Observer effect Turn on a device for conducting experiments called "television". Experimental sample from India "Jawan" (aka "Soldier"): 2/3 plot, 1/3 songs and dances, 1000% (of the norm) slow-mo and about 1300% (of the norm) rampant pathos. For those who have an idea of what modern Indian cinema is (and Indian cinema in general), all this has long been perceived as the order of things, at least until the popcorn in the box runs out during viewing (and it needs to be stocked up for a lot of three hours of screen time of the film under review). For unprepared viewers, the Bollywood film product may turn out to be a cultural shock, next to which even the most notorious and frankly stupid Hollywood action films from the 90s will look like pseudo-documentary scientific research. In other words, whatever you call a ship, it will sail. If you look at it, it will play. Just like in quantum mechanics: until you look at electrons, they are waves, but once you look at them, they become particles. Unexplained observer effect. So in the case of the novelty of 2023 inexplicable enough. How, for example, can this endless empty bag in a beautiful wrapper, a mixture of comics and discos be taken seriously, given the pressing social issues raised, and as a result have positive reviews from critics, audience ratings and record box office receipts? Or who gave this guy Atley $38 million, and how did he fit into it, given the length of the film and the inexhaustible flow of consciousness?
From the first words about “Jawan”, you can guess that my assessment will be negative. But it's not that simple. First, those songs and dances (in fact, musical pauses) are almost the main advantage of Indian cinema. Was and still is. That zest that distinguishes Bollywood from everything else, giving it charm, personality. Just imagine how many costumes it was necessary to sew, get scenery and confetti, find and train people moving in synchrony in a single impulse. A similar scale will envy Damien Chazelle with his recognized “La La Land” and pretentious “Babylon”! Impressive! Secondly, it is the semantic opposition pressure with which filmed, it would seem, for a mass audience, for showing in cinemas. Robingud’s enthusiasm, anti-state message, overt manifesto and harsh criticism of the current government; something that the most notorious activist would not dare to do (and no one would give him money for the shooting, and then the film would not be released into wide distribution). It's all about business. The gap between rich and poor is enormous: some eat and some starve. Agricultural reform led to the suicide of thousands of peasants, optimization of medicine finished off the poor population of the country. Something really reminds me, doesn't it? Thirdly, no matter how funny the already noted pathos and comics of what is happening on the screen look from the outside (a good example here is the behavior of the main character in two faces performed by Shah Rukh Khan, who plays father and son, as a cross between the Joker and the Riddler from the Batman universe), in the first half of the timekeeping, this thing is fascinating and does not let go.
Now, after such curts towards the “Soldier”, it may seem that the assessment of this review simply has no right not to be positive. And again a trick, as in the case of electrons. Bring the first part to mind and do not inflate the story to cosmic proportions, and there would be practically no questions for Arun Kumar (Atli). But no, Ostap's gone. It turned out some grotesque piling of Santa Barbara, with nothing plot-related action scenes in the spirit of “Mad Max” and accelerated in the mode of 1.5x, 2x and 10x gibberish, which at the end of the third hour has already ceased to be at least somehow adequately perceived. As if they took, gutted the refrigerator of a gray-haired villain-rich, grinded all the products from it in a huge blender and poured a mountain of whipped cream on top. Eating is served. About the editing and visual part with endless slow-mo in this inedible dish, I generally remain silent.
Moreover, for all its abstraction from interstate confrontations, “Jawan” strongly resembles a political order. I don’t know what ideas Atli, who is one of the most successful directors of Indian cinema, lives there, what he was taught at Satyabama University, and who gives him money at all (this, probably, should be started with), but he painted a worn-out image of the Evil Empire in the face of Russia worse than the notorious Hollywood. Where does the main killer and bloodsucker of the Indian people flee from the film when he senses something wrong? Guess once. Of course, in Russia, where the top of the dark forces gathers, and he is given the installation to continue the atrocities. And for comparison – where did the new girl of the main character live before? That's right, in Boston, USA. Did you feel the difference? But it would also be nice to look at the news report, in connection with which the next pearl. The good guys went to kill the bad guys, and in the middle of the fight, it turned out that their guns didn't shoot! Who gave them guns? That’s right, the bastard who does business with Russia. It turns out, beyond all the social ills, there's something wrong with the arms supplier in India! And then there is real-world news: India wants to move away from Russian weapons, gradually switching to the West. It is difficult to say what Atli really wanted – to discredit the current Prime Minister Modi through his close ties with Mordor-Russia or vice versa, but he worked on the agenda with a bang, customers should be satisfied, because the message in twenty-fifth frame sold a billion copies, and a real change of policy followed immediately. Do not believe in coincidences later.
It's time to take stock. While Indian cinema is not watched, it emerges from the nooks of memory in a sweet wave abstraction with barely guessable images of Zita and Gita. When you look at something new, you unwittingly understand that here, in this “far different world”, exactly the same processes occur as in the rest of the observable Universe (read: in cinema). But if, for example, "RRR" was perceived recently as something not of this world, but at the same time bright, curious, worth the attention and spent three hours, "Soldier" took on too much, without having a solid enough basis for this. As a result: in some places inappropriate, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes stereotypical and opportunistic, and the most favorable impression is from unassuming musical numbers. After the release, it became known that the film will have a second part. But here, sorry, show DO NOT have to go on, and let someone else be the observer next time; one experiment was enough for me.