Lagaan is a story about bravery and hope in the face of adversity. This is not a bollywood movie, although there are a few songs with dances. A small village is undergoing a drought and the people are unable to pay their lagaan (taxes levied by the British government to pay for the presence of the army). Because they were forgiven the lagaan the previous year, the captain of the British cantonment expects double lagaan to be paid. Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), a village farmer, is trapped into a bet wherein the stakes are too high to lose. The bet is placed on the outcome of a cricket game, to be played in three months. If the villagers win, the lagaan will be forgiven and will not be levied for the next two or three years to follow. However, if the villagers lose to the British team, then they will be forced to pay triple the lagaan. Seems straightforward, but there is a twist. The villagers have never played cricket before and are very angry that Bhuvan took it upon himself to make the bet. The movie is about Bhuvan winning over the villagers to participate in the game and then the game itself. If you have no idea how to play cricket and the enthusiasm that the game generates in British influenced countries, then this is an interesting movie. The acting is also good and the contrast between British and Indian culture telling. By the way, this film was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, but the producers couldn't get the financing together, so SRH ended up turning it down. Lagaan did very well in the box office and was the third Hindi film ever to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
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