Lagaan Film review
"Cinema, it is said, usually is a fair indicator of a nation's psyche, which may possibly be responsible for its (current) state of being, and which, in turn, may be affected by the turn of historical, political and economic events in a given frame of time."- Partha Chatterjee
As far as movies like Lagaan, with the patriotic spirit of the nation as their focus, are concerned the above statement can be easily justified. Lagaan as a cinematic creation is the reflection of the national psyche which has gone through various struggles to establish its individual identity, especially during the British colonial rule.
How is Lagaan different from the usual patriotic Bollywood films, then?
The answer lies within the subaltern theory. On one hand the colonialist historiography perfectly represented the European perspectives towards the rest of the world, especially the concepts like the 'white man's burden', and in the process created the categories of the 'other' and the 'uncivilized', thus justifying the practice of colonization. And on the other hand, "Nationalist historiography represented the Indian nationalism, as the sum of the activities and ideas by which the Indian elite responded to the institutions, opportunities and resources, etc generated by colonialism."- Chandrima Chakraborty However, the subaltern theories managed to critique this stereotypical way of resistance, taking into consideration the movements during the Indian freedom struggle which were carried out in remote parts of the country. Again in the words of Chandrima Chakraborty," subaltern theory historians have brought to light the existence of a space that dominant historical discourses have failed to acknowledge or interpret."
Since it has been mentioned earlier that cinema gets affected by the turn of historical, political and economic events in a given frame of time, it is easy to understand why, even within the category of movies depicting the freedom struggle, each film has a new perspective to reflect. And Lagaan particularly stands out because of its subaltern perspective. Let's have a look at two major instances in the movie where the subaltern theory works in the movie:
1) It is the story of the struggle of a remote village in India. It is not about the life of the national heroes and their fight for freedom from the British government. Rather it is about the villagers' struggle for reducing the tax(lagaan). There is no mention of the influence of any political leader on any of the characters. The residents have their own mode of struggle for gaining their rights.
2) The mode of struggle i.e cricket helps in lessening the stereotypical caste hierarchy prevalent in the society. For instance, Kachra, an untouchable, is selected in the village cricket team because of his unique bowling skills, though after much tension between the other members of the team.
Thus, the movie in the words of Chandrima Chakraborty, " reiterates the subaltern studies project's call for the opening up and restructuring of the received disciplinary boundaries for the study of peasant movements."
At a time when the nation's historical discourses ignore the contributions of such struggles, films like Lagaan help highlight those events and the people involved in them.
As far as movies like Lagaan, with the patriotic spirit of the nation as their focus, are concerned the above statement can be easily justified. Lagaan as a cinematic creation is the reflection of the national psyche which has gone through various struggles to establish its individual identity, especially during the British colonial rule.
How is Lagaan different from the usual patriotic Bollywood films, then?
The answer lies within the subaltern theory. On one hand the colonialist historiography perfectly represented the European perspectives towards the rest of the world, especially the concepts like the 'white man's burden', and in the process created the categories of the 'other' and the 'uncivilized', thus justifying the practice of colonization. And on the other hand, "Nationalist historiography represented the Indian nationalism, as the sum of the activities and ideas by which the Indian elite responded to the institutions, opportunities and resources, etc generated by colonialism."- Chandrima Chakraborty However, the subaltern theories managed to critique this stereotypical way of resistance, taking into consideration the movements during the Indian freedom struggle which were carried out in remote parts of the country. Again in the words of Chandrima Chakraborty," subaltern theory historians have brought to light the existence of a space that dominant historical discourses have failed to acknowledge or interpret."
Since it has been mentioned earlier that cinema gets affected by the turn of historical, political and economic events in a given frame of time, it is easy to understand why, even within the category of movies depicting the freedom struggle, each film has a new perspective to reflect. And Lagaan particularly stands out because of its subaltern perspective. Let's have a look at two major instances in the movie where the subaltern theory works in the movie:
1) It is the story of the struggle of a remote village in India. It is not about the life of the national heroes and their fight for freedom from the British government. Rather it is about the villagers' struggle for reducing the tax(lagaan). There is no mention of the influence of any political leader on any of the characters. The residents have their own mode of struggle for gaining their rights.
2) The mode of struggle i.e cricket helps in lessening the stereotypical caste hierarchy prevalent in the society. For instance, Kachra, an untouchable, is selected in the village cricket team because of his unique bowling skills, though after much tension between the other members of the team.
Thus, the movie in the words of Chandrima Chakraborty, " reiterates the subaltern studies project's call for the opening up and restructuring of the received disciplinary boundaries for the study of peasant movements."
At a time when the nation's historical discourses ignore the contributions of such struggles, films like Lagaan help highlight those events and the people involved in them.
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