Hello Friends,
This blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our Prof. Dr. DilipSir on Post Colonialism and how it's observed in the film Lagaan, this film best expresses Post colonialism, through Indian perspective, made by Indians.
Lagaan: Lagaan (transl. Agricultural tax), released internationally as Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language epic musical sports film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, and produced by and starring Aamir Khan, along with debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne in supporting roles. The film is set in 1893, during the late Victorian period of India's colonial British Raj. The story revolves around a small village in Central India, whose inhabitants, burdened by high taxes, and several years of drought, find themselves in an extraordinary situation as an arrogant British army officer challenges them to a game of cricket, as a wager to avoid paying the taxes they owe. The narrative spins around this situation as the villagers face the arduous task of learning a game that is alien to them and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny.
Reading resource on 'Lagaan'
1. Subaltern Studies, Bollywood and "Lagaan"
Using 'Lagaan' as a case in point, this paper argues that popular Bollywood films with their appeal to the mass audience of uprooted peasants, factory workers, the unemployed, uneducated and poor can decolonise the imagination of the Indian masses. It points out that "Lagaan's" efforts at indigenisation and interrogation of prescribed discourses of modernity and history deserve credit for making possible the creation of public debates within a culture where the majority of the population is non-literate, and is unable to partake in elite discussions of culture and modernity.
Chandrima Chakraborty. “Subaltern Studies, Bollywood and ‘Lagaan.’” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 19, 2003, pp. 1879–1884. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4413550. Accessed 2 July 2021.
2. Reading cricket fiction in the times of Hindu nationalism and farmer suicides
This paper will critique postcolonial theory's attempt to read the cricket nationalism portrayed in the Oscar-nominated Bollywood film Lagaan as one that subverts the civilizing mission of British colonialism and also restores the agency of the subaltern classes. Instead, it will argue that this cricket nationalism replicates Indian bourgeois nationalism, which has no place for the subaltern in its imaginary. It will also argue that the postcolonial thesis of decolonization and indigenization of cricket supposedly achieved by Lagaan is marked by a culturalism that does not take into account structural factors such as capital, class and caste that dominate the institution of cricket in India. Finally, against postcolonial theory's tendency to read a text in isolation from the context, it will be contended that the cricket nationalism of the film can only be understood by locating it in relation to the present socio-historic conjuncture wherein forces of capital and nationalism are hegemonic.
(2007) Reading cricket fiction in the times of Hindu nationalism and farmer suicides: Fallacies of textual interpretation, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 24:9, 1200-1225, DOI: 10.1080/09523360701448349
Using the movie Lagaan as a case in point, the paper examines the post-colonial and political resistance in the 19th century. Lagaan is a Bollywood movie released in 2001 and is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The fictional story is set in a village in India and it explores the struggles faced by the citizens to earn their rights. Taking in account of the movie, the paper analyses the socio-political scenario of the country.
(https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/07/postcolonial-studies-and-bollywood.html?m=1)
Why is Cricket so popular in India?
Why are cricketers so rich and popular in India?
Why corporatization of Criticket in India?
Why this much 'money' in Cricket in India?
Cricket is colonial game. With political liberation of India from British Raj, almost everything that was connected with British Raj was hated. English language being no exemption form it. So, why is Cricket so dearly loved that Indians call it 'Religion' and crickets demi-gods?
As a cultural critic, we are suppose to doubt. We have to give some critical insight to the artefact under the scanner. As we know that Cultural Studies takes help of post-structuralist theories, it tends to deconstruct hegemony of one binary over the other, it tends to question the privileged position of one identity over the underprivileged.
Thus, in India, it is seen that since the days of Manu, society is divided in four Varna-system, with Brahmins at the top, followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Dalits at the bottom. This obviously is very fertile ground for cultural critic to explore the possibilities of culture being constructed, promoted and naturalised by Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Kshatriyas were also in political power, the power was supported by Brahmins. So, if we question - how privileged are Brahmins and Kshatriyas in contemporary Indian society? We find that they are. Especially, the rituals (from Garbha-Sanskaar to Lagna-Sanskaar to Antim-Sanskaar) keeps Brahmins at the center of socio-cultural discourse.
With this evidence of Brahmins at the centre of socio-cultural discourse, let us examine if this has played any important role in keeping Cricket also alive - not only alive, but popular, and widely accepted colonial relic in India.
Several studies and surveys done on this prove that Brahmins players in final eleven or 15 players team were more in number than other Varnas.
Following links will help you to get a few more arguments.
So, can we conclude that the power position of Brahmins, the privileged position in society has kept cricket alive , popular, rich and also respectful position like RELIGION and cricketers, GODs in India?
Well, if you do not agree with this logic or line of thinking; then, what is your interpretation of popularity and position of Cricket in India?
Thank you.