Strengthening Indian Nationalism Through The Film Lagaan

Ramya Meenakshisundaram

5/5/2020
Abstract:

The film I have chosen to write my final paper on is Lagaan, a historical drama, directed

by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Aamir Khan under Aamir Khan Productions . The film

was released on June 15, 2001 and stars Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, and Paul

Blackthorne. The music for the film was composed by AR Rahman including singers such as

Udit Narayan, Asha Bosle, Alka Yagnik, Lata Mangeshkar, and Sukhwinder Singh with dance

choreography done by Terrence Lewis.

The following paper will discuss the themes I found most important within the film, and

the critiques I had on how the story was told. I will cover the theme of Indian Nationalism and

how it relates to Indians within and outside of India, as well as portrayals/ stereotypes of some of

the main characters in the film

Lagaan is a historical drama, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Aamir

Khan under Aamir Khan Productions . The film was released on June 15, 2001 and stars Aamir

Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, and Paul Blackthorne. The music for the film was composed

by AR Rahman including singers such as Udit Narayan, Asha Bosle, Alka Yagnik, Lata

Mangeshkar, and Sukhwinder Singh with dance choreography done by Terrence Lewis. The

movie takes place in 1893 in a small village called Champaner that is under British occupation.

Captain Russell, a British officer, has placed a heavy tax on the small village that does not have

the means to pay it. Bhuvan, the protagonist, gets the entire village to state their opposition to the

tax. In a way to resolve this dispute, Captain Russell challenges the villagers to a game of

cricket, which they have never played. The film portrays how the villagers learn to play the game

of cricket in order to defeat the British team and repeal their tax.

The main theme I will be discussing in my paper is British colonialism and post- colonial

discourse. Colonialism within the film is obvious with the interactions between Captain Russell

and the villagers. Even from the first scene, Captain Russell compares shooting Bhuvan to

hunting a rabbit, solidifying the idea of colonizer vs colonized. The conflict that ensues between

the villagers and the British occupation heightens the theme of Indian nationalism. The film

made sure to highlight the British to be the villains and the villagers to be the Indian heros. The

relationship between Elizibeth, the Captain’s sister, and Bhuvan also shows the theme of

nationalism as in the end of the film Bhuvan chooses an Indian girl over Elizebeth, thereby

rejecting European ideals. Another theme brought up in the film was the issue of the caste

system and societal standing when a decision is made to include Kachra, an untouchable is
included to play for the villager’s team. In my paper I will discuss Indian nationalism, post-

colonial discourse, and caste within the film Lagaan.

Film Narrative:

The film begins in a rural Indian village in a province called Champaner during British

colonial rule. The village was bordered by both a British establishment and the Indian king of the

province. The British offered protection to this king from neighboring rulers, but also did the

same to the other rulers which allowed them to collect lagaan, or tax from each province. The

king collected tax through the villagers by having them turn in a portion of their harvest to meet

the British’s demands. However, there has been no rain in the past year, so there are no harvests

to give for tax to the king. The villagers are hungry and stressed because there is no food and a

demand for tax to be paid.

The film’s protagonist is Bhuvan (played by Aamir Khan). He is pictured as bothing

caring and cunning from the beginning of the film where he is first shown messing up Captain

Russel’s (a British officer played by Paul Blackthorne) hunt in the woods. With this scene the

tone between the Indian Villagers and the British is set with the the British officers calling

Bhuvan a “darkie” and comparing him to the animals they were hunting. Following this scene,

the relationship between Bhuvan and Gauri (a village girl played by Gracy Singh) is established.

Gauri is in love with Bhuvan but has been coy about her ways of telling him.

The King of Champaner decides to meet with Captain Russel to ask a favor of him.

Captain Russell agrees, but on one condition. He asks the King, who is vegetarian, to eat meat in

front of him. The King refuses to betray his religion, and because of this Captain Russell decides

to double the tax that Champaner must pay. When the news of the double tax arrives to the
villagers they are distraught and don't know how they will be able to pay. Bhuvan, the village

leader, and a few other men go to meet the king personally to tell him their worries. When they

arrive, they see the British officers playing a game of cricket, and it is the first time they are

seeing this game being played. Captain Russell sees the villagers, and as a betting man says that

if the villagers can beat them in a game of Cricket, he will cancel the tax for the whole province

but if they lose, everyone has to pay triple tax. Bhuvan accepts the bet, much to the dismay of the

rest of the villagers. No one believes that Bhuvan can round up a team that can beat the british,

but he slowly gained their trust and support. Elizabeth, Captain Russell’s sister (played by Rachel

Shelley) goes behind her brothers back and visits the village to help them learn how to play

Cricket and coach them. Gauri becomes jealous of the time Bhuvan spends with Elizabeth, and

Elizabeth slowly starts to fall in love with him.

Although Bhuvan has gained support from neighboring villages, his team is still lacking

one player. This player becomes Kachra, a low caste villager with an arm deformity that allows

him to spin the ball when he throws it. This causes an argument within the village because

Kachra is untouchable, but Bhuvan defends him and he is allowed to play.

The second half of the film is the cricket match that takes place between the British and

the villagers. It is a close match, but each player does their part on the villager’s team and they

are able to win. This means the villagers don't have to pay tax for the next three years and

Captain Russell must pay the tax on behalf of the villagers out of his own pocket, and is

transferred away from his post in Champaner.

Music analysis:
 The music in this film was directed by A.R. Rahaman, and both lyricaly and visually

served the purpose of advancing the plot. Every song made sense in context, and were used

chronologically to add new developments with character interactions or montages to quickly

show passage of time. The songs allowed the viewer to infer the events that likely took place in

the duration of the song and made it easier to portray those developments quickly.

The first song of the movie was Ghanan Ghanan which helped to show the struggles the

village was facing. The song begins with the lyrics “ Ghanan Ghanan”, which means thunder,

repeated over and over again to imitate thunder and rain noises as what appears to be storm

clouds roll in over the horizon. The whole song is very cinematic as all the characters break out

into song and dance. Continued camera shots and movements emphasize how many unique

characters are in the village. The song utilizes heavy drum beats and traditional Gujurati folk

melodies to show the passion, excitement, and hope the villagers have with the coming of rain.

The lyrics are from the villager’s perspective and show how much they yearn for rain and how

happy they are for it. However, just as quickly as those feelings are evoked in the audience, the

tone changes to disappointment as the song fades out with the same “Ghanan ghanan” lyrics

repeated over again as the storm clouds are shown leaving the village without a drop of rain.

The second song of the movie is Mitwa, and it takes place following Bhuvan’s agreement

to take on the bet for the cricket match. At this point in the film, the villagers are still very

conflicted over the idea of a cricket match, and the people Bhuvan recruited to his team don't

have full faith that they can win. The song Mitwa, meaning loved one or friend, is lyricaly one

of the most important songs of the film. The music is very simple, using only a simple drum beat

and few string instruments to keep most of the focus on the voice and lyrics. The lyrics of the
song are meant to be motivational, stating for the villagers to not be afraid of hardships and

struggles, and to have faith because it will help them triumph. The song uses musical interludes

to show the slowly growing support for Bhuvan’s movement by them coming out of their homes

and watching him sing. The theme of motivation is shown in another song, Chale Chalo, which

is a motivational montage that shows the process of the village team getting better at cricket and

preparing for the match. This song also contains motivational lyrics, and a steady simple drum

beat to evoke feelings of strength and determination.

The next song of the film is Radha Kaise Na Jale which is the first song of the film that is

mainly about the theme of love and jealousy. Bhuvan and Elizabeth have become much closer

through her efforts to teach them cricket, and Gauri has become jealous. The music utilizes

traditional Gujurati beats and melodies, paired with the visuals of traditional Dandiya dance to

show Gauri trying to dance with Bhuvan and keeping other girls from dancing with him. The

lyrics also help to emphasize Gauri’s jealousy, and compare Bhuvan and Gauri to Radha and

Krishna, two Hindu deities known for their love. Bhuvan calms Gauri through his portions of the

song where he states even if Krishna is tempted by other women, only his love for Radha

“blooms in his heart”. This song solidifies Gauri’s and Bhuvan’s relationship, and Elizibeth

slowly begins to realize this and she becomes jealous as well. An interesting distinction between

Indian traditional and European traditional music happens directly following the end of this song,

where Elizabeth is shown at a ball, and English ballroom music is being played in the

background score. This sudden change of styles helps to show the drastic difference between

Elizabeth and Bhuvan and the villagers, and also to emphasize her conflict of identity and where

she belongs. This same distinction is shown in the next song O Rey Chhori, which contain the
same themes of love, and bounce between traditional Indian Folk beats and English classical

music to show the differences between Gauri and Elizabeth, and how different Elizabeth is from

Indian culture. In this song Gauri and Bhuvan's relationship is growing stronger unbeknownst to

Elizabeth who is still thinking of Bhuvan. This is the only song in the movie that contains lyrics

in English to help portray Elizabeth’s point of view.

Background scores were used heavily throughout the movie to evoke emotions within the

audience and to emphasize the mood of the current scene. Traditional folk Indian music was used

when the scene was taking place at the village, using folk instruments. When the scene was

taking place at the British establishment, classical English music was used to set the tone. The

use of these background scores made it very obvious to the audience when scenes were joyful or

serious, which made for a more cinematic viewing experience.

Sociocultural Issues And Analysis:

The biggest theme tackled by the film is nationalism that occured during colonialism in

India. The film makes it very apparent through dialogue who the heros and the villains are. The

reason Lagaan was so effective in doing this was because of the way they positioned their

characters. The British were shown in brighter clean colors, and often on top of horses

surrounding Indian people who were shown closer to the ground, wearing clothes of darker color

that were dirty. This depiction alone allowed for a clear distinction between the Indian villagers

and the British. The narrative of a group of villagers being able to rally up to defeat the British

gives off strong nationalistic tones. The fact that the British men are shown to be so evil and

ruthless through the character of Captain Russell help to paint the village cricket team and

Bhuvan as the Indian heros. The fact that they chose the Indian representation of the film to be
rural villagers is essential to the film’s plot, but the reasoning behind it is a bit problematic.

According to Sharpe in her article Gender, Nation, and Globalization in Monsoon Wedding and

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, “The rural exists in the post-1990s films not as a geographical

location so much as a signifier for a simpler way of life prior to globalization. As a member of

the new generation of directors declares: “The village has been pushed to the farthest periphery

of our imagination. Any reference to a rural background today is only a synthetic nod to the

roots.” (Sharpe, p.60). The depiction of Indian villagers in this movie are shown to be very poor,

uneducated, and more primitive in the way they think and act. Their clothing is also very simple.

Although Champaner is not a real location, it is safe to say the narrative stereotyped Indian

villagers and life in the village in order to further the plot. The quote mentioning that any

reference to Indian villages is a “synthetic nod” to Indian roots and simpler times is very accurate

in this case, and although it helps to strengthen the theme of nationalism in the film, it does so at

the cost of stereotyping villagers.

Another way Indian nationalism is highlighted in the film is by differentiating the two

main female roles of the film, Gauri and Elizabeth, and placing emphasis on the fact that both are

in love with Bhuvan, the hero of the film. The fact that Gauri is jealous of the time that Bhuvan

spends with Elizabeth draws parallels to modern Indian women who are still experiencing post

colonial pressures to look more fair and western. Gauri is darker in skin tone, and represents the

traditional Indian girl. She takes to heart traditions throughout the film, and has strong faith in

her religion. In a way, the character of Gauri embodies a perfect Indian woman. The film does

this almost to convince those watching the film to go back to traditional Indian roots. Consider

this quote from Shahnaz Khan in his article Reading Fanaa about Indian populations around the
world, “As the South Asian community has also grown in Britain, North America and Australia,

it has been targeted as a market. At the same time these locations have seen an increasing

mainstreaming of Hindi films through which particular ideologies of nation and citizenship are

promoted” (Khan). Gauri’s character, and the fact that Bhuvan chose her over Elizabeth, shows

that in the film what was traditional and Indian was chosen over what was modern and western.

This aspect was promoted to show Indians that are living outside of India to be proud of their

heritage and choose being more traditional and Indian over western cultures where they may live

in order to strengthen Indian nationalism outside of India.

One thing to note, however, is that when the theme of Indian nationalism is mentioned, it

really means Hindu Indian Nationalism. Bollywood movies never tend to focus on Indian

national themes while including the variety of religions that are represented in India. Indian

Nationalism, in this case, really only applies to Hindus who are seen as true Indians, which is

very problematic. Colonial rule did not only affect Hindu Indians, but also Muslim Indians who

made up a good chunk of the populaiton. According to Jayson Beaster-Jones in his book

Bollywood Sounds, “ “On August 15, 1947 India achieved its independence from the British

empire. The jubilant event was marred by sorrow accompanying the Partition of the country

which created a new state, Pakistan. While no one had exact figures, it is estimated as many as

15 million people migrated from one nation to the other: Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan to

India, and Muslims from India to Pakistan.” (Beaster- Jones). It's clear through this quote that it

was not only Hindus that were negatively impacted and struggled because of British colonial

rule. That is why it is problematic that Lagaan, a film with the intent of telling a story to
strengthen Indian nationalism only represents Hindus and Hindu religion throughout the film,

and chooses to leave out any other religion and representation that also makes up India.

The final major theme of the film was the issue of the caste system. This issue is tackled

through the character Kachra, an untouchable who has a deformed arm that allows him to spin

the ball when he throws it. When Bhuvan finds out Kachra has this talent, he says that Kachra

will be the final player of the team. This is met with a lot of argument, with many of his team

members saying they will leave the team and drop everything if it means they have to play with

an untouchable. Bhuvan makes it clear that Kachra is like any other person, and humanizes him.

Although the intent of this scene is good, there are a few problems with how Kachra is

representing low caste people. Suraj Yengde in his journal on Dalit cinema said “ “Caste as a

representational theme is compromised in the same way as is the construction of secularism in

Bollywoodfilms, where Hindu–Muslim relationships are fetishised in the service of constructing

a liberal, post-colonial polity, as Chadha and Kavoori arguein their essay about the‘othering’of

the Muslim in Bollywood.” (Yengde, p.3). As the quote mentions, low caste people are always

shown as the “other” and different from normal, even though they make up a majority of the

Indian population. Films always tend to show low caste people as pitiful and in need of help as

well. It is no different in the case of Lagaan, Kachra is shown to have a deformed arm, and is not

even wearing a shirt like the rest of the villagers. Although Kachra’s arm is important to the plot,

it still enforces the stereotype of low caste Indians.

Conclusion:

Lagaan has always been one of my favorite films growing up and I've seen it many times,

but this was the first time I watched it with a more analytical lense. I felt that the movie did a
great job of telling a story. The producer had the agenda of conveying a story with a message,

and he didn't stray from that, which is not common in Bollywood films. Anna Morcom, author of

Hindi Film Songs and the Cinema states, “Although the role of a producer is essentially one of a

businessman, because he stands to make or lose the most money, he will also to a greater or

lesser degree be active in (or interfere with, as it is most often interpreted) decisions regarding

the artistic side of song and film making.” (Morcom, pg. 28-29) . As Morcom says, more often

than not, the producer makes decisions based off of what will be popular and what will make

more money, but I felt that this film did a great job of sticking to the story. One way this was

shown was through the music and sound track. A lot of thought was put into making sure the

music advanced the plot, and revealed something within it about the characters. Lyrics in every

song had meaning. Care was shown to make sure traditional Indian folk music was used in

certain settings as opposed to western classical music in other settings.

I also thought that Lagaan, like many other great Bollywood films, makes great use of

color and symbolism. Another film we watched in the class, The Guide, does the same. As

stated by Lalita Pandit when mentioning The Guide in her writing on transcendence in Indian

films, “Raju’s image splitting into the body and the soul, or a ̄tman. Anand’s film is in color; he

uses a richly textured orange fabric and contrasts it with Raju’s faded, pale green or khaki

uniform, with his trademark scarf. Dutt’s film uses the metaphor of thirst to suggest

emotional as well as spiritual thirst. In a parallel gesture, the final sequence of Anand’s film uses

thirst and hunger in the context of drought and famine.” (Pandit, p.10) Similarly, Lagaan uses

some of the same colors. The villagers mostly wear khaki, brown/ beige, or red to symbolize

their poverty as well as the fact that they are in a drought. The British, however, wear more white
to show the difference in wealth and power. I could really appreciate how many details went into

telling the story in a heightened and cinematic way to engage the viewers interest throughout the

entire movie.

That being said, I never realized how many things were problematic with the story as

well. The fact that Muslims were not even represented in a film about Indian nationality shows

that Bollywood, or at the very least the film makers, do not consider Muslims to be inherently

Indian, even though they are. I also never realized how many stereotypes came into play when

discussing how the Indian villagers themselves were portrayed, and the same goes for the

depiction of low caste people within this film. I feel that the intent with this film was great, and

the message they wanted to share about strengthening Indian nationality came across clearly to

the viewer. However, Bollywood still has an issue with inclusivity and making sure portrayals

are accurate and representative. I believe that solving these problems at the film level would help

these messages trickle down to the Indian population to change their mindset and be more

inclusive of others.

Sources

Beaster-Jones, Jayson. Bollywood Sounds: The Cosmopolitan Mediations of Hindi Film Song. :
Oxford University Press, December 18, 2014. Oxford Scholarship Online. Date Accessed 3
May. 2020

Khan, Shahnaz. (2009). Reading Fanaa: Confrontational views, comforting identifications and
undeniable pleasures. South Asian Popular Culture. 7. 127-139. 10.1080/14746680902920890.

Morcom, Anna. Hindi Film Songs and the Cinema. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate,
2007. Print.
Pandit, Lalita. (2008). From Despair to Wonder: Scenes of Transcendence in Indian Cinema.
Projections. 2. 78-94. 10.3167/proj.2008.020106.

Sharpe, J. (2005). Gender, Nation, and Globalization in Monsoon Wedding and Dilwale
Dulhania Le Jayenge. Meridians, 6(1), 58-81. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/40338684

Suraj Yengde (2018) Dalit Cinema, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 41:3, 503-518,
DOI: 10.1080/00856401.2018.1471848