Beneath the utopia of liberal nationalism 2 in Lagaan

Beneath the utopia of liberal nationalism: a deconstruction of

anti-colonialism and nationalism as shown the Ashutosh

Gowarikar ’ s film ‘ Lagaan ’

Introduction

Set in the historical background of colonial India, Ashutosh

Gowarikar directed hindi film ‘Lagaan’ (hindi word of land tax)

captured the national imagination not only through its anti-

colonial narrative, but also through the projection of an almost

Gandhian vision of all-inclusive social unity. While this film

uses a pseudo-historical narrative to portray the exploitations

of the farmers in the colonial india, the conflict and crisis is

curiously translated into a cricket match, finally ending with a

resolution that marks the triumph of the natives. Given the

imperial origins of the game, the cricket match goes beyond the

process of mimicking the colonial masters (as it happened in the

actual history, where the game was first embraced by the elite

Indians), and turns into indigenizing the game and beating the

masters. This reversal of power dynamics operative within the

socio-political sphere on the cricket field embodies a spirit of

nationalism that resonates with the Indian audience. Another

aspect of the cricket match in this film is the combination of

the team, a selection that attempts to break the caste and

communal boundaries to create a somewhat utopian vision of an

India that could be found in the views of Gandhi. However, this

mass entertainment oriented film with its anti-imperialist and

anti-communalism rhetoric seems to have many caveats beneath the

surface layer. While the film earned massive accolades for

presenting a liberal nationalist vision of india, it could be

argued that this liberalism itself is shaped within the

nationalistic rhetoric of hindu-centric upper castes. Moreover,

an ahistorical depiction of cricket also over-shadows the

communalism and casteism accompanying the integration of cricket

with nationalistic aspirations and, thus, inducing a sense of

historical amnesia towards the issue of religion and caste in the

colonial India.

History of cricket and nationalistic discourse in colonial india:

Despite of the massive popularity and a quasi-religious stature

of the game, cricket still remains a legacy of the colonial era.

The colonial functionaries coming from Britain, brought cricket

to india as a part of their sports culture. Commenting upon this

particular aspect of the spread of cricket, Rowland Bowen opines

that "When people go in large numbers to other countries, and

establish colonies there…so far from abandoning their social

habits and customs, they do their best to maintain them and; not

only that, to maintain them in the state they knew when the first

substantial number of them arrived in their new homeland."1 Thus,

cricket was primarily a cultural element that the colonizers

carried in order to make themselves feel at home in the colonies.

At the same time, it also became another symbol of their claim

upon the land and a part of the colonial hegemony. Bowen provides

an interesting insight into this idea by quoting a 19th century

cricket journalist Frederick Gale (who thought it to be

unfortunate that Dr. Samuel Jonson could not include the

definition of ‘cricket’ sport within his dictionary and suggested

an imaginary conversation between Dr. Jonson and his biographer

Boswell) :

1 Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A history of its growth and development throughout the world," Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd., London, 1970, p. 72.

“Sir, cricket is a manly game, demanding exercise of patience and

temper, combined with some danger, and therefore requiring

courage. The two men at the wickets are viceroys, who alternately

rule each other’s kingdom, and the space between the batsman’s

wicket and the popping crease, though it be but four feet in

extent, is as much the batsman’s kingdom, so long as he can hold

his fortress, which is called a wicket…”2

Thus, cricket game becomes an extension of the british lordship

in the colonial India. The association of the game with the

cultural refinement of the Englishmen and its characterization as

a gentleman’s game were embedded in the colonial rhetoric and

marked the superiority of the colonizers over the natives. Parsi

community in Mumbai were the first to adopt this game in the

colonial india, establishing their first cricket club in 1848,

named oriental cricket club. Ramchandra Guha, a renowned cricket

historian, writes in his essay “cricket and politics in colonial

India” : “the fist Indian to take to the game were the parsis of

Bombay, an educated, prosperous and westernized community, in

2 Carleton, John William. The Sporting review, ed. by ‘Craven’. Oxford University, 1870. 388. Web. 1 May 2014.

origins and culture somewhat at odds with the land they lived in

after exile from Persia”.3 This early adoption of the game could

be seen as a colonial mimicry, as the rhetoric of colonialism

fosters a sense of inferiority among the natives and creates a

desire to imitate the superior masters. Subsequently, the game

was adopted by hindu and muslim communities as well. However,

essentially this adoption of the game was based on a sense of

communal rivalry. As Guha argues in his essay, the business

rivalry between the parsis and the hindus led to the formation of

first hindu cricket club “Bombay union” in 1866. It was followed

by the formation of ‘muslim cricket club’ in 1883. While the

narrative of Indian cricket shows a communal politics interwoven

with colonial mimicry, it also created a sense of national

identity among the different cricket playing Indian communities.

This national rocket consciousness was expressed in the form of a

petition that the native cricket players wrote to the governor of

Bombay in order to secure proper playing ground for themselves.

Written in 1881, this petition point to the unfairness “that the

comforts and convenience of the half-a-dozen gentlemen, generally

3 Guha, Ramchandra. “Cricket and Politics in Colonial India” Past and Present,No. 161 (Nov., 1998), 155-190.

play polo, should be preferred to the necessary healthful

recreation of over five hundred native youths.” (Guha) thus,

cricket led to the first instance of resistance against the

colonial injustice. The significance of this event within the

Indian colonial history becomes even higher because it had

occurred almost four years before the formation of the congress

party. However, the contribution of cricket to nationalistic

discourses within the colonial india is very limited in nature.

The development of cricket clubs in all the major cities across

India was largely based on communal identity, which emerged and

subsequently perpetuated a conflicting social atmosphere in the

country. The quandrangular tournament that included a European

team, a parsi team, a hindu team and a muslim team, became a

symbolic expression of the divided communal identity among the

Indians. D.B. Deodhar, an Indian cricker from the colonial era,

reflected upon the communalization of cricket in the pre-

independence India and declared it to be a result of the colonial

exclusionary policies. He argues:

“ on the one hand, the british did not admit the parsees to their

‘santified fortresses’. The parsees, therefore, had perforce to

have separate clubs. But in those clubs they could have allowed

other Indians. Unfortunately that was not done. Consequently the

hindus also had to follow the same path. Muslims, last in the

field, were compelled to follow the suit”.4

This particular perception of the communal history of cricket in

the colonial India places the main responsbility of such a

divisive develoment upon the british and also the parsi

community. The hindus are perceived as rather the unwitting

victims of the colonial exclusionry policies. However, Guha

argues that such an understanding would be a result of the

retrospective view upon the issue and could be rather considered

as historical revision within the framework of nationlistic

discoruces based on Gandhian and Nehruvian ideas. Guha offers a

bluntly honest evaluation of the entire divisive development of

cricket:

“ the element of compulsion was not really a factor in the

origins of the quadrangular tournaments, which was moulded as

much by the hindu caste prejudice, by parsi social snobbery and

4 Guha, Ramchandra. “Cricket and Politics in Colonial India” Past and Present,No. 161 (Nov., 1998), 155-190.

by muslim cultural insularity, as by british racial superiority.

Nonetheless, sown into this segmentary system were the seeds of

social conflict.”5 (Guha)

As the Indian independence movement gathered its pace and the

demand for freedom was becoming more vociferous, the communal

nature of indian cricket undermined the idea of a unified ‘Indian

nation’. Gandhi was aware of this probelmatic aspect of cricket

within the cotnext of india’s freedom struggle. His statement,

quoted by Guha, expresses this awareness:

“I have never understood the reason for having hindu, parsi,

muslim and the other communal elevens. I should have thought that

such unsportsmanlike divisions would be considered taboos in the

sporting language and sporting manners.”6 (Guha)

Gandhi’s observation also expresses the uncomfortable nature of

the history of indian cricket within the nationalistic

discourses, particularly in the post-colonial era.

5 Guha, Ramchandra. “Cricket and Politics in Colonial India” Past and Present,No. 161 (Nov., 1998), 155-190.6 Mannis, Michael. “Anthem South Asia Studies” Colonialism as Civilizing Mission: Cultural Ideology in British India. Ed. Harald Fischer-Tiné, Michael Mann. Anthem Press, 2004. 361. Web. 1 May 2014.

Creating the mythology of nation: use of cricket in ‘ lagaan ’

The international reception of ‘Lagaan’ was quite favourable and

many reviewers found it to be a fine product of hindi cinema.

Robert Ewert wrote “Set in India in 1893, it combines sports with

political intrigue, romance with evil scheming, musical numbers

with low comedy and high drama, and is therefore soundly in the

tradition of the entertainments produced by the Bombay film

industry”. 7 thus, ‘Lagaan’ is not received or evaluated within

the western film tradition of realism, but within a separate

category of typical hindi cinema that is marked for its

melodramatic and musical elements. he further adds “it’s a memory

of the films we all grew up on, with clearly defined villains and

heroes, a romantic triangle, and even a comic character who saves

the day. "Lagaan" is a well-crafted, hugely entertaining epic

that has the spice of a foreign culture.”8 It appears that the

appeal of ‘Lagaan’ for the foreign audience was primarily due to

the epic presentation of the exotic india rather than the complex

nationalistic and postcolonial politics underlying the narrative.

7 Ebert, Roger. "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India." Reviews. Rogerebert.com, 07 June 2002. Web. 09 May 2014.8 Ebert, Roger. "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India." Reviews. Rogerebert.com, 07 June 2002. Web. 09 May 2014.

Besides the exotic charm of Bollywood movies, the surface level

rhetoric of the film has also struck some favorable keys, as

could be seen in the review of

Alex Kehr:

“‘Lagaan’ is a utopian fantasy of a perfect community, brought

together in literal and figurative harmony.”9

While this unity and harmony is created in opposition to the

colonial oppression, this Gandhian idealism of the film provides

a rather problematic approach to the problems of communalism and

casteism. The very ahistorical treatment of the narrative

silences the historical roots of communal and caste based

problems in the Indian history. Siriyavan Anand raises this

problematic politics of the narrative as he argues:

“Lagaan, which partakes of and perpetuates this folklore of

cricket as universal social solvent, lends itself very eminently

to a ‘casteist’ reading precisely because of its thematic

9 Kehr, Dave. "Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India (2001) FILM REVIEW; The Cricketing of an Indian Village." Movies. New York Times, 08 May 2002. Web. 25Apr. 2014.

inflections and its choice of things to celebrate and

suppress.”10

Thus, the historical selectiveness and convenience of silence on

certain aspects of the narrative renders ‘Lagaan’ a nationalistic

mythology, which embraces the non-caste hindus and non-hindus

with a gesture of condescension and needful afterthought. This

attitude is unwittingly expressed in the review by peter

Bradshaw, who writes:

“The acting is a bit broad-brush, especially for the British

chaps, but Ashutosh Gowariker's film is virile, muscular

storytelling, with rich musical dance numbers, and inspired

touches like an Untouchable inventing off-spin.”11

Set in the colonial India in 1893, ‘Lagaan’ uses cricket as a

means of resistance and defiance against the exploitative

colonial government. The largely peasant population of a

fictional village champaner is unable to pay ‘Lagaan’ due to the

recurring bad harvest. However, the colonial government is

10Anand, Siriyavan. "Cricket, Lagaan, and Caste." Cricket, Lagaan, and Caste. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.11 Bradshaw, Peter. "Lagaan." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 June 2001. Web. 09 May 2014.

adamant to have its share of revenue, resulting in the extreme

pressure from the local ruler upon the villagers. The collective

complaint of the villagers regarding their inability to pay the

tax is met with a sneer from captain Russell, the british

commander appointed there. In a mocking manner, Russell throws a

challenge to a villager named Bhuvan to play a cricket match.

According to this challenge, a victory for the villagers in the

match against british officers’ team would result in underwriting

of due revenue for the previous three years. This challenge is

accepted by Bhuvan, a young leader figure among the villagers.

While the challenge itself can be seen as an assertion of the

british superiority, the acceptance of challenge can be

interpreted as an act of resistance or subversion. However, the

most crucial aspect of this cricket is the team formation.

Bhuvan, an upper caste hindu, becomes the default captain of the

team. Most of the players are from the same caste category.

However, this team is given a more inclusive character through

the selection of a muslim, a sikh and an untouchable player. It

is the inclusion of the untouchable player, Kachra, that

highlights the issue of casteism and also allows the protagonist

Bhuvan to challenge this discriminatory practice. The divisive

impact of communalism or casteism within the nationalistic

discourse is expressed through the speech of an upper caste hindu

villagers “This is wrong. You are polluting the whole system.

We'll fight the British. But mingle with a low-caste, never!”

while this villager’s speech reflects the communal and caste

based divisions, Bhuvan’s response could be seen as an expression

of Gandhian/ Nehruvian nationalism. He refuses to let go of

Kachra and questions the morality of all the villagers:

“You brand people untouchable and pollute humanity. You choke the

air in our village with this caste division. Is it right to

shatter hearts in the name of skin colour? Then why worship Ram,

who ate a tribal's half-eaten berries? The Lord himself was

ferried by a low-caste boatman.”

He further adds “Our goal is freedom from lagaan and welfare for

our village. And for that I will remain unbowed! Whether you

support me or not, Kachra will play.”

Bhuvan’s use of Lord Ram’s example to challenge the moral

validity of casteism is reminiscent of gandhi’s idea of ‘Ram

Rajya’ or the ideal state. Within this ideal state, caste or

religion based discriminations are completely non-existent. This

rejection of casteism is also presented as a political necessity

in order to fight against the colonial oppressors and get freedom

from the ‘Lagaan’. However, the narrative of cricket shown within

the film is quite incongruous with the historical accounts of

cricket in the colonial india. While this fictional narrative and

its place within the nationalist mythology can be presented as a

good effort to revive the Ghandhian ideal of India as a nation,

the predominantly hindu players in the team and a very marginal

presence of other communities like muslims and sikhs (one player

from each community) also creates some doubts about the

nationalistic discourse within the film. Robert cross points to

the problematic aspect of this nationalistic discourse developed

through the character of Bhuvan :“An alternative reading of

Bhuvan’s efforts at ‘unification’, however, cannot ignore the

fact that the resistance takes place overwhelming under the

banner of Hinduism. The token appearances in the film of a single

Muslim, a single Sikh and a single Untouchable does suggest

strongly that Lagaan constructs ‘India’ and ‘Hindu’ as almost

interchangeable concepts.”12

thus, the depiction of cricket within the narrative of ‘Lagaan’

couldn't be seen within the context of liberal hindu nationalism

rather than a revival of the Gandhian idea of nation. This

problematic aspect of the film’s narrative is overshadowed by the

more overt and powerful anti-colonial rhetoric and the triumph of

the natives. Moreover, the huge popularity of cricket among the

Indians also creates an overpowering effect on the popular

imagination, preventing a serious engagement with the various

discourses running through the film. However, despite of the more

powerful elements or ideas within the film, its reconstruction of

Indian cricket’s history within the nationalistic discourse could

be seen as the myth making of the liberal hindu nationalism.

Conclusion:

The history of cricket in india and the dominant historical

discourses of Indian national identity share a rather

uncomfortable relation. By virtue of its sheer popularity, 12 Robert, CROSS. Brotherly Hands across the Cricket Pitch: Lagaan as Gandhian Post-Colonial ‘India’; Studies in Language and Culture, 11(4), 2009: 493 –514.

Cricket has become a part of the national identity in india.

While the game could be witnessed in virtually every corner of

the country, historically it still remains a part of the colonial

legacy and initially it was adopted by the elite class only.

Moreover, the early development of the game among the native

population was strictly divided across the communal lines. Thus,

the actual historical account of the game places it in a

conflicting relation with the Gandhian idea of nationalism and

his vision of an egalitarian society. However, Ashutosh

Govarikar’s film ‘Lagaan’ uses a fictional cricket match to

introduce a pseudo-historical event in the public consciousness

that not only conforms to the Gandhian vision of a casteless

society, but also presents a unifying discourse of nationalism.

The cricket team is both a symbol of the native resistance

against the colonial masters through subversive use of cricket

and a picture of the pluralistic unity within the idea of India

as a nation. On the other hand, this film also presents the

possibility of being read or seen as an expression of liberal

hindu nationalism. The depiction of champaner as a microcosmic

representation of India opens this possibility because the

village is largely occupied by the hindus and despite of the

presence of muslim population within the village the cultural

markers are only the hindu festivities. The inclusion of a

muslim, a sikh and an untouchable within the team is merely a

token gesture. While their usefulness is presented within the

film, the circumstances of their selection and their very

numerical presence place them in a marginalized state; equating

Indian nationalism with the hindu nationalism in the process.

Bibliography

Anand, Siriyavan. "Cricket, Lagaan, and Caste." Cricket, Lagaan, and Caste. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.

Bradshaw, Peter. "Lagaan." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 June 2001. Web. 09 May 2014.

Carleton, John William. The Sporting review, ed. by ‘Craven’. Oxford University, 1870. 388. Web. 1 May 2014.

Ebert, Roger. "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India." Reviews. Rogerebert.com, 07 June 2002. Web. 09 May 2014.

Guha, Ramchandra. “Cricket and Politics in Colonial India” Past and Present, No. 161 (Nov., 1998), 155-190.

Kehr, Dave. "Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India (2001) FILM REVIEW;The Cricketing of an Indian Village." Movies. New York Times, 08 May 2002. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.

Mannis, Michael. “Anthem South Asia Studies” Colonialism as Civilizing Mission: Cultural Ideology in British India. Ed. Harald Fischer-Tiné, Michael Mann. Anthem Press, 2004. 361. Web. 1 May 2014.

Robert, CROSS. Brotherly Hands across the Cricket Pitch: Lagaan as Gandhian Post-Colonial ‘India’; Studies in Language and Culture, 11(4), 2009: 493 – 514.

Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A history of its growth and development throughout the world," Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd., London, 1970, p.72.