Lagaan - More than meets the eye

We just finished watching Lagaan in class and I, along with Cass were chosen to present and look further into the film for class. I took a bunch of notes on things I noticed in the film which are available below. I liked the film a lot more than I expected too, but that seems to be the intention of the filmmakers. The movie felt familiar although it dealt with a part of history that I (until the last 2 years) have not been very well acquainted with. I had to force myself to look deeper into the movie and not just take it at face value, which is kindof hard to do whenever its so easily portrayed in a high production and care free light. I particularly enjoyed the song and dance sequences. Eastern music has never been something I've given much attention to because the vocal ranges and styles are a little hard to digest when all you have been exposed to at a young age are more western music styles. The songs in this movie were very enjoyable and I even showed them to a few friends despite their disinterest. I understand that the songs and dances are a bit campy, and I'm sure a lot of Indian viewers may see them as I see the Sound of Music or West Side Story, but for me, a 21 year old man being exposed to Indian cinema for the first time in his entire life, I loved it. As for the more serious issues with the film, I addressed them in a much more scholarly way (even though my notes are a little bit convoluted and mashed up. I also included some questions and statements from fellow classmates that I responded to and elaborated on!

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Angry young man

stark contrasts in caste, religion, status.

Class / cast specific problems – agrarian society

• drought, farming problems are able to be applied to more modern problems such as taxes, wages, government
• westernized “Bollywood” story and technique to reveal a very specific Indian story or problem
• broad story telling with a definite “enemy” and a definite “hero” but the story itself is a very specific account.
• Addresses the poor and untrue historiography surrounding the british involvement in India by portraying a fully conscious emotional people
• Appeals to the lower caste
• was very culturally relevant at the time of its release
• Although it appeals heavily to the lower class/caste people in India, it also covers a wide scope of Indian people in general as it tells the story of liberation from British occupation

Focus on the family

• every “family” in the movie shares a strong close bond
• members of families tend to rely and confide in only other members of their family
• multiple layers of bond and family – Country > Province > Village > Family > Couple

The reliance and kindness shown to the Chief reveal the villagers understanding of the true “enemy” being the British Captain.

The team coming together despite differences between the respective members displays a drawing together of varied social groups within India itself to unify against the “other”. The varying groups of people within the village display a conscious emotional people, but their conflicts within the village force the viewer to consider the clarity, structure, and functionality of the British.

The social structure of India is not changed in the film, and the villagers do not seem to contest the British occupation of India, but only the unjust (or in this case impossible) taxation of the people in a particular point in time.

The language barrier is turned on its head as the imperial power attempts to learn and harness the language of the indigenous people.

The song and dance sequences are of a folk style and strengthen the communal aspects of folk culture and simple living. All of the villagers bond together in song and dance in a free moving fashion where as the ball room style dance of the english is stiff and structured, strengthening the difference in the cultures. The free spirited emotive dance of the villagers give strength to the notion of self awareness and consciousness among Indian people at this time in history.­

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM OTHER STUDENTS

We have talked about some of the things that Indian film uses like the up close shots of peoples faces. The Lagaan chapter by Melanie Wright talks about the eyeline match that occurs with the shooting of the rabbit at the beginning of the movie. What other tactics are used in Indian film so create these illusions?

• The juxtaposition of religious icons such as Krishna and Rhada in the temple scene as well as the constant monumental framing of the Temple are less subtle devices used in the film to strengthen the Hindu tones of the film. More subtle film tricks I noticed were the close up bright shots of Elizabeth, where the color of her clothes somewhat reflects her role in the movie. For instance when she comes to the realization that she is in love with Bhuvan, in the next scene she is wearing all red, a color of passion and love. In scenes where she only admires Bhuvan before and after this realization she is wearing white, the color of widows in eastern civilization and of virgins in Westernized civilization, and seeing as how Lagaan kindof blends a heavy Eastern story with Western film making tactics, this seems to be intentional. Other things pointed out in the Chakraborty article are Bhuvan's always unbuttoned shirt, portraying him as a man of action, informality, and passion. He is the young angry man of a hero and his unbuttoned shirt is a sign of that.

After watching Lagaan and reading Chakraborty’s “History of the ‘Other’” and Melanie Wright’s “Lagaan”, I realized how multilayered Bollywood films actually are. It is so easy to watch an Indian film and just think that they are trying to tell an inspiring story to uplift the spirit of India. However, there are many issues that the film addresses: religion, politics, social, etc. Religion is as important in Indian films as it is in their daily life. In Lagaan, Krishna’s temple is the highest point in the village and is activated in the film as a sign of hope. For example, when the rain clouds were approaching the village during the drought, the temple was shown and the drums were sounded in the doorway. Another example of the temple portraying hope for the village was when Bhuvan hit the ball with the bat the first time and it hit the bell of the temple. Religion is also portrayed in a motif of the main characters of the film. The villagers were watching Bhuvan and looking up to him (as if he was their god) as he stood in front of the village and gave them some hope. Unlike most Bollywood films, Lagaan does not focus on the wealthy upper class, but rather the peasants. This tells the story of India in a historical fashion, but is still portrayed in an idealized way. The hero (Bhuvan) is fair skinned and beautiful, as well as Gauri. The reason for this is possibly to levitate their god-like status. I thought it was interesting how Indian films pull together multiple aspects of different religions to appeal to the audience. 

• An interesting observation is the way that the film sort of glamourized the life of these oppressed agrarian people. They are struggling against wrongful taxation but are ultimately only fighting to have the taxes relieved for 3 years rather than fighting to end the British occupation of their country. It is interesting that Bhuvan seems to be the first person to openly challenge the tax, and that is where the conflict sets in.
• It is obvious that the British have the ability and resources to completely take over India and also to rule over their land, but at no time do the Indian people in the village strive to change their overall status or situation. In a way they are fighting to make things better for themselves by not having to pay lagaan, but at the same time they are attempting to keep things the same and continue about in their laborious lives.
• The high production qualities of the film such as the song and dance numbers are always involving the villagers. The grand choreographed dances and songs somewhat glorify the oppressed/minority/agrarian people. The songs and dances of the villagers are very sporadic and fluid with a lot of movement and volume, strengthening the passion and excitement that the people carry with them, while the scenes involving the English are accompanied with classical and baroque scores at low volumes as well as one structured ballroom dance. This helps to glorify the villagers lives and create a cultural dissonance between the two groups.
• There isn't much subtlety in the film as it obviously portrays the heavy Hindu cultural influence, but there are many other aspects that rest under the surface such as inter-religious communities and inter-racial communities.

This is just a comment on the Gowariker reading, but I though it was interesting that he breaks down the film in terms of the Bollywood tropes it upholds as well as where it veers to appeal to a more western audience. At some point it calls lagaan an introduction to Bollywood for the west which will be interesting to consider as we finish the film and think about ways that film narrative traditions are negotiated for a more global audience.

• The film has some universal elements that appeal to a wide audience such as the two enemies that eventually come together to work as a team
• Gauri's father initially dissapproving of Bhuvan as a match for her and being overly protective, but eventually coming around to their love for each other
• the underdog hero rising from disrespect to ultimate respect
• traditional love marriage and relationships instead of arranged marriage between bhuvan and gauri.
• Focus on a trivial event (such as a sport/cricket game) to decide something much larger.
• The fact that the different religious people do not ever conflict with each other helps it to stay light hearted and easily digested by a western audience.
• Clear enemy and definite conflict.