Javed Khan Movies

One of the most expensive films ever to come out of Bollywood, Lagaan tells the tale of the Indian village Champaner, beset by drought and British colonialism in the year 1893. Without a drop of rain in months, the worried villagers of Champaner decide to ask the local authorities for a temporary repeal of their taxes -- the hated lagaan. Led by the heroic Bhuvan (Indian superstar Aamir Khan) they bring their plight to the military governor, Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne). But the sadistic Russell threatens to raise the lagaan threefold, unless the villagers can beat his men at a game of cricket, in which case he'll lift taxes on the entire province for a period of three years. Bhuvan accepts the challenge, but there's a problem -- no one in Champaner knows how to play cricket. A band of misfits come to the rescue, coached by Russell's soft-hearted sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), and the race is on to be ready in three months' time. An epic reworking of Victory with eye-popping song-and-dance routines, Lagaan was a major cinematic event in India upon its release. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide

A young courtesan kidnapped from her home and sold into slavery ultimately transcends her grim fate in director J.P. Dutta's adaptation of author Mirza Haadi Ruswa's classic 1905 novel. Previously adapted for the screen to great acclaim in 1981, Ruswa's novel tells the story of a middle class girl kidnapped by a habitual offender who had been imprisoned for ten years as a result of her father's damning testimony. Determined to curse his accuser with a fate worse than death, the vengeful ex-convict spirited the man's daughter away and sold the young girl - then known as Amiran - to a brothel in Lucknow. Subsequently given the name Umrao, raised in the lap of luxury, and trained to be a great entertainer, the young girl would grow up to become one of the most beautiful and popular entertainers of her time. Yet despite all of her success, something was missing in the life of the girl now known as Umrao. Though fortune seemed to smile down on her against all odds, Umrao soon fell in love with the powerful Nawab Sultan and longed to start a family with the influential figure despite the fact that their love seemed doomed from the onset. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide