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2001 · Hindi · 3h 53m · Adventure, Drama, History · CBFC U
Keep your shortlist together and see where it’s streaming
Filmi Score
Very good
6 reviews
78
5 exceptional1 mixed
What the critics say
Critics call this a warm, lavish epic with joyous music and an exhilarating climactic cricket match, though some note dry stretches between songs, melodramatic acting and a flat British cast.
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Summary
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001, Hindi) has a Filmi Score of 78 from 6 critic reviews, and is rated All by Filmi (CBFC: U).
The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. In a small village, the tyrannical Captain Russell has imposed an unprecedented land tax on its citizens. Outraged, Bhuvan, a rebellious farmer, rallies the villagers to publicly oppose the tax. Russell offers a novel way to settle the dispute: he challenges Bhuvan and his men to a game of cricket, a sport completely foreign to India. If Bhuvan and his men can defeat Russell's team, the tax will be repealed.
Where to watchAvailability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.
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Box office collection
No sourced figure yet.
Cast & crew
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker · written by Ashutosh Gowariker & Sanjay Dayma & Kumar Dave & K.P. Saxena · music A.R. Rahman
The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. In a small village, the tyrannical Captain Russell has imposed an unprecedented land tax on its citizens. Outraged, Bhuvan, a rebellious farmer, rallies the villagers to publicly oppose the tax. Russell offers a novel way to settle the dispute: he challenges Bhuvan and his men to a game of cricket, a sport completely foreign to India. If Bhuvan and his men can defeat Russell's team, the tax will be repealed.
Where to watch
Availability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.
BBC Films calls Lagaan an Indian modern classic that lives up to its hype, praising Gowariker's direction, the cast (especially Rajesh Vivek), and… Read it there →
Bradshaw calls Lagaan a lavish, gorgeous, rollicking epic, likening it to a genre-defining crossover, and closes urging readers to go see it,… Read it there →
Variety calls Lagaan a warm, unusually restrained Bollywood epic that never drags, praising Khan's lead performance, Gowariker's direction and an… Read it there →
Kehr argues Lagaan earns its crossover success on craft — assured cinematography, Rahman's score, a rousing underdog story — while noting it is a… Read it there →
How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 6 readings; 2 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.
PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo score
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Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India: quick answers
Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.
Where can I watch Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India?
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India is not on a subscription OTT service in India, the US, the UK or Canada right now, but can be rented or bought on Google Play Movies (the US) and YouTube (the US). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.
What did critics say about Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India?
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India has a Filmi Score of 78 (Very good), the mean of 6 readings of critic reviews, one per review. Readings run from 45 (Slant Magazine) to 92 (BBC Films). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.
What readers say
The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.
