Rating: 
Summary: Lagaan: Best Movie Ever- 10 stars!
Review: For anyone looking for a romance/adventure/foreign setting/feel good movie, Lagaan hits the spot. I was just browsing through the video store looking for something new and interesting, and I saw Lagaan's bright yellow box. And the title, Once Upon A Time In India, completely sold it. The story is not only inspiring but also romantic. For anyone who dreams of what the world is like in other countries and different time periods, this movie is magnificent. For the full 3 hours and 45 minutes, the viewer is wisked away to mid nineteenth-century India. Aamir Khan is an incredible actor, one whom I was unfortunately unfamiliar with before I rented this movie. I really wish he could be more well known here in the United States. His acting is far better than the cheesy actors here in the states. He shows true passion in what he is acting, as does his co-star in Lagaan, Gracy Sighn who plays Gauri. Their love is the perfect example of what everone wishes to find.
Lagaan is an incredible story, one that I feel truly deserved that Oscar!! But as long as many people get the chance to experience the feeling this story brings, i think it will really have achieved its goal. Great job Aamir Khan!
Rating:
Summary: Make "Lagaan" the first Indian movie you see!
Review: Faced with teaching a unit on Indian culture for a high school comparative cultures course, I took a chance and ordered "Lagaan". From a teacher's perspective, it's a goldmine of possibilities for study, but the most important result was - the kids LOVED it! The sincere emotions, well-paced action, and gentle comedy kept them completely involved until the last credit music died away. And the music - our supposedly jaded teenagers would stand up spontaneously and begin waving their arms and dancing. They put up an "Aamir Khan Fan Club" list and decided all the girls want to be with him and all the boys want to be him. Well, until the next movie, and they saw Hritik Roshan! The most amazing thing that came out of this wonderful movie -- we began a school cricket club, probably the first ever in Houston, and have two teams of 11 ready to go next fall! Obviously, "Lagaan" is one great movie!
Rating:
Summary: aa jaa re!!
Review: This movie is so wonderful. Four hours flies by as you get caught up in the lives of Bhuvan and Gauri and enjoy the music, dancing, and beautiful colors that are abundant in this movie. This is the first movie of its type that I've seen and I absolutely loved it! Its great for families or for anyone who just wants to see something worthwhile. The music is addicting and makes for an overall enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Summary: Simply......WOW
Review: I was wandering in a DVD store and this one caught my eyes, I heard of it once and I know that Hindi movies ahve always great songs in them So I bought it. And really I wasn't disappointed. It's nearly 4 hours long but I didn't see them pass. I got caught by the whole plot. And despite the fact I'm not really a cricket huge fan I surprised myself shouting to encourage the indian team to win, so so much suspense in it.I recomend it to everybody who wants to escape from real boring world.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie...
Review: My friend, with her great movie collection, introduced me to Lagaan a couple weeks ago. I borrowed the film and soundtrack and watched the movie one evening. I loved it! Now she and I are almost always humming a song from the movie. But then again, we are very obsessive people. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is able to sit through a long movie and read subtitles. The only part where you could possibly lose interest is during the long cricket game, and that's only after you've seen the movie many times and it has lost its suspense.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic--Different and uplifting
Review: My mum recomended this movie to me and said I would definetely enjoy it. I thought it was fantastic, especially the music and the words. Such simplicity is given to the words of the songs which emphasizes the love story between bhuvan and Ghauri. In the mean time the British army captain challenges the poor Indian farmers to play a cricket game to avoid paying the yearly taxes. If they win they will be free of the lagaan "wheat-barley" tax for 3 years. There has been no rain and the crops will be very poor. The only choice is to accept and with the help of the British Captain's sister the farmers learn how to play cricket, which was similar to a game they played as young children. Strange how to this date the Indians play fantastically this game and the British always loose!! The story is really uplifting and makes you feel good as the farmers after a long cricket game win the bet and also get the rain that they so much prayed for.
Fantastic music worth while buying the CD and seeing Bombay Dreams in London. Long movie plan on watching ona cold rainy day!
Rating: 
Summary: Rooting for the Underdog on a Grand Scale
Review: Only in India could the story of The Bad News Bears or The Mighty Ducks be turned in an epic struggle against oppression and a romantic musical at the same time. I think what elevates this film above a typical "will-the-underdog-sports-team-perform-a-miracle" is the tremendous emotion displayed by the Indian actors. The tremendous length of the movie actually aids in building up to the climactic cricket match as well as adding realism to the depth of the hard work the village team endures. Captain Russell, the odious Englishman heading the local British cantonment is a stock character. Paul Blackthorne plays the part with enough haughty arrogance to make him somewhat believable. Also a good actor is Gracy Singh, the romantic lead and a beautiful dancer as well. At a time of lethal ethnic hatred in India, this is a very positive show of Indian unity. Perhaps a little too subtle for most of us fereenghis (foreigners) is the fact that team includes Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim members working together. What is completely unbelievable for India in 1893 is the inclusion of a disabled "Untouchable" on the team. Still, it makes an excellent demonstration of equality. Hopefully, this and other Indian films will create an atmosphere of unity and contentment.
Rating:
Summary: A Happy, Beautiful Film - A Minor Masterpiece
Review: I picked this one up at my library as a lark - foreign films always intrigue me, but I'm getting a little tired of the European cynicism (especially French cinema). I thought this one would be a good film to check out - Indian cinema, lots of singing. I was prepared to find it silly and sophomoric. Was I surprised! First thing I did when I popped it into my DVD player was check the time - 3 hours, 42 minutes! You're kidding, I thought! When the first hour raced by, I was breathless. What a great film! The story is so compelling, the actors so talented, the director so gifted. And that first musical number is still going through my head! In a nutshell, the film is about the British colonial system in 1900's India (and, despite the rant of the one-star person below (who obviously didn't see the movie), this film deals in the reality of the social times in India). A cruel British officer offers the locals a bet: a cricket match. Winner takes all, basically. And that's it. It's such a joy to watch the lead actor win his townsmen over to him and join his team. The Indian lead actress is so beautiful to watch. This is a film for the whole family: everything good about moviemaking, and nothing bad: no sex, no cursing, no violence. No one gets shot, no one gets killed. The love scenes are treated with such respect and tenderness; it is a film about the triumph of the human spirit, and an interesting window onto a culture in which faith is so deeply rooted. You'll absolutely love this one. The 3.42 hours will just fly by, and you'll want to watch it all over again. I wish I could give this one 6 stars - it certainly beats anything else I've seen this year, "he Two Towers" included!
Rating:
Summary: An unexpected pleasure
Review: As a general rule I do not watch foreign films. I rented this film and did not know that most of its dialogue is not in English. As I watched it I figured that I would just turn it off when it became uninteresting.
The story grabbed me and held fast. I can't believe that I watched and enjoyed a foreign language film that was almost four hour long. It was wonderful.
I will not say anything about the film's plot, as I like it to unfold before me, but I will say that it is about arrogance of the oppressors, and about a fight for life for the oppressed. This film also has a couple of delightful love stories.
There is no way that I can convey how much I enjoyed this film. It was great.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite love story
Review: Laagan is the first film produced by Aamir Khan, the celebrated heartthrob of Bollywood with new faces. This movie has caught the attention of many. As a matter of fact, I saw it while I was in Helsinki where it was packing the theaters. Laagan is set in the backdrop of the Raj and deals with the whimsical manner in which the British agents subjugated the peasants. The triangular love story among two Indians and the newly arrived British girl is the central part of the movie. Music and dances are enchanting. The cinematography is great. Gracie Singh in her debut performance has shown her talents and I expect her to see in many more films. She is a talented dancer trained in classical dance. This is self-evident in her portrayal of "Gauri". Unlike the hip gyrating western imitations of a typical Bollywood dance number, Gracie shows unusual grace and beauty in her performance. Laagan is a beautiful movie to watch.
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