Jawan Review: Shah Rukh Khan’s second comeback of the year 2023 can be marked with the worldwide cinematic release of Jawan, directed and co-written by Atlee, with screenplay also by S Ramanagirivasan, on September 7, 2023. Also starring in the pan-Indian high-octane action thriller, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Sanya Malhotra, Riddhi Dogra, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Girija Oak, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureishi, Eijaz Khan and Sunil Grover step into important roles, with Deepika Padukone coming in for a special appearance.
Produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under the banner of Red Chillies Entertainment, the movie’s cinematography has been done by GK Vishnu. Edited by Ruben, with dialogues by Sumit Arora, the film is distributed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu and features music by Anirudh Ravichander.
Jawan Movie Review Contains No Spoilers
Jawan Review
With SRK playing the dual role of Vikram Rathore and Azad Rathore, the movie’s plot had mostly been kept under wraps until its premiere. The only basic information listed for the same was that the action thriller maps out the emotional journey of a man who’s keen on rectifying the wrongs of society. Accompanied by his headstrong squad of girls packing in a hefty punch on this journey, Khan’s character is the absolute ‘Paisa Vasool’ show-stopper of the movie.
The movie begins with a “who am I” identity crisis and ends with it too. It further extends to the thought of blurring the difference between a hero, villain or a vigilante.
SRK’s wit and political sensibility have pervaded his film choices throughout his career, whether you’ve noticed it or not, but they’ve mostly stayed under the wraps of theatrical packaging in his former movies. With Jawan, he crosses that bridge, and within the first few minutes of the movie, he establishes loud and clear what he’s been trying to say all along, again setting his argument apart from other common latent political statements and social commentaries on society at large and the corrupt machineries at work made on the big screen now and then.
The action sequences distinctly help identify the movie as a commercial mass entertainer, with both Khan and Nayanthara’s individual big entries making our hearts beat every time, but their chemistry is not as big of a charmer. Though mostly kept under wraps before this, the girl squad sextet (Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Girija Oak, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureishi) accompanying Khan makes a huge impact with their characters, and they’re the strong pillars of this otherwise SRK-led operation.
That being said, it’s a full-on Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster with nostalgic bits of his previous works seeping into the visual story.
SRK’s effortless enigma of slipping into any character, irrespective of the movie’s genre, again comes as a resounding reminder of his larger-than-life presence. The movie blurs the difference between the archetypical definitions of a hero and a villain and rather questions the impetus driving a character who’s a consequence of the larger circumstance and an inherently flawed society that is systemically shrouded in a garb of cleanliness and order.
Some of the heavy monologues delivered by Khan may remind you of Naseeruddin Shah’s A Wednesday, only if it were but powered by high-octane action with a Robin Hood-like vigilante actually setting foot into the action as well. Certain scenes will take you back to your memories of Chak De India, the vengeful track of Om Shanti Om, and Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express‘ festive dance mood with flying cars all around in the final showdown.
Jawan‘s nearly 3-hour runtime is filled with non-linear time jumps going back to past flashbacks to cover up for the missed bits of the story, which cracks up a divided timeline for the whole duration of the film, causing the viewer’s attention to be pulled away from one sub plot to the other. This jolting pull and push from one sub plot to another can be quite disrupting as it further hampers our emotional connect with the characters and their lives.
In that way, character building is a bit fuzzy, but with the focus mostly being on the well crafted action sequences, which is the winning charm overall, the film emerges as an enjoyable mess. And though the social commentary gets the point across, there are points when it gets too preachy, but again, it isn’t something you wouldn’t want to hear.
Sunil Grover takes on a supporting role and is a great addition to the star-studded cast panel. Although he remained underused, even with the little time and space he’d been allotted, he made the most of it. Deepika’s presence and chemistry with Khan instantly took me back to the old Om Shanti Om days, and that nostalgia goes a long way in putting a smile on your face.
Then coming down to the musical tone of the movie, this is the first mainstream Indian movie soundtrack that got me buzzing through and through from beginning to the end after a really long time. Be it the chipper Zinda Banda, the romantic Chaleya, the theatrically amusing Faraatta or the iconic Jawan Title Track that will not be slipping out of your memory anytime soon, each of these is a big winner with different moods lighting up the masala movie.
Shah Rukh is seen donning several looks in the movie, and not a single one of them disappoints. The dialogues are heavy at certain junctures, but the Jawan actor’s effortlessly husky and irresistible delivery pushes you to contemplate if its the former’s own glory or it’s Khan’s voice that makes the magic work.
Jawan: Final Thoughts
No doubt, this is a must-watch SRK hit, and is definitely more meaningful as compared to the last subject matter he dealt with in Pathaan. The movie openly portrays a never-seen-before side to the actor’s ideology and onscreen avatars. And I feel like I really need to say this, he’s not a cheap Moon Knight rip-off as many had been selling his “mummy-look” short when the first look of Khan’s character was unveiled ahead of the premiere.
The action scene he opens his chapter with instantly grabs you by the neck and gets you hooting for him, again proving that his presence alone can speak volumes for him now and he can sit back and make the most of his action hero era after years of putting in the humble hard effort to get where he is.
The final showdown between SRK and Vijay Sethupathi is not only blood-curdling, but also a comical chaos. It’s a treat to see both the actors face off against each other.