There is no stopping Lagaan

Arthur J Pais

A few months ago, Lagaan zoomed to the Top 15 at the British box office list the week it opened. Then, most of its audience comprised desis. The British reviewers mostly ignored it.

In the wake of Lagaan winning an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign film category, the British media has been compelled to take notice of Lagaan. It might be added that the film faced formidable opposition like Iran's Baran, and the Italy's The Son's Room.

The Daily Telegraph, one of the few British publications to have acknolwedged Lagaan's existence when it was first released, talked about it in an article dated February 13, 2002, titled The British Are Ready to Go Oscar Wild.

The focus of the story was how Brits, including director Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down), had dominated the Oscar nominations.

Lagaan, which featured 20 British actors, was nominated in the foreign film category, the Telegraph noted. It went on to quote Rachel Shelley, describing her as an English actress who plays the lead in the film. Wonder what Gracy Singh would say to that!

Shelley was quoted saying that though the film was a success, it deserved to be seen by more. "With an Oscar nomination, it could do crossover business," she added.

Lagaan has grossed about $1.1 million in Britain, while in North America, it has grossed about $8,50,000. Previous estimates had it earning about $1 million in North America.

Reena Dutta, wife of actor-producer Aamir Khan, had told this writer at the Toronto International Film Festival last year that she too had been waiting for a big push, like the Oscar nomination, to make the film go wider. "We have shown it to a number of journalists in Britain and Canada," she said.

Discussing the length of the film and the musical numbers in it, both Dutta (also the executive producer of Lagaan) and director Ashutosh Gowariker said since Hollywood had made a musical after many years, and since Moulin Rouge was proving to be a huge hit, Lagaan too could be acceptable to mainstream audiences.

"But there was no way they would cut out the song numbers," Gowariker said.

What if someone like Miramax Pictures, which specialises in distributing foreign films, said it would take on Lagaan but without its given length and musical numbers? "In that case, I would say Miramax knows its business," Gowariker said, with a chuckle, "but we know our film better."

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