Every Once Upon A Time Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Despite having an enormous film industry of its own, India had produced surprisingly few crossover hits with Western audiences (no, Slumdog Millionaire, a British movie, doesn't count). In fact, this sweeping cricket-themed epic was only the third time in over half a century that a movie from the world's second most populous nation picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Originally simply titled Lagaan, the film gained the full name Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India to suggest the importance of its big colonialism themes to foreign audiences (and because basically calling something "Land Tax: The Movie" isn't an obvious selling point).

The film tells the story of a nineteenth-century Gujarati village suffering a drought and so being unable to pay the exorbitant taxes demanded by the rulers of the British Raj. Fortunately, an arrogant British officer offers to let them off paying the tax if the Indians can beat the Brits at cricket, a sport the villagers have never played before.

Pushing four hours in length, Lagaan has an awful lot more going on than your average sports movie. In fact it kind of feels overstuffed with different elements. But it is a lavish, handsome epic that truly earns the mythic feel of a Once Upon A Time title.