And the Oscar goes to…

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I was born in a movie-crazy family. My dad who earned Rs. 250 a month spent a large part of his salary on movie tickets and buying audiotapes. Being a movie lover himself, he would see all kinds of movies with his equally film-crazy wife! And hence, when we were born, the fever passed on. While many parents were busy quizzing their children on math, science and history, ours were quizzing us on movie names, film songs, and music directors! My parents taught us to be patient while watching a movie and always to watch the whole movie and NEVER to walk out half way through a movie no matter how mad! These were their pearls of wisdom to us. Life’s little lesson. Thus, now I am passionate about watching movies and analyzing them. I want to pass it on to my children too…

There are several factors which go into making a good movie – A good story, good script, good acting, good direction, audio, cinematography, music, and especially in India, where we pay a lot of attention to music because we need our actors/actresses to run around trees, sing songs and make merry! We love watching song sequences. Also our movies need to have Drama, Emotions, Thrills, and action-packed scenes. That is what constitutes a “good” Hindi movie.

My father opines, “Amitabh changed tastes of Indian masses for bad… He spoiled our culture, according to me; we had fantastic moviemakers before Amitabh came on scene! Have you written that I hated to see A 's films after his Ganga Jamuna Sarawati? I have really not paid money to see his movies after that horrible movie…”
The two types of cinema that exist in India right now are: a.) Commercial cinema b.) Art cinema.

The two types have never met eye to eye for a long time. Today, the gap is decreasing. Thank God! We are now witnessing commercial cinema vs. art cinema. Rather now movies are being distinguished as good cinema vs. bad cinema. And that is a good thing. And how it should be. A good movie is one which has all the rudiments listed above in exact proportions just like a wonderfully made *masala chaai*. A good quality movie should not rely on any one star or director or screenplay writer or music director but rather should be a perfect blend. A movie should be an encore of various people and techniques coming together as one. A team effort, like any other sport!

Indian cinema-has it all! The ideal film, with all necessary ingredients is what everyone aspires for. But, Alas, it is never accomplished. I have watched numerous movies in my life. Very varied and different movies made in several languages. I have enjoyed some…not enjoyed some but none that I wanted to scream from rooftops or write about.

And after a long time, I witnessed this kind of teamwork in the movie Lagaan. Truly! I can easily classify it as one of the best movies I have seen in India Cinema. I’d like to think of myself as a connoisseur of good movies! My favorite movies include, as some of you may agree with me, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Les Miserables, Citizen Kane, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Braveheart, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (my newest entry!) Anand, Abhimaan, Tere Ghar ke Saamne, Kohinoor, Pudu Pudu Arthangal, Gitanjali, Om, Babhruvaahana, A, Beladingala Bale…the list goes on.. But I have decided to place Lagaan right on the top of the list! 

What appealed about Lagaan was the simple, yet innovative storyline. The utter effortlessness of its story, the astounding performances, exceptional music and mainly the theme that holds it all together. Kudos to the director! Honestly I did not know he even existed in Indian Cinema. I hope he is aware of what a master-piece he has produced in Lagaan, which will forever be etched in the history of our Cinema. Full marks to Aamir Khan (the producer) and Ashutosh Gowariker (director).

A small recap of some of the finest Hollywood movies presented in the last couple of years – Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Roberto Bennigni’s Life is Beautiful, Gladiator, Braveheart. All these movies had one common element, although they were made in different languages, they all were unique and possessed style and class. And now Lagaan. If Hollywood has good judgment, it will put its hands together in the form of a statute and acclaim Lagaan as the film of the year. This time to an Indian movie. 

I was astounded that Lagaans earnings did not gross as much as Gadar - Ek Prem Katha, the new movie by Sunny Deol on the same old (boring) topic of Indian-Pakistan partition. People, when we will we stop making movies along those themes?!!? All the magazines and news papers are already acknowledging the movie as a winner. It is being put on par with some of the finest Indian cinemas and also as a milestone in our cinematic history. 

It is going to be very difficult for directors and film makers from now on because the audience will want more.. expect more from a commercial movie. After all, it is the janataa who decide what they want to see and how they welcome change and ideas. Film makers from now on, will have to strive better and produce better quality cinema for us. As far as I can see, everything will be compared with Lagaan. The direction, story, acting, music, cinematography… Everything! The standards of movie making will have to completely change since Lagaan has set the new standards for Indian cinema. 
Ofcourse, after seeing the movie, I is not entirely oblivious to the “one” huge error in the movie. We all wondered how the English “Mem” (Rachel Shelley) learnt Hindi so quickly. But that is the only one flaw I saw in the movie. None other. And I am a kind of person, who pays attention to every details – the setting, clothes worn, language spoken, furniture in the house, jewelry, hand gestures, editing, shots taken, history of the movie etc etc etc. 

The movie Lagaan had many great people come together - A R Rahman's music, Anil Mehta's cinematography (although I did see some editing flaws and wrong pan shots), Bhanu Athaiya's (of Gandhi fame who won an Oscar too!) costumes and Nakul Kamte's sound. Although it is an 3 hour 42 minute movie, never did anyone feel bored or walked out during songs! The movie is all about Cricket, Cricket and more Cricket! And no points for guessing who the man of the match is at the end of the story!?!?

I have always made it a point never to over-praise a movie. But I admit I will make an exception this one time! Aamir Khan has taken some extreme calculated risks and challenges in making this movie. We all know he is a perfectionist and is supposedly very difficult to work with. But if the end result is something like Lagaan, it definitely is worth putting up with all his idiosyncrasies. It has been very difficult for me to write such a review and praise it to the skies, but Lagaan is an extreme movie and it deserve such response. Hip Hip Hurrah for Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker. Yet another chapter is Indian Cinema has opened…

-LKS

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