Debate rages in cineaste circles as to whether the low-budget, high-spirited musical dramas that Indian production houses have been cranking out for decades will one day develop a cult fan base the way Hong Kong action movies did during the '90s. If so, Lagaan may be the catalyst, serving the same function for "Bollywood" that John Woo's The Killer did for Hong Kong cinema's stateside acceptance. Produced by and starring Indian matinee idol Aamir Khan, Lagaan is a crowd-pleasing 220 minutes packed with pretty faces, political intrigue, romantic triangles, comic relief, catchy musical numbers, and all the tension that can be squeezed from a three-day cricket match. Khan stars as a rebellious young bachelor in a turn-of-the-century farming village. A prolonged drought has made it difficult for communities across the province to pay the steep tax (the "lagaan") required by the occupying British army. When cruel cantonment commander Paul Blackthorne decides on a whim to double the year's lagaan, Khan confronts him and is told that his village, and the entire province, will be excused from payment if they can beat the British at cricket. Lagaan has the fundamental structure of a ragtag-band-of-misfits sports melodrama, which writer-director Ashutosh Gowariker develops with a sure hand and an appealing ensemble of stock heroes and villains. But though the characters are uncomplicated, the plot thickens into something surprisingly subtle and poignant. Khan receives aid from Blackthorne's sister (Rachel Shelley), and as she teaches the rules of the game to the villagers, she stirs jealousy in Gracy Singh, the strong-willed woman who has long considered Khan her predestined husband. Meanwhile, Khan's decision to risk his country's honor—and his willingness to draft his team across religious and caste lines—earns the ire of some of his countrymen, inspiring one of them to turn traitor. By the time Lagaan climaxes with 90 minutes of remarkably riveting cricket, the stakes and the effects on the players have taken on a vivid clarity, and what might have started out as corny clichés have become the stuff of classic movie entertainment. Dusty conventionality gets blown away every time Lagaan transmutes into a musical. When the villagers sing in praise of the rain, of the romances of the gods, or of love found at last, the lively rhythms and spirited voices provide a historical epic with moments of human-scaled joy and rich emotion.