Length: 225 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG for language and some violence

Made in India as a popular entertainment for Indian audiences, "Lagaan" is a movie that is unlike any ever seen by most Americans. In Hindi and English with a length of 3 3/4 hours, the film is a curious mix of historical drama, sports movie, romance, and musical. When I watched "Lagaan" recently on DVD, I was pretty bored for about the first hour, but then the movie started to work its magic on me, and I really enjoyed the rest of the film.

"Lagaan" takes place in an agricultural village in central India in 1893. We are quickly introduced to some of the villagers, including Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), a handsome, high-spirited young man who is the film's main character. We also meet a pretty young woman named Gauri (Gracy Singh), who wants to marry Bhuvan.

A major problem arises for the villagers when the occupying British army demands a prohibitive increase in lagaan, which is a crop tax. This results in a confrontation between the villagers and the local British commander, the cruel Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne). An agreement emerges from the confrontation: If the villagers can defeat the Brits in a cricket match, lagaan will be canceled for three years; but if the villagers lose, they will pay triple lagaan.

Hoping against hope to beat the British at their own game, Bhuvan assembles and trains a ragtag cricket team made up of villagers. In this endeavor, he gets help from Captain Russell's lovely sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley). But poor Gauri grows jealous when she sees the Englishwoman is smitten with Bhuvan. This romantic triangle leads to my favorite musical number in the movie, where scenes of Bhuvan and Gauri declaring their love for each other are intercut with scenes of Elizabeth dreaming of a life with Bhuvan.

The highlight of "Lagaan" is the cricket match itself, which goes on for three days and takes up perhaps 75 minutes of the movie. I had never seen a cricket match before and understand nothing about the finer points of the game, but I enjoyed the match as presented in the film. Cricket, which appears to be a cousin of baseball, centers around hitting a thrown ball with a bat, and I think the average American will be able to figure out the game's main features. And even if you can't follow the details, it's still exciting to watch the underdog villagers challenge the Brits in a match where both Bhuvan and Captain Russell perform brilliantly.

I loved the exuberant visual style of "Lagaan," with its vibrant colors, exotic locations, good-looking actors, and energetic musical numbers. I also liked the simple, but effective, way the film tells its story with very high production values. However, the acting style is extremely theatrical, and I never became completely accustomed to the movie's lack of subtlety.

The "Lagaan" DVD comes with only one extra of any consequence, namely the special feature called "Scene Unseen," which consists of almost 18 minutes of footage shot but not used in the final film. It's interesting to watch this footage, which would have slightly increased the complexity of the plot and given greater importance to the character Elizabeth (played by Rachel Shelley).

Selected Special Features on the DVD: