#lakha

[herawell]

In Lagaan (2001), the character Lakha is a secret informant for the British, working as a double agent inside the villagers' cricket team. When his betrayal is revealed, the villagers rush to kill them. As the pandemonium is raging, the camera pans over to his father, Hari, who simply stands stock-still with an expression of shock and embarrassment.

The next day, to redeem himself, Lakha commits himself wholeheartedly to the match, making an impressive catch. The villagers celebrate, but his father remains stony.

(Inspired by a tweet, link in reblog.)

[sleepysapphic]

[herawell]

At the beginning of Lagaan (2001), nearby villages hear of the outlandish bet Bhuvan has made with the English and are ready to attack him. Bhuvan's neighbors rush to shield him, Lakha being the first to reach him.

When Lakha's treachery is revealed, the villagers chase him into the temple, where he barricades himself. Bhuvan pushes through the mob and is the first to reach him.

[herawell]

No I’m just thinking about how when the villagers are angry at Bhuvan for agreeing to the challenge and they’re rushing to attack him, Bhuvan just stands their with his chin held high and Lakha is rushing and is the first to reach him to shield him, and how when Elizabeth outs him, Lakha flees to the temple with the villagers on his heels, and he barricades himself inside and Bhuvan is rushing up the stairs, fighting his way through the throng and is the first to reach the door, and when Lakha makes his awesome save the next day, he’s the first to rush to hug Bhuvan.

[herawell]

Me: I want Lakha to have been beaten to death by the villagers right there in the temple, in front of the Krishna and Radha statues.

Also me: There is so much delicious unrequited homoerotic tension between Bhuvan and Lakha on the latter's part and it makes a nice counterpoint to Elizabeth's unrequited longing for Bhuvan (and maybe also for Gauri).

Someone please DM me because I need to cry about all the subtext surrounding Lakha.

[herawell]

Spoilers for Lagaan (2001).

When I watched Lagaan for the first time, I kept hoping they weren’t going to have a love triangle between Bhuvan, Gauri, and Elizabeth. Once I realized it was going that route, I remember spending much of the movie worried that one of the women would do something spiteful to endanger the game. Like Gauri is rude to Elizabeth and makes her stop coming to the village before they’ve learned all the rules. Or Elizabeth realizes that Bhuvan loves Gauri, and she becomes so jealous that she stops helping them, or betrays them to her brother.

I was really, really hoping that the writers wouldn’t turn either of the lead females into catty girls, and I was so glad that they didn’t. Gauri does spend a good portion of the movie being jealous, but she doesn’t try to sabotage his friendship with Elizabeth; instead, she expresses her anger in healthy ways like cooking, singing, and dancing (ie Radha Kaise Na Jale lol). And Elizabeth is clearly heartbroken at the end, but she’s mature enough to share a hug with Gauri before leaving (although I did eyeroll a bit that apparently Bhuvan was So Awesome that Elizabeth remained his Radha all her life).

Anyone else have similar thoughts?

(They did go that route with Lakha, and I’m glad that they didn’t brush it off, that his betrayal had consequences, and he had to make it up to them. Aside: Bhuvan was way too nice to Lakha, IMO. Dude was willing to sacrifice the entire province to get the girl. Did he not realize that if they lost, Gauri would either starve or have to sell herself into slavery? I would have let the villagers beat him to death in the temple that very night.)

[sleepysapphic]

[sleepysapphic]