Review of Jawan: Astonishingly Meta Vehicle That Harnesses Shah Rukh Khan’s Magnetism

Review of Jawan: In the film’s last act, SRK and Vijay Sethupathi—who is as great as ever—confront one another in a scene that crowns an outstanding crowd-pleaser that combines witty writing with a high level of technical skill

A Bollywood celebrity with an enduring fan following unlike anyone else’s and a young South Indian filmmaker with a 100% success rate—every one of his four prior films has been a huge hit—combine to release a Hindi mass movie that is as good as any we have seen recently.

Jawan, which has been released in both Tamil and Telugu, combines the best of two worlds in a way that is consistently engrossing and verges on the wonderfully frenetic. Shah Rukh Khan makes the most of a screenplay with something to say and the ability to make its essential points without losing focus on the main objective of giving unadulterated entertainment, coming off the box office record-breaking Pathaan.

Jawan is a beautifully meta vehicle in which a star speaks directly with his fan following and holds forth on subjects that are begging to be addressed. It is packed with all the components you would expect in a high-octane action film. In that respect, it resembles Mersal, Atlee’s third film as a filmmaker, a 2017 movie starring Vijay.

Atlee, who wrote Jawan with his Theri and Mersal collaborator S. Ramana Girivasan, uses Shahrukh Khan’s charisma and the spirit of the current hot-button issues in a masterfully crafted potboiler that blends large-scale explosive action sequences with personal emotional scenes. Jawan is Atlee’s first Hindi film.

Without using jingoistic bluster, Jawan conveys the moving tale of a soldier. The movie does the exact opposite, if anything. It raises problems important to those who are at the mercy of the politically and economically powerful and speaks up on their behalf.

Jawan offers his opinion on crony capitalism, bad loans, farmer suicides, neglected government hospitals, failing military equipment, electoral fraud, and the hardship of a population denied access to resources that are properly theirs without naming any names or citing specific examples from real life.

Jawan shines a light on inept bureaucrats, dishonest politicians, and indifferent ministers who are all unwilling to accept responsibility for a failing system. The movie does a fantastic job of getting its point across without resorting to needless grandstanding.

Who is more qualified to carry out all of these tasks than SRK, who, even in his role as a larger-than-life action hero on a quest to overthrow a wealthy industrialist who has wronged him and his country in numerous ways, manages to remain grounded in reality and imbue the canvas with humanity even as he projects an unstoppable, superhero-like persona?

Gauri Khan’s production, Jawan, under the Red Chillies Entertainment label, blurs the distinction between the actor portraying a fictional character and the star conversing with his audience. The latter is unavoidably one-way, yet when one sees the movie in a crowded theatre, one can feel its resonance with large segments of the audience.

One hardly notices when one entity gives way to another because of how brilliantly SRK handles the difficult task. Even when the performer and the character get closer to one another, the story never comes close to tipping over.

Jawan is essentially a masala fan service movie. On the other hand, it is a story of retribution that makes a strong political message. Don’t underestimate the power of a common man, SRK’s character repeatedly said in the action-comedy from a decade ago, Chennai Express, as Jawan ends with the hero staring directly into the camera, which is set up to represent the audience’s eye.

After a bold deed that forces the head of state to accept his desire to interfere, he urges the audience with all the solemnity he can manage to ask questions, seek answers, and utilise the power of your vote wisely.

Jawan begins in a hilly village near India’s border, but the precise location is not given, where a seriously injured soldier is treated before being released from the hospital. A group of vicious infiltrators attack the hamlet a few months later, and he immediately leaps to its protection. The valiant warrior repels the attackers, but he can’t place them. A young boy he saves from probable death makes a pledge to learn the truth whenever he is old enough.

The scene jumps ahead three decades. An elderly guy (Shahrukh Khan) posing as an Army Captain and a group of six women, including Priyamani, Sanya Malhotra, and Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, hijack a Mumbai Metro train carrying more than 300 passengers. He requests that just one specific police officer, Narmada Rai (Nayanthara, who hits all the appropriate notes), will be used for negotiations.

An uneducated agriculture minister and a successful businessman named Kali Gaekwad (Vijay Sethupathi) enter the discussion throughout the course of the following few minutes. On one end of the scale, we learn about a farmer (Omkar Das Manikpuri) who was compelled to commit suicide as a result of his failure to repay a tractor loan of 40,000 rupees. On the other end of the spectrum, a bank waived a 40,000 crore loan to an industrialist.

The captain’s first run-in with the law is followed by scenes in a female prison where he later reappears as Azad, a jail warden who has transformed prison life for the inmates with audaciously forward-thinking measures. The jailer is determined to alter how the prison and the country run with the aid of six women who have endured abuse at the hands of those in positions of authority.

The film’s initial 60 minutes are action-packed, filled with superbly staged fight scenes, and feature a track that shows Azad and Narmada, a single mother, being married. After the interval, Jawan tells the tale of Azad’s birth, the demise of his mother (Deepika Padukone makes a noteworthy cameo), and his friendship with Kaveri, a former inmate of a women’s prison who is now played by Riddhi Dogra.

After the flashbacks are over, the movie gets back to the action centred on the evil tycoon, whose crimes include attempting to use his financial might to influence the election. The hero and his allies spread out to thwart the villain and his henchmen.

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Director Atlee and his crew go all out in the pursuit scenes leading up to a roaring conclusion and create jaw-dropping action scenes. The final act’s confrontation between SRK and Vijay Sethupathi—who is as excellent as ever—caps a fantastic crowd-pleaser that combines shrewd writing (Sumit Arora’s Hindi language are nearly always spot-on) and a high level of technical skill.

Jawan succeeds in its goals of being both an entertaining film and a showcase for the influence of a celebrity with a voice that is anything but typical. It appears just as strongly on screen as it does outside of its made-up boundaries.

Cast:

Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone, and Shah Rukh Khan

Director:

Atlee