Why China and India are tapping into Top Gun

The new superpowers have fallen for the action-packed world of blockbuster air force films, but can their efforts be anything more than military propaganda?

- Phil Hoad

In an era of rising global tension, there are a few status symbols the self-respecting global superpower can't do without. Nuclear weapons? Sure. A space programme? Natch. But the latest geopolitical must-have is superficially more niche: a supersonic, hyper-nationalistic blockbuster air force film. There wasn't a soul on the planet who failed to notice the media sonic boom as Tom Cruise passed overhead with Top Gun: Maverick in May 2022, while its Chinese counterpart Born to Fly came out a year later. And this month India gets in on the game with its own flyboy extravaganza Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan, whose quiff alone qualifies as some kind of national monument.