Kamsa ordered the musicians to stop playing immediately, and then gave this order: “I command the two sons of Vasudeva to be expelled from Mathura at once. The shepherds who came with them should take away everything of any value. Maharaja Nanda is immediately captured and killed for treachery. You should immediately punish the villain Vasudeva. As for my father, Ugrasena, who always acted against my will and supported my enemies, he too must be put to death. © Sri Srimad Bhaktivendana Swami Prabhupada, "The Source of Eternal Pleasure."
The choice of quotation was not accidental: it is this excerpt from the composition of the head of the Krishna movement that most fully and accurately characterizes the plot, denouement, the main idea of this kin ... and in general the monologue of the main character in the end does not differ much from the words of the king of Kamsa.
In fact, “Dark Horse” (the translation is not quite accurate, but the original name is so masterpiecely that it is not worth bothering once again) is such a thriller with a swing at the tragedy in the spirit of Hamlet: an abundance of storylines, a traitor mother, the key question “To be or not to be”, an incredible number of contexts and conflicts – social, economic, psychological, interpersonal, family... And, of course, the main character, torn by contradictions and burning with a desire for revenge. However, unlike Hamlet, he does not act actively in the work, noblely transferring the right of the hero-reporter to all other characters, of which there are a hundred pizzas, no less - but it was his nickname (almost name!) that formed the title of the film.
This, of course, is Bollywood in all its glory. But do not rush to rejoice, fans of the genre: this is not cheerful and pleasing with its incredulity Bollywood - it is moralizing, boring, heartbreaking, tragic and most serious Bollywood, showing the viewer all the vices of high society and bad people. In general, Bollywood does not need to be serious: it is good that five years ago they realized this, and ceased to claim seriousness in their films (and it should be clarified: I am not referring to Indian cinema in general, but to Bollywood, the same one that is unknowingly attributed to all Indian cinema). But before that there were periodic attempts to make a movie “with the passions of Tennessee Williams”, and it turned out to be about as stupid as the legendary Tommy Wiseau. And "Dark Horse" is proof of this: he is boring, uneven, pretentious, ineptly dramatic ... It is difficult to say which of these drawbacks does not apply to all other Bollywood films, but they have the same fun thrashiness and general fun that allows the viewer to give a damn about the incredible timing, idiotic script and overly expressive acting. “Dark Horse” does not have this, but there is an unconvincing attempt to appear to an uninformed viewer as a Shakespearean tragedy, which, of course, it does not work.
Although, to give credit to the film, there is one great actress: either Navnit Nishan plays so well, or her character looks so much like Queen Gertrude, but in the end, I personally sympathized only with her – yes, the writers did a lot to portray her character as a devil’s beast, but still a lot attracts in this damn smart woman. Probably a great acting game after all.