Review article of Film Lagaan by Michael Jagessar

LIBERATING CRICKET: THROUGH THE OPTIC OF ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER’S LAGAAN

Lagaan, Hindi (with English subtitles), 2001. 225 minutes. Written and Directed by : Ashutosh Gowariker; Produced by: Aamir Khan; Dialogue by: Ashutosh Gowariker and K.P. Saxena; Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda; Music by: A. R. Rahman; Lyrics by: Javed Akhtar

I haven’t the slightest doubt that the clash of race, caste and class did not retard but stimulated…cricket. I am equally certain that in those years social and political passions, denied normal outlets, expressed themselves so fiercely in cricket… (C.L.R. James, Beyond A Boundary 1976, p.72)

Writing on “film art”, Bordwell and Thompson note: “Looking is purposeful; what we look at is guided by our assumptions and expectations about what to look for.” 1 This is clearly the case in my numerous viewings of Lagaan. In fact, one is always surprised to discover new insights upon each succeeding viewing of the film. I submit that there is no ideal spectator vis à vis this film. There is the possibility of differentiated and multiple spectator positions. Hence, I make no claim about „objectivity‟ with regard to my „take‟ on this movie. For me, watching Ashutosh Gowariker‟s Lagaan (Land Tax) is like re-reading C.L.R James‟ masterpiece, Beyond 1

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson, McGraw-Hill, 1990), pp.141.

Film Art: An Introduction. 3rdEdition (New York:

A Boundary (1963) and Frank Birbalsingh‟s Indo-Westindian Cricketers (1988)2. I also find some fascinating connections between this film and the books by Ashis Nandy and Ramchandra Guha who are more qualified to comment on cricket in the sub-continent.3 As an Indo–Caribbean, I find Lagaan to be exciting liberation cricket at its best in a number of ways. It is not just about a game. It is about the reason(s) associated with the game: British colonialism and the agenda, arrogance, exploitation and dehumanisation that sustained it.

What do they know of cricket who only cricket know? (CLR James) Caribbean people from every walk of life will affirm with philosophical „air‟ that “Cricket is We!4 But the question ought to be asked: what exactly is cricket? Lagaan, whether the producer and writer intended to, reiterates this very question and another: What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?5 Is it an Indian game that may have been invented by the British?6 Clearly, the villagers in Lagaan felt certain it was no different from the game (gilli danda) they played as children! Such a claim is tantamount to a subversive act, given that cricket is meant to affirm „Englishness‟ (as the originator of the game) which the natives can only copy to become humans. The authenticity of the game and propriety with which it is played cannot be separated from genuine and unadulterated Englishness.7

C.L.R. James, Beyond A Boundary. Fourth Impression (London & Jamaica: Hutchinson and Sangster, 1976); F. Birbalsingh and C. Shiwcharan (eds.), Indo-Westindian Cricketers (London: Hansib Publishing House, 1988). 3 Ramchandra Guha, A Corner of A Foreign Field (London: Picador, 2003) and Ashis Nandy, The Tao of Cricket: On Games of Destiny and the Destiny of Games (Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989) 4 Hilary Beckles, “Introduction,” in Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture, edited by Beckles and Stoddart (Manchester & New York: Manchester University Press, 1995), p.1. 5 C.L.R. James, Beyond A Boundary (London & Jamaica: Hutchinson and Sangster, 1976), Preface. 6 Ashis Nandy, The Tao of Cricket (Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989). This is one of Nandy‟s contentious point. 7 See, Hilary Beckles, The Development of West Indies Cricket. Volume 1 (Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press; London: Pluto Press, 1998); James, Beyond A Boundary (London: Hutchinson, 1963)

Or is cricket “an ideological weapon of a subversive, anti-colonial nationalism”?8 In spite of the fact that this imported Victorian game was employed as part of the colonial agenda to affirm and impose a certain social and ideological identity compatible with the civilised and great motherland, the natives (black, brown and coloured) saw an opportunity to move from beyond the boundary or the margins and to occupy legitimate space centerfield where “they could gradually encroach without incurring severe penalties” and simultaneously engender acts “of a powerful symbolic nature”9 geared towards liberation/liberating of a people. In the case of Lagaan, this may or may not have been on the minds of the villagers. However, the very sentiment was there since “for the Whites, it‟s just a game. But for us, it is our life.” 10

Once Upon a Time in India, when the British Played Games… Set in the latter half of the nineteenth century in the small village of Champaner in North India, Lagaan is more than a film about adversities and injustices propagated by the British Cantonment and their arrogant leader (Captain Russell) upon innocent villagers who had to toil on empty bellies to provide for the British who worked hand in glove with Rajah Puran Singh to provide protection of his interests from the real and the imagined greediness of neighbouring rajahs. This is a film about patriotism, nationalism, triumph of the underdog, resistance, subversion, anti-casteism, antiimperialism, post-colonial discourse and much more.

Beckles, “Introduction,” in Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture, edited by Beckles and Stoddart (Manchester University Press: Manchester & New York, 1995), p.2 9 Ibid., p.2 10 Lagaan (2001, English subtitle.

Thick Soles Wear Out, then Nails Begin to Pinch (Arjan, the Blacksmith) The year is about 1893 and India is under the heavy boots of the oppressor – the British Raj. Champaner, the village where the action takes place, is in North India.11 As if the heavy hands of the British who rule the province via its cantonment are not sufficiently oppressive, a severe drought is like salt rubbed into bruising and wounding bodies. The villagers are unable to pay the tax to both Rajah Puran Singh and the British – his guardians. While the British protects the Rajah‟s kingdom from attack by surrounding rulers, they simultaneously promise these other rulers‟ protection from Puran Singh. By such double-dealing the coffers of Queen Victoria and the British economy grew and swelled like the Jack‟s giant beanstalk tree. The villagers, already bending under the shackles of Lagaan, see disaster in the drought and impending starvation. Maharaja Puran Singh tries to intervene on the villagers‟ behalf. He seeks permission for the villagers to a visit to an important temple (in another Province) in order to pray for the rains to come, but to no avail. Instead, the heartless and arrogant Captain Russell attempts to humiliate Puran Singh by insisting that he eats a meat sandwich in return for a favourable response to the request. When Rajah Puran Singh responds that he will not betray his religion to perform his duty, the request is denied and the land tax is doubled (dugna lagaan). This, of course, is terrible news for the villagers. They are caught in the vice-like grips of double oppression – the British and the Maharajah. As Bhuvan, the main protagonist who could no longer live with the oppression of his people says: “whether we put it in the right hand or the left, it is us who have to pay”. 12

While the film was shot in the Kutch region of Gujarat, the location of the village is deliberately vague. 12 Lagaan (2001). English subtitle.

What Did He Say About OUR Game? (Captain Russell) The villagers decide to plead directly to Puran Singh. They find him at the Cantonment watching a game of cricket. They are quite bemused by the game thinking out aloud that it is similar to a game they played as children, gilli-danda. Bhuvan is particular scathing over this „child‟s‟ play that the „Angrez’ are indulging over with such seriousness. Unfortunately, Captain Russell who overhears Bhuvan‟s comment (and already has had an earlier confrontation with Bhuvan‟s subversion in trying to spoil a hunting trip of the soldiers) will not tolerate such comments especially from a subservient native. After all, authentic cricket is synonymous with the civilized English and their attempts (as per the agenda of the Cantonment as only one example) to introduce Englishness to these backward heathens. Bhuvan‟s innocent comment about knowing the game and having played it when as children is an overt attempt to confront the English notion of the originality of cricket, that is, an English game. For the questions will be: who then is copying from whom and what is authentic cricket? Fuming at the thought and implications of such an insult, Russell confronts Bhuvan with the proposal that if he and the villagers can beat the English at a game of cricket he (Captain Russel) will get the lagaan cancelled for the whole province. If they lose, however, the tax will be tripled. Knowing fully well that they (the English Occupiers) have the advantage, Captain Russell smells victory when Bhuvan takes on the wager, much to the chagrin of the villagers. Bhuvan, who is bent on “running” the oppressors out of town, is motivated by the philosophy that “you have to get burnt to save your house from fire”. 13

Lagaan (2001), English subtitle.

The village chief and other villagers are not amused. Hence, a second try at getting Rajah Puran Singh to intercede on their behalf, but now with even greater urgency. This meeting only serves to underscore the nature of the confrontation the villagers must face. Rajah Puran Singh puts the matter clearly before the villagers: “The issue is not about lagaan or the game, but British honour and Captain Russell‟s ego. I suggest you learn their [my emphasis] game.”14

Coming Together in the Shape of a Fist (Bhuvan, the main protagonist) How does Bhuvan recruit his “dream” team from among the angry villagers? This becomes an even more urgent question in the light of Bhuvan‟s understanding of the game as played by the English. As he explains to Tippu (a youth) Bagha (the mute) and Guran (a mystic that would make John the Baptist look tame as a church mouse) his initial recruits:

“There are six sticks, three this side. Two fellows stand with planks before the sticks. One comes running near the sticks and throws a ball. The chap with the plank hits the ball hard with the plank and then everyone runs helter skelter…It goes on all day.” 15

Elizabeth Russell (sister of Captain Russell) comes to their rescue as she volunteers to be the villagers‟ coach. From the “house of the oppressor” comes a subversive female - moved by the injustice of her race, the arrogance of her brother and the unfairness of the wager. She eventually falls in love with Bhuvan – much to the jealousy of Gauri (a village girl) who also makes subtle overtures of her love to Bhuvan. Elizabeth‟s

14 15

Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. C.L.R James, who argues a case for cricket as art will cringe at Bhuvan‟s reading of the game!

love is not overtly communicated to Bhuvan (in a language that he understands!) hence it is not reciprocated. She will return to England with Bhuvan in her heart. As the coaching sessions begin, the team starts to come “together to form a fist”16. Team members include: Goli, whose skill with gofan the Indian version of David‟s sling-shot made him a useful and deadly bowler - even if unorthodox. At least, the English umpires, the icons of “fairness” will insist that there is nothing written in the rules to stop Goli‟s whirlwind hand action before he releases the ball. Bhura, whose skill at chasing and catching the fastest of his chickens makes him a quick runner, superb fielder and the safest pair of “catching” hands. Ishwar, the village physician, even though angry with Bhuvan for getting them into the fix decides to join. So does Ismail, the Muslim village potter. Lakha, a woodcutter and rival to Bhuvan joins the team, but as a spy for the British Captain. Arjan, the blacksmith who was beaten mercilessly by Captain Russell will be a strong hitter of the ball, which in his mind is the face and boots of Captain Russell! Deva, he tall Sikh, with experience as a soldier in the British Army and playing cricket, journeys from afar to join the village team. He will fight the British oppressor – whatever forms the battle takes. He is a fiery fast bowler! Kachra, the untouchable with a deformed hand is discovered by chance as he throws a ball back from his corner and gets it to turn and spin. This, of course, created a situation where the other members of the team and the village head refuse to allow the untouchable to join the team. Bhuvan is perceived as pushing the boundaries too far. They are willing to take on the British oppressors but not by “polluting the system”17 through mingling with the outcaste. Bhuvan, of course, lashes out at the hypocrisies of the villagers, their exclusive and oppressive rules and the 16 17

Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. Lagaan (2001), English subtitle.

contradictions of their religious beliefs vis à vis the untouchable Kachra. He is adamant: “this lifeless hand [of Kachra] will lead us to victory”.18 Perhaps it is the urgency and seriousness of the situation, more that the realisation of the oppressive practices and structures of casteism that the villagers perpetuate, that in the end propelled them to concede in allowing Kachra to play.

Back to your Frozen Island…Whimpering (Bhuran, the Village Soothsayer) On the day of the match, the British Officers, the gentry and Rajah Puran Singh are seated in their pavilion while the locals and elders of the province gathered beyond the boundary line under the scorching heat and their self-made tents. The Commanding Officers were there, not merely to see a game but also to witness the outcome of what they consider the stupidity of one of their officer‟s, who in their words, wanted to make “the British government into a bookie”.19 One wonders about the difference between being a bookie and filling Queen Victoria‟s coffers with the wealth of India at the expense of native lives and economy. Is there a difference between theft by guile and theft by force? They had already warned Russell that if he loses the game he would have to pay the taxes and be packed off to Central Africa. Of course, in the interest of English „fair play‟, a habit and quality that the natives must be taught to inculcate, they ensured that neutral umpires (English, most naturally) were imported from another region. Rajah Puran Singh had already visited the camp of the village team and fires up the team with his trinitarian benediction of liberation: “Smash the foreigners! Beat them to pulp! Crush Captain Russell‟s arrogance!”

This is easier said than done as

over the ensuing three days of the match the game swings from one end to the other. 18

Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. 20 Lagaan (2001), English subtitle. 19

Captain Russell is the main scorer for the British team (eventually bowled by his nemesis Bhuvan), while Kachra mesmerizes his opponents ending up with a hat trick. In a nail-biting finish, far from the Puritan ideal of game on the part of the English players behaviour, Kachra and Bhuvan lead their team to an „unbelievable‟ victory. Indian cricket, birthed outside the logic of Englishness and on a marginal space outside the „Lords‟ of the English Cantonment – at Champaner‟s Oval, triumphs. Even the heavens could no longer contain its laughter and the rains finally arrived in the midst of jubilation. The Angrez are crushed and humiliated and they decide to do what they always do best: to pull out of Champaner. Bhuran, Champaner‟s version of John the Baptist – with his flaming eyes, unkept hair, and a two edged tongue – could not have been more precise in his predictions. The British are going back to their mother “with their tails between their legs!”21 The only problem is the fact that Captain Russell is sent to Central Africa and the officers of the Cantonment are merely moved to another region. God help the natives of those regions!

Lagaan’s Sub-Version Commentators and film critics have had a variety of responses to Lagaan. The fact that this Indian film was nominated for an Oscar award increased interest and comments. While some may feel inclined to suggest that Lagaan is purely a fantasy commercial entertainment, there are also serious comments ranging from essays about how the Dalits or outcastes are signified to reflections on leadership style and teamwork, the Lagaan way. The music score of A.R Rahman and the wellchoreographed dance sequences are all appropriately crafted to reflect the necessary

Lagaan (2001), English subtitle.

mood and ambience of the scenes.22 These are neither cynical nor manipulative nor intended to be a marketing stunt. Perhaps what this movie clearly underscores is the contemporary Indian fascination with cricket, politics, religion and cinema. Certainly there are questions that one may rightly raise about Lagaan’s take on the history of colonial encounter in India, politics, signification of the outcaste, representation of the Raja as a sort of compassionate ruler and a vegetarian, the essentializing of racial and national categories and identity, among others. Notwithstanding, I wish to note a few significant cinematic statements made by this movie which resonate with me. 

The re-imagining of the colonial past in the context of cricket match is an effective means of linking sports, politics, aesthetics and religion. Moreover, this is not an unreal event to imagine. On the marginal space of Champaner‟s Oval, cricket – with Indian temper/tempo, creativity and style – punctures the logic of the Englishness and its cricketing agenda that served to support the notion of Englishness in the far flung corners of the empire. For me, this movie has demonstrated an effective way to unearth and re-imagine the subversive and sub-altern voices in colonial times - the Bhuvan‟s, Gauri‟s, Elizabeth‟s, Deva‟s, Kachra‟s and the Ishmail‟s - from the lost pages of colonial history for popular viewing and the re-visioning of history.



Moreover, here is an example of a film in a two-thirds world context that is used as the medium through which a people is imagined in a particular dialectic of oppression and liberation. Highlighted is the determination and power that binds a variegated group of oppressed people (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Dalit, women and men) and shapes individuals into a formidable fist to

The songs reflect traditional themes: Ghanan ghanan (Dark and dense come the clouds); Radha kaise na jale (why shouldn‟t Radha be jealous); O rey chhori (O sweet girl); Chale chalo (Let‟s go forward).

counter oppression. Here is a version of Gutierrez‟s Power of the Poor in filmic scenes. It is more than a game for the oppressed. The villagers are playing for their lives and the right to abundant living as God‟s children. In fact, it is the reality today where for two-thirds of our world‟s population people battle for survival in terrifying circumstances of life and death. Lagaan is a metaphor that can aptly describes the present global economic situation. The prayer of an oppressed people is captured in song and rises like incense to the heavens: O Saviour – O Radha, Krishna, O Pure essence we have no one but you, O Lord. Grant courage to the suffering, power and strength, Ease our troubles, O Lord.23

It plumbs the depths of heaven and finds the ear of a God, with a preference for the oppressed and marginalized. God weeps with the oppressed people, the oppressors are crushed and the heavens resonate with joy. Indeed, the “sigh of the oppressed turns iron to ashes.” 24 

The signification of the main women characters is interesting. Both Gauri (in love with Bhuvan) and Yashodamai (Bhuvan‟s mother) are portrayed in the traditional chauvinistic manner (doing domestic chores in the house, thinking of marriage, being a jealous lover etc). Notwithstanding, their faith in Bhuvan and their support of the team‟s cause against the British is an act of defiance and subversion. Elizabeth Russell, on the other hand, represents all those „memsahibs‟ who took up the Indian nationalist cause. It is in this character

23 24

Lagaan. (2001), English subtitle. Lagaan (2001), English subtitle.

that the idea of subversion in the film works best. From the camp of the English colonizers, a daughter joins forces with the native women and men of the oppressed camp in order to subvert. As in the Exodus story (like Pharaoh‟s daughter), she crosses social and cultural boundaries (even learning the language of the oppressed) to help the oppressed people save themselves. Her act of defiance, disobedience, sub-version and risk is deliberate and decisive. Her actions are contrasted sharply with that of her brother. These, together with the determination of the villagers, signal the beginning of the end of colonial tyranny and empire in Champaner. Faced with the choice between a safe and comfortable existence within the stifling confines of the English Cantonment and an adventurous new life, friendship (which she never knew), and joy with the locals, albeit unfamiliar, and challenging, Elizabeth opts for the latter. While this is life-changing and joyful, the personal price tag is costly – a displaced/dislocated and lonely life back in England. 

The contrast between the two crowds witnessing the cricket match is quite significant. The crowd representing the „gentry‟ and gathered by the pavilion betray all the characteristics of an English countryside crowd watching Sunday cricket: tea drinking, parasols, hardly any emotions, barely a murmur except the odd comment here and there, the usual applause for a good shot, delivery, and the impression of being intellectually engrossed with every moment in the game. Beyond the boundary, in the sun and their makeshift tents, the village crowd is full of life, with emotions running high, conch blowing, bell ringing, applauses, drum beating and orchestrated noise. The village crowd is doing more than looking on at a game. They are also part and parcel of the performance. They are also playing the game as their future is at stake here.

They would disagree with James that “the end result is not of great importance”.25 Besides, the crowd/spectator identification with the Campaner team challenges the notion that proper cricket can only be played by the English, that the villagers are too backward to form and play as a team, and that they cannot play the game with spirit, decorum and relentlessness. Every movement and performance by the villagers is in fact a statement affirming their humanity against the British colonial construction of them as ignorant and backward heathens. 

It has been suggested that mimesis is a significant tool employed a means for sub-version in colonial times.26 To a certain extent Lagaan employs this tool – literally and allegorically. The colonized villagers take on their British masters at their own game and with the willingness to play according to their rules. What is at stake here is a dangerous balancing act of complicity and resistance – getting into the mindset of a colonial game and subverting it with an anticolonial one. In the process, they not only learn and mimic the colonizer‟s version of the game, but they also draw from their own game (gilli danda). Notwithstanding the complaints about the „unorthodoxy‟ with regard to the villagers batting and bowling, they ultimately defeat the masters at their own game. The colonized „subject‟ is now liberated and becomes an „object‟ (playing cricket with style). Cricket, as Ashis Nandy contends, “allowed the Indians to assess their colonial rulers by western values reflected in the official philosophy of cricket, and to find the rulers wanting”.27

James, Beyond A Boundary (London, 1976), pp.193-194. [James did concede an exception: “where national or local pride are at stake”.] 26 See Homi Bhaba, The Location of Culture (London: Routledge, 1994) 27 Ashis Nandy, The Tao of Cricket: On Games of Destiny and the Destiny of Games (Viking, 1989), p.7

Lagaan is much more than mere entertainment and a commercial venture. It can certainly serve as an introduction to contemporary Indian cinema for those who are not familiar with Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Bollywood. For students and scholars of post-colonialism, however, here is a film that can function as an introductory optic to the modern history of the sub-continent and its ongoing contested interpretation. Perhaps Duncan Fletcher may wish to insist on a mandatory viewing of Lagaan for the English cricket team before their next tour to the subcontinent. They may just find the key to a successful visit and English cricket might once more be characterised by that glorious touch of unpredictability â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least of winning sometimes!