AN ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW A TO Z OF OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM LAGAAN
by ASJAD NAZIR
The only two commercial Bollywood films that have ever got an Oscar nomination are Mother India (1957) and Lagaan (2001).
The cricketing drama set in the 19th century took audiences by surprise when it released and remains popular around the world. This month the iconic film headlines an event at Fairfields Hall in Croydon where a screening will be accompanied by live music/dance performances, interactive cricket games, street food and other entertainment. In the coming months, this year’s official Indian Oscar entry Gully Boy will be trying to follow in Lagaan’s footsteps and get a nomination. Eastern Eye revisited Lagaan for an all you need to know A to Z.
A is for Auditions: A lot of future stars auditioned for Lagaan when they were relatively unknown, but were not selected and the biggest of these was Hollywood actor Gerard Butler.
B is for British: Lagaan had the highest number of British actors ever to be cast in a single Bollywood movie, with Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne having the most prominent roles.
C is for Costumes: Bhanu Athaiya, who had won an Oscar for Gandhi, was the costume designer of Lagaan and worked meticulously to make all the characters look authentic. She would win a National Film Award for Best Costume Design.
D is for Director: Ashutosh Gowariker had delivered two forgettable films as a director before Lagaan so struggled to find producers and a lead star for his ambitious epic. Luckily for him, Aamir Khan believed in the project and together they created history.
E is for Extras: Today large crowds are computer generated in films, but for Lagaan thousands of extras were drafted in from surrounding areas for the film to generate the required atmosphere. Over 10,000 were used for the final match.
F is for First Cut: The first cut of the film was 7 hours and 30 minutes long. It was eventually edited down to 224 minutes and gripped audiences.
G is for Gadar – Ek Prem Katha: Lagaan released on the same day as record-breaking film Gadar – Ek Prem Katha, which was also set in the past. Although the Sunny Deol starrer smashed cinematic records, Lagaan was also able to hold its own at the box office, which is very rare when a film released on the same day does so well.
H is for Honours: It may have not won an Oscar, but Lagaan swept the boards at the major award ceremonies despite having tough competition. This included eight Filmfare awards, nine IIFA Awards and an incredible eight National Awards.
I is for Inspiration: One of the inspirations for the themes tackled in the film was man versus machine drama Naya Daur (1957), which also revolved around villagers battling against the odds.
J is for Jump: The production grew more ambitious as the long shoot progressed and by the end, the overall budget had more than doubled, but luckily financiers had faith and it paid off.
K is for Khan: Although Lagaan will forever be associated with lead star and producer Aamir Khan, it was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, but he turned the film down.
L is for Leading lady: The first choice to star opposite Aamir Khan was Rani Mukerji, but she was unable to do so because of other commitments. Then various actresses were considered, including Namrata Shirodkar, Ameesha Patel and Nandita Das, before Gracy Singh landed the coveted role.
M is for Music: AR Rahman delivered an award-winning collection of songs that added an extra layer to the movie. Later, the film’s songs would be sampled internationally, including M.I.A using Ghanan Ghanan in Matangi Mixtape and Solace sampling Mitwa for the track Innocent One.
N is for Narrator: Amitabh Bachchan narrates the movie, but wouldn’t share screen space with Aamir Khan until they starred together in the 2018 period adventure Thugs Of Hindostan.
O is for Oscars: Lagaan got an Oscar nomination, but lost at the ceremony to Bosnian film No Man’s Land. The stunning march at the Academy Awards opened a lot of international doors for Hindi cinema.
P is for Producer: Lagaan lead star Aamir Khan made his debut as a producer with the film. That would be the first step towards becoming a massively successful film producer. His successes since Lagaan include Taare Zameen Par, Secret Superstar and Indian cinema’s highest ever grossing film Dangal.
Q is for Quality: Apart from being a massive success with audiences, the film received rave reviews around the world, including from non-Indian media. It remains one of the best-reviewed Bollywood films globally.
R is for Rachel Shelley: The British actress didn’t understand Hindi, but managed to memorise and understand fellow cast members’ dialogues to understand the scenes better.
S is for Spin-offs: There were various spin-offs connected to Lagaan produced, which included an award-winning documentary on its making, collector cards, a limited edition coin, a comic, colouring book and cricket board game. The Spirit of Lagaan – The Extraordinary Story of the Creators of a Classic book was also published.
T is for Trouble: The ambitious first-of- its-kind Bollywood film faced various challenges during production, which included sweltering heat that reached 48 degree centigrade, organisation of thousands of extras, injuries on set, a spiralling budget, poor accommodation and dealing with any overheads.
U is for Untouchable: One of the most beloved characters was Kachra, who hailed from the untouchable community and saves the day with his spin bowling. Aditya Lakhia played the role, which was one of the first in Bollywood to give so much respect to what is considered an untouchable community in India.
V is for Village: Champaneer, the village shown in the film, doesn’t actually exist. After scouting for locations in places such as Rajasthan and Nasik, the team zeroed in on the Kutch district of Gujarat, where it was primarily shot.
W is for Wives: Aamir Khan’s first wife Reema was executive producer on the movie and his future wife Kiran Rao, worked as an assistant director on the ambitious project.
X is for X Factor: The main reason Lagaan was a hugely successful film was because it managed to combine India’s three greatest passions – Bollywood, cricket and patriotism.
Y is for Yashpal Sharma: The sterling support cast included Yashpal Sharma. Like the rest of the cast members, he helped add an authenticity and described Lagaan as a great experience.
Z is for Zero: No other Bollywood film has been able to get an Oscar nomination since Lagaan achieved the incredible in 2002, and many other records achieved by the film remain intact.
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
Her book ' Under Her Root'Facebook/ AA Chaudhuri
Her book 'The School Gates'Facebook/ AA Chaudhuri
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5