Cricket has a reputation of being the slowest, most boring sport in existence. But it can't be as boring as reading a death spiral about "Lost In Space" vs. "Star Trek."And it isn't boring in "Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India", a minor miracle given the film's near four-hour length. I am not very familiar with Indian cinema beyond Satyajit Ray and Mira Nair, and would have missed this film when a friend told me it had the usual singing and dancing numbers. But "Lagaan" (= tax), loosely based on true events of an Indian village challenging their Victorian oppressors to an all-or-nothing cricket match, has song and dance numbers that support the story well. More than that, it incorporates every single baseball film cliche I can remember to make for a thrilling match. There is also a secondary story of interracial love that is unusual. And the soundtrack CD has some incredible drum sound, particularly on the "Chale Chalo" track (the equivalent of the "Gonna Fly Now" training song number in "Rocky" films).
If inmates can direct me to other worthy Indian films, I'm all eyes and ears.
And now back to our "Fireball XL5" vs. "Stingray" SuperMarionation Trivia Nerdathon.
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Topic - "Lagaan:" cricket, anyone? - TAFKA Steve 15:34:58 11/28/01 (6)
- Re: "Lagaan:" cricket, anyone? - myvoice 13:23:45 01/25/02 (0)
- Re: "Lagaan:" cricket, anyone? - Chris in HK 23:16:03 12/16/01 (0)
- Re: "Lagaan:" cricket, anyone? - bnam 16:41:58 12/07/01 (0)
- Re: "Lagaan:" cricket, anyone? - john dem 13:35:03 11/29/01 (2)
- Lady Penelope, hubba hubba! - TAFKA Steve 15:21:15 11/29/01 (1)
- She actually released a single - john dem 15:33:41 11/29/01 (0)