With the world’s top non-Chinese leaders having finished their business in Delhi’s G20 gala gathering, may we urge them to get off the beaten path of officialese and agitprops and watch Jawan. The objective of this exercise would be fourfold: (1) It would allow the person for whom ‘India’ is restricted to yoga, Modi, fastest major economy and lectures on ‘ancient Bharat’ to connect with something contemporary and ‘trending’; (2) Observe a phenom neither gov-sanctioned nor gov-disapproved; (3) Get in touch with a top-notch action thriller not from any of the G7 countries; and (4) Experience a/another Shah Rukh Khan movie.
For some leaders, Jawan’s worldwide box-office draw of over ₹350 crore in the first three days of its release would be worth the dekho and analysis. But we advise not to go along with such a paisa-vasool reason to watch the Atlee-directed film. Observing a Jawan-watching crowd in an Indian cinema will give them a first-hand, no-dolled-up taste of the ‘Indian market’. And, here, signatories-cum-dignitaries will be far less conspicuous than in their respective countries. So, if you’re still in India, Mr and Mrs Kishida, Ms Hasina, Mr Lavrov and anyone else, go and watch Jawan in a cinema. This is the India and Indians you’ll be dealing with, not the curated Bharat ek khoj theatre wonderfully put on for you.
