Jawan movie review: Baap!

Movie JawanDirector AtleeActors Shah Rukh Khan NayantharaRating 45Jawan is a rare madactioner with that many females in the fighting force Usually action is perceived as an allmale genre both from the audiencersquos POV and those inhabiting itThis deliberately feminist subversion works equally for the boxoffice No actor in the world has as strong a women fanclub as Shah Rukh Khan SRK They will show up in theatres also because theyrsquove been promised two SRKs for the price of oneThat fact deserves no spoileralert Yoursquove seen the trailer of Jawan you know this already from its most loved line ldquoBete ko haath lagane se pehle baap se baat kar Before you touch his son talk to the fatherrdquoIt got the loudest claps in my hall The hero plays both father and lookalike son Which in director Atleersquos solid selfaware Tamil movieverse is a common phenomenon both Bigil Mersal starring lsquoThalapathyrsquo VijayIf anything Papa SRK in a beard and probably a wig chomping on a cancer stick between his lips looks more and more like lsquoThalaivarsquo RajnikanthThe moviersquos moneyshot belongs to this gent as he unleashes a long metallic belt to vanquish his enemies on a flying motorcyclemdashwith Madras composer Anirudhrsquos trademarked heavy rockmetal belting in the background Soon thereafter SRK as rugged Rajni Sir throws his cigar into the gastank blowing up that damn running motorbikeThe heroines opposite the lead doublerole are the South sensation Nayanthara and Bengalurursquos OG Deepika Padukone The villain is the gruffvoiced Vijay Sethupathi literally eating his own words had trouble deciphering his speech loud BGM doesnrsquot help The crew is inherently AtleersquosIs this therefore Delhiborn Mumbaikar SRK who owns Kolkatarsquos favourite cricket team equally eyeing Chennai for both market expansion and inspiration Hell yeah And why nothellip Whatrsquos a great entertainer if it doesnrsquot unite audiences machaAnd what kinda film is that likely to be Lyrics in the background score say it all ldquoBoom massy massy massy yordquo Centred on the superstar making a solid entry altogether covered up in bandages landing from the sky in a strange place in Indiarsquos northeastern border Thatrsquos enough for you to wonder what happens nextSo what happens next Ideally if yoursquore in the front row in a cheaper priced multiplex as I am surrounded by enthucutlets also up for an 8 am first day first showmdashyou lean forward instead of reclining your seat rooting for the hero to give his allThe pleasure is in watching the demonic villains go to hellmdashwhether a fekuliar politician or corrupt businessman Some of the incidents in the film are pulled from news headlines still And SRK 57 a genetic marvel given his stamina is there to rub his energy off on youI have lived long enough to know that you donrsquot simply review movies aimed so directly at the gut in a dark theatremdashyou rate the bloody experience Yes they can get exhaustingly guttural at times or often in fact Thatrsquos the genrersquos prime flaw Jawan is far from itAnd whyrsquos that Because the film while a tad long has strong legs to stand on In whatrsquos the superstarrsquos first directly inyourface political film Also deeply patriotic For what is patriotism if not care for fellow nationals At one point I heard the crowd behind me let out the cry ldquoBharat mata ki ji Hail Mother IndiaWho is SRKs twin characters chiefly fighting against on behalf of the audience Big crony corporations that game electionsdemocracy to get what they wantmdashbank loans to arms dealsmdashwhile the poor continue to suffer and vote in the same lot againWho is SRK fighting with You can attribute it to the starproducers cred earned over three decades that most actors particularly in the female force while in smallwalkon parts otherwise play leads in major filmsseries Sanya Malhotra Dangal Priyamani The Family Man Riddhi Dogra The Married Womanhellip Even the men in the cast with barely a few lines on screen are the sorts of Sunil Grover Sanjay DuttAt its core Jawan is a film on vigilante justice as baldie SRK holds as hostage the Mumbai Metro train between Versova and Ghatkopar I guess since the rest havenrsquot come up A lot like A Wednesday 2008 if you mayThe hijacker demands money to be transferred into accounts of poorest people in debt Itrsquos a crazy thing to ask for Only less crazy than thousands of crores of debt that the privilegedrich manage to get written off instead Thatrsquos the herorsquos peeveThe choreographed heroism being the main point of the pic Itrsquos something we equally witnessed in SRKrsquos last release the same year To be sure Jawan 2023 gt Pathaan 2023Because it just feels more raw and earthy Given a beginning middle and end that ties in smartly with the beginningmdashpieces in the jigsaw fitting in fine With worldbuilding which is Atleersquos thatrsquos unique to the SRK universe and a decisive worldview that draws you in whollyA few years ago when SRK wouldrsquove picked the director script during a selfimposed sabbatical he seemed lost at the boxoffice while Bollywood itself appeared more sorted The reverse appeared the case postpandemic Having done his homework hersquos unwittingly ended up reviving the Hindi film industry along with his own career Jawan is the jawabAs the superstar superconfident with his material ironically understated still he talks straight to his audience Telling them what theyrsquod hopefully like to hearIn this case the power of the common manvoter There is enough goofiness in the action and humour could do with more of the latter for it to be suitable for children simultaneously This is SRK vs system Whatrsquos there not to love crsquomon letrsquos go I plan to again