Marginalization of the Indians in Bollywood Motion Picture ‘Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Abstract

This study is based on the scenic analysis of Bollywood motion picture ‘Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India’. The study attempts to highlight the historical instances of marginality of people of India and to unearth the aspects of oppression and exploitation at the hands of the British colonizers. Employing some relevant assumptions from Edward Said’s phenomenal work ‘Orientalism’, the researchers have weaved a framework to conduct an in-depth analysis of marginality of the Indians as depicted in the film understudy. The study inkles towards the oppressive strategies of the non-natives (colonizers) to keep the natives (colonized) subjugated and weak thereby augmenting their cultural, social and psychological oppression. It also suggests that the binary of the strong/weak, rational/irrational, civilized/barbaric and decent/indecent is so hardwired that it is mighty hard to deconstruct. This research is likely to give a new angle to this text thereby enriching its scope and understanding.