hear and in a class on its own.This was one of the very few Indian films where I enjoyed every single song because of its inspiring and spirit lifting lyrics,my personal favorite in "Mitwa".Some songs made me laugh and some made me cry.The only reason has to be the hearty composition of a man who had his full dedication,hats off for this gem. Finally,a man who I really needed to salute,director Ashutosh Gowariker.He has revolutionized Indian cinema with his creation.It was no surprise that this is the only Indian movie till date that has been nominated in an Academy award and a deserving special mention in that award.It might not have won the award,but it certainly won everybody's hearts and the person to stand behind is Ashutosh Gowariker.Hats off to you. Lagaan is about hope, courage, fighting against injustice, the human spirit and about Indians.This is one the very few movies that I can call a masterpiece just because of its magnanimous spirit lifting story line.Lagaan is a film that teaches Indian films where I enjoyed every single song because of its inspiring and spirit lifting lyrics,my personal favorite is "Mitwa".Some songs made me laugh and some made me cry.The only reason has to be the hearty composition of a man who had his full dedication,hats off for this gem. Finally,a man who I really needed to salute,director Ashutosh Gowariker.He has revolutionized Indian cinema with his creation.It was no surprise that this is the only Indian movie till date that has been nominated in an Academy award and a deserving special mention in that award.It might not have won the award,but it certainly won everybody's hearts and the person to stand behind is Ashutosh Gowariker.Hats off to you. Lagaan is about hope, courage, fighting against injustice, the human spirit and about Indians.This is one the very few movies that I can call a masterpiece just because of its magnanimous spirit lifting story line.Lagaan is a film that teaches unity and harmony to all,thank you Ashutosh,for this master touch.

nyssorteras Lagaan gave me so much good vibes. I am very much inspired by this film to dream big.It made me cry sad but more on happy tears. I actually felt I was part of the crowd cheering the farmers. The movie shows a mix of faith, love, hope, loyalty, kindness, courage, and solidarity.I love watching foreign movies. And I must say that Lagaan is one of the best movies I've seen to date.Yes, the movie is so long but it's worth watching.Job well done to all who have worked so hard to bless our world with this beautiful film. Thank you. I've seen a lot of passion in this movie. "The earth is ours, so is the sky."All the love.N :)

SnoopyStyle The year is 1893 in a small village in the heart of India. A British Cantonment bordered the village. They protect the local Raja from neighboring Rajas as well as the other Rajas. So they are able to demand Lagaan (tax) from the hard-upon local villagers. There is a drought but the cruel arrogant Captain Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne) doesn't care and doubles the Lagaan. Local villager Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) rallies the villagers to appeal to the Raja. There they witness their first game of cricket played by the British. Russell offers to forgive the Lagaan for the entire province for the next three years if Bhuvan can lead a team to beat the British. If the villagers lose, he will triple the Lagaan. Few villagers believe in the gamble except for Gauri (Gracy Singh) who loves Bhuvan. The captain's sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) comes to teach the hopeless villagers how to play the foreigner's game.Indian movies are not usually my thing but this one works very well. I'm still not a big fan of the Bollywood song and dance. However the story works here. The Captain is a bit of a cartoon who needs to be a better villain. The love story is good but the love triangle needs to hold off its resolution. The game is pretty much a Bad News Bear situation where all the disparate players join together. The game is interesting. They made it compelling and almost understandable.