Considering that Musakov’s Abdulladzhan (1991) was dedicated to Steven Spielberg, we might suggest that these four boys embody nothing more complicated than a conflict of youthful innocence with some ominous threat—the basic workings of E.T. (1982) or War of the Worlds (2005), say. That threat, however, is best understood not through vague nationalism or warmed-over socialism, but through the other reference-point of Abdulladzhan—Tarkovskii’s Stalker (1980). Musakov leaves his boys in a simplified radiance so bright and so overexposed that it no longer looks like the skies of sunny Tashkent, but a disturbing, borderless luminosity to match the flat tonal range of Stalker’s “Zone.” Our Uzbek boys are nowhere in particular; this is a broader domain than anything international.
Tashkent, 1942. At this time, the hospitable city became a refuge for tens of thousands of people tired of hunger and cold war years. In urban stores, warehouses and markets in abundance of food and other goods. All this attracts the attention of criminals of different stripes, who in search of easy money gathered in Tashkent from all over the vast country. There are several criminal groups here. At the beginning of summer in the city there is a new gang operating with special impudence and cruelty…
The film takes place in 1927 in Uzbekistan. A group of Central Investigation officers has been sent from Moscow to Tashkent to assist the local police in the fight against banditry. At the same time, they participate in the fight against the remnants of the Basmachi and the White Guard underground.
1925. Soviet power arrives in the remote Karakalpak villages. During this time, the dzhigit Turumbet and the beautiful Jumagul fall in love with each other. However, after the wedding, the young wife leaves her husband’s home, unwilling to accept the Old Testament way of life of her husband's family. Turumbet, who participates in bandit raids, does not immediately understand the revolutionary changes taking place.
Juma Saidov fault of the rich Appanbay got to prison. Years later he returned to his native place and took part in the fight against robber bands. Suddenly it became clear that the leader of the gang Hudayberdi his son, born while Juma was in prison, and brought up Appanbay.
There is a civil war in Turkestan. Many people stood up in arms to defend the young Soviet government. Among them is the young Mayna Khasanova. She devoted her life to the struggle for the ideals of revolution. Mayna, as a girl from a legend, will accomplish a feat, a story about which many generations of Soviet people will betray by word of mouth. The young heroine will be awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle.
The movie is based on the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from the One Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Tales. The role of Ali Baba is played by Dharmendra and Hema Malini play Morjina.
After retiring, former Red Army commander Iskhak Sherov returns to Kyzyltash, the town he helped build. Seeking a peaceful life, he becomes embroiled in a conflict between residents wanting a public garden and the mayor, his old comrade Namazov, who opposes it. Sherov ultimately resolves the conflict in favor of the townspeople.
At the center of the action is Kamil Yuldashev, commander of the ChK battalion to combat banditry. He appears before the viewer with a noose around his neck. Even before the revolution, the tribunal of the tsarist Turkestan division sentenced him to death for participating in the rebellion.