In recent years, many excellent Indian films have appeared on the Chinese screen. Everyone must have been impressed by 2009's "Three Fools in Bollywood", and Rancher, played by Indian national treasure actor Amir Khan, openly questioned the Indian education system and eventually succeeded in his own way. He lived out the way each of us wanted to be.
In 2014, director Rajkumal Hirani and Amir Khan joined forces again, this time more boldly targeting India's religious issues, presenting an equally wonderful "My God". The protagonist of the film "My God" pk is an alien visitor who has strayed into the earth, and through his repeated frustrations in asking God in India to help him return home, the director boldly shows us the complex religious problems of India.
Director Rajkumal Hirani is a relatively "slow-hot" director, who has only directed 5 films so far, but each one has been successful. These 5 films are also intrinsically connected, "My God" was conceived from "Three Fools".
The image, goal, and environment of the protagonist in the two films are very similar, but the director has made breakthroughs and innovations in the depth of the theme and narrative angle while inheriting the narrative method and theme presentation of "Three Fools".
Dissecting India's deep social problems in a light-hearted comedy format
"My God" continues the relaxed comedy style of "Three Fools", and the laughter points throughout the film are dense, so that the audience is physically and mentally relaxed. This has a lot to do with the director's personal style. Director Hilani is very good at putting serious topics into comedy.
Hirani once said: "People have a hard day, and walking into the theater is not to accompany the director to have a bitter vendetta." Some directors like to face the pain of life and the sadness of society, but if I want to tell a truth, I have to use humor and happiness to say it. ”
The 5 films he directed, all of them. Through a dramatic role, inadvertently unveil social problems that many people dare not touch in a playful way. When film and television works involve social issues, often heavier, or simply avoid talking about it, Hillani undoubtedly has a different approach.
Hirani is a very socially responsible director who is very concerned about India's social problems, but is not willing to tear them open directly to the audience in a mournful, cruel or preachy way. Therefore, he adopts a light-hearted comedy form, downplaying the tragic experience of the protagonist, drawing the audience's attention to the interesting plot, and finally understanding the profound theme of the film.
The narrative structure of the three threads of light and dark tells the conflict and reconciliation between the characters
Neither film is a one-line narrative, and the director cleverly intersperses three clues of light and dark to make the story more tortuous and vivid. The main line of "Three Fools" is That Lancher has repeatedly challenged the education system, the secondary line is the change of the pursuit of life by two friends and girlfriends, and the dark line is the mental journey of the "virus" dean from stubbornness to letting go.
"My God" also continues this multi-line narrative structure, the main line is the experience of aliens pk asking gods to help them return home, the secondary line is the love story of Jaku and Savrats who finally got the right results after twists and turns, and the dark line is the release of ethnic and religious stereotypes by the Indian and Pakistani people represented by Jaku's father.
In my opinion, Hirani breaks the traditional first-line narrative structure of Indian films, using three threads to narrate, presenting the contradictions and conflicts between the protagonists from multiple angles. It makes it easier for us, who don't have a deep understanding of Indian culture, to understand the development of the film's storyline and the reasons behind each of the characters' actions.
"Three Fools" borrows three high-achieving students from the Royal Indian Academy of Engineering to abandon the "good way out" of secular planning - to be an engineer and pursue what they really love, alluding to the Indian Institute of Technology, known as India's "Silicon Valley", and the entire Indian society to suppress the heavy education system and employment pressure.
If "Three Fools" only touches the young people of India, then "My God" is aimed at a bolder and wider range of people - the complex religious culture of the entire Indian nation.
From the perspective of an outsider, objectively examine India's complex religious issues
India is a religious country with a religious belief, but it is also a country with complex religious beliefs. India has a huge population, everyone has their own god, and accordingly, they must have their own religious stance. "Three Fools" can be told through the mouth of Rancher, a personal experiencer in the education system that has been criticized, which will make the audience more substitutionary and more convincing.
And "My God" must choose an "outsider" who does not belong to any kind of religion, in order to look at the overall situation more neutrally and without emotion, and then attack the problem.
Therefore, the director set an "alien" identity for the male protagonist pk, in fact, under the fresh and interesting coat, it is convenient for the director to show everyone the panorama of Indian religious culture more objectively, and increase the persuasiveness and credibility of the film.
Borrowing the identity of the alien pk, it openly challenges the bottom line that people dare not touch
In the film, pk mistakenly enters the earth, and is forced to stay on the earth to find a way to return home due to the theft of the return remote control device. Later, when he learned that God could help people fulfill all their wishes, he began the arduous road of seeking God. In a sense, when we first came to Earth, we who knew nothing about religious complexity were like us who knew nothing about Indian religion.
People fear God, but they are also confused and do not know how to understand God's will. At this time, some so-called "messengers of God" took advantage of people's fear and ignorance of God to deceive people's hearts and collect money.
When pk publicly questioned the "messenger of God" Tapas, asking Tapas to talk to God in public and expose his true face, although Tapas let the security guards drive away pk and maintain the situation, it has aroused a large number of Questions from the Indian people. This shows that these ideas have long taken root in the hearts of the Indian people, but everyone is afraid to say them.
The leadership of Jagu in the film is a good example. He also had a sense of justice and dutifully reported on such problems, but was retaliated against by religious people. Just like Rancher in "Three Fools", no matter how advanced his consciousness is, he has to bow to the education system, because he still has to get a diploma, and he will have to rely on this to eat later.
Alien pk does not have this concern, the ignorant are fearless, and he does not know the meaning of religion when he first came to Earth. Therefore, we see that pk is like a heroic and fearless hero, standing on the cusp of the storm, openly challenging the bottom line that people dare not touch, and speaking the true words that have been backlogged in the hearts of Indian people for many years.
If you don't know much about Indian religious culture for the first time, you must have a half-understanding of the god-seeking experience in the film, and you don't even know what he is doing. In fact, the director is also using the film to export India's religious and cultural values, hoping that more audiences can understand India's complex religious and cultural background.
Through the experience of praying to God, the audience is shown the complex religious and cultural background of India
India is a people who love to pray for the blessings of the gods. In order to go home, pk followed the customs and embarked on the road of seeking God. On the surface, pk knows nothing about gods and worships various gods everywhere, but everyone noticed that when the director shows pk wandering in various religions, the background music is very serious, and there is no ignorance of making fun of pk, but pk is used to show everyone the rich religious customs of India.
On the way to worship the gods, there are several Indian rituals for blessings: there are Hindu Puja rituals, somavati amavasya day (the day of the full moon on Mondays), sprinkling yellow powder, Rolling on the ground on Shiva Day; Christian churches praying to Jesus; Sikh church visits; Islamic Muslim pilgrimages and Shiite whipping themselves to pray for blessings.
Through these, the director showed everyone the complex religious and cultural background of India, which is inextricably linked and intertwined with each other, thus laying the groundwork for the later challenge of religion. Because only by letting Pk personally experience these religious cultures can he be qualified to issue a loud question to the "messenger of God" on behalf of the Indian people.
From the attitude of others to pk, understand the reasons why religion has a profound impact on India
India's religious culture has deep roots, the influence on people is everywhere, it is not an easy task to shake people's spiritual sustenance, and the road of pk questioning is extremely difficult. Ridiculed and chased, slapped by the pious Jagu father, humiliated in public by Tapas, and even retaliated by terrorist bombings.
There is a clip in the film where pk takes Jia Gu's father and daughter to the university, just paints a stone red and puts some coins on it, and many students come to pray one after another. Even highly educated college students are so reverent of God, let alone ordinary Indians. The influence of religion on the thinking of the Indian people can be seen.
Aamir Khan once said: "Criticizing ourselves and our country is the first step in our progress, there is no need to be ashamed of our motherland being put in the spotlight, what should be ashamed is that our country is still lacking in what way." ”
The director used pk to challenge the authority of the "messenger of God", in fact, he also wanted to explain to the audience the reasons for the prevalence of Indian religious culture and entanglement, so that the audience could better understand the belief of indian people in religion, and the difficulty of challenging religious authority to ascend to heaven. Pk dared to take this step, and it already represented the awakening of the entire Indian nation.
The ending of "Three Fools" is perfect: Rancher is successful and reunited with his lost lover, and his friends Laiju and Fahan also live out what they want. There is no such reunion at the end of "My God": pk Beloved Jaku finally reconciles with his former lover Savrats and leaves the earth lonely.
Jaku's love with Savrats: Love can let go of stereotypes and transcend faith
The director mentioned a problem in "My God": the India-Pakistani conflict. The contradiction between India and Pakistan has a long history, but the director arranges for India's Jaku to fall in love with Pakistan's Safrats in the film.
The love of the two lovers is doomed to encounter worldly obstacles. On the wedding day, Jagu did not wait for Savrats, but waited for a parting letter, and the two were separated for many years in a misunderstanding. In the end, with the help of pk, Jaku plucked up the courage to ask Savrats why, but unexpectedly learned that the other party had also been waiting for her for many years.
The director deliberately placed the phone in front of the audience in India and Pakistan, and as the two reconciled, the people of the two countries outside the stadium cheered. The love of Jagu and Savrats finally led them to let go of the prejudices of faith, bravely came together, and received the blessings of the peoples of both countries. The director also borrowed two young people to convey a friendly signal to the people of India and Pakistan, hoping that the two countries could put aside their historical prejudices, cross the faith, and get back together.
pk's love for Jagu: Love is fulfillment and letting go
The kind Jiagu was the first person to take the initiative to help him give money after pk came to Earth, and the only one who really helped him go home. In the process of getting along, pk can't help but fall in love with Jia Gu. When he wants to express his heart to Jagu, he accidentally learns that Jagu loves Savrats.
Pk chose silence, and he took the initiative to help Jagu unravel the misunderstanding with Safrats, so that her beloved would no longer be deeply involved in the pain of abandonment. He just recorded Jagu's voice and brought it back to his planet. When he separated from her, he also held back tears and did not turn his head back once.
If the love between Jagu and Savrats is the director's desire to express the hope of friendship between India and Pakistan, then pk's love for Jaku transcends the boundaries of nationality and faith, and the true meaning of human love: love you, complete you, give you freedom.
Indian cinema has passed the era of large-scale song and dance, and now the songs and dances in Indian films are mostly carried out to serve the plot. "My God" inherits the narrative style of "Three Fools", but it is more profound than the intention of "Three Fools", and the social issues it touches are more acute and sensitive. Indian cinema dares to challenge the social issues and even sensitive religious issues that are talked about, which is worth learning from our country's films.