Aamir Khan's first production Lagaan which won an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category has brought us glory once again. Lagaan has been included in Time magazine's 25 Best Sports movies list. Time magazine has given Lagaan the 14th spot in their list.
The 2001 film was the biggest hit of that year. Produced by Aamir and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, Lagaan tells the story set in the Victorian period of India's colonial British Raj and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by their rulers, who challenge their British rulers to a game of cricket in order to escape their taxes- 'Lagaan' for three years.
"From the thunderclap in the first torrential rainstorm, a cue for riotous dancing to the climactic sunlight on the smiling faces of millions of viewers, this Bollywood epic is cause for joy of meteorological proportions," the magazine says, calling the film "the longest and most enthralling underdog-sports movie ever".
"Even those who know none of cricket's complicated rules will bounce in their seats to A.R. Rahman's irrepressible tunes; here, one can immediately and fully accept the Bollywood trope of music and dance as an expression of life's deepest, most soaring emotions. As sports film, social document or communal ecstasy, Lagaan is the all-time all-rounder," it added.
Lagaan is the only Indian movie in the list, which is topped by The Big Lebowski (1998). Body And Soul (1947), Breaking Away (1979), Bull Durham (1988) and Caddyshack (1980).