The Spirit of Lagaan
Satyajit Bhatkal
The author of this book on the making of the 2001 hit Lagaan is a friend of the film's star and producer Aamir Khan, and boy does it show. From first page onwards, this is an insider's account of the film's production, and it's clear that Bhatkal was as swept up in the excitement of the shoot as the film-makers themselves. This can make for some breathlessly gushy prose, but the enthusiastic tone is perhaps appropriate for a describing a film that got made only because of the impassioned efforts of a few determined individuals. Even Khan, who would later rally behind the project, described the idea of a musical set during the British Raj revolving around a cricket match and provincial taxes, as "outlandish" and "completely implausible" when writer-director Ashutosh Gowariker first pitched the film to him.
Bhatkal was well placed to watch the progress of the project, from its inauspicious beginnings to its 2002 Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film, and though the book inevitably lacks critical distance, there are enough telling details to make the account worthwhile. A poignant few pages describing the devastating effects of an earthquake that hit the region where the film was shot puts the demands of Lagaan's eventful shoot in sober perspective. One gripe: given the striking visuals of Lagaan the film, it's a shame the stills chosen to illustrate the book are all in black and white, and often of poor quality.
Ali Jafaar
