A rousing, unusually ambitious crowd-pleaser that blends sports drama, musical spectacle, romance, and anti-colonial resistance into a genuinely epic underdog story. Its long runtime is part of the experience: the film builds momentum patiently and pays off with huge emotional and cinematic force.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Adventure · Drama
Fri · 3h 53m
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley
Overview
The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. In a small village, the tyrannical Captain Russell has imposed an unprecedented land tax on its citizens. Outraged, Bhuvan, a rebellious farmer, rallies the villagers to publicly oppose the tax. Russell offers a novel way to settle the dispute: he challenges Bhuvan and his men to a game of cricket, a sport completely foreign to India. If Bhuvan and his men can defeat Russell's team, the tax will be repealed.
Director
Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast
Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley
Curator Review
Verdict
A rousing, unusually ambitious crowd-pleaser that blends sports drama, musical spectacle, romance, and anti-colonial resistance into a genuinely epic underdog story. Its long runtime is part of the experience: the film builds momentum patiently and pays off with huge emotional and cinematic force.
Best for
Viewers who like big, emotional underdog stories
Fans of historical epics with strong musical numbers
Audiences open to long runtimes and maximalist storytelling
People interested in colonial-era resistance narratives
Sports-movie fans looking for something more expansive than the usual formula
Skip if
You dislike musicals or frequent song sequences
You want a brisk, tightly edited sports film
You prefer realism over heightened melodrama
You are impatient with long runtimes
You want a story with minimal romance or ensemble subplots
Overview
Lagaan is one of those rare films that feels both enormous and precise: a village under colonial pressure, a cricket match with life-or-death stakes, and a story that keeps finding new ways to surprise you. It takes a premise that sounds almost impossible on paper and turns it into a sweeping crowd-pleaser with real emotional weight.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the balance of scale and intimacy. The film is as interested in community, pride, and survival as it is in competition, and it uses the cricket framework to sharpen the political conflict rather than distract from it. The songs, romance, and comic beats are not padding; they’re part of the film’s momentum and identity.
Bottom line
It is long, yes, but the length gives the finale room to land with full force. By the end, the movie has earned its uplift honestly, and the payoff feels bigger than a sports victory. It’s an epic with a populist heart and a real sense of cinematic occasion.
Top Letterboxd reviews
fran hoepfner (5★) · 485 likes
the best sports-underdog-historical-triumph-of-a-persecuted-people-movie-musical-love-quadrangle I've ever seen in my whole fucking life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Felipe F. (4.5★) · 431 likes
A four hour long Bollywood musical about cricket and agricultural taxes shouldn't be this consistently riveting, but here we are.
Sean Gilman (5★) · 409 likes
Seven Samurai meets The Bad News Bears, except it's a musical about cricket and colonialism. Basically the ideal movie. Still have no idea how to play cricket, but I do understand that British imperialism is about moving into a new territory, setting up an extortion racket and then, when the people who happen to live there complain, subjecting them to an arcane and ultimately pointless series of rules and procedures which the British themselves violate the spirit if not the letter of at every turn while also, whenever possible, resorting to outright violence to punish and intimidate said populace.
russman (3.5★) · 268 likes
At 3 hours and 44 minutes, this movie is still shorter than an actual game of cricket