Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

(Ashutosh Gowariker, India 2001, 220 min., 35mm, Hindi, Awadhi, Urdu w/subtitles)

Stories of Indian Cinema. One of the biggest sensations of modern Indian cinema, Lagaan is an epic tale of love and power (and sports!) set in a small village under British occupation. In the year 1893, a rebellious young farmer rallies his community to oppose the tax imposed by the foreign oppressor. An English captain challenges the protesters with cricket, a game then completely unknown in India. The stake is nothing less than the villagers’ lives. A triumph of romance, choreography (in the exhilarating musical numbers), and heart-stopping action, Lagaan displays the genius of the Bollywood style at its very best.

See the exhibition! On view in the museum, Stories of Indian Cinema: Abandoned & Rescued tells the behind-the-scenes tale of how the Eastman Museum acquired the largest collection of contemporary Indian cinema at any museum or archive in the world.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. to offer a hands-on opportunity for you to observe and interact with film archivists from the museum as they inspect reels of film from the George Eastman Museum's Indian cinema collection.