Jawan Review - Shah Rukh Khan Rules In Atlee's Biggest & Best Mass Entertainer

Jawan Review: After a blockbuster run in South, Atlee makes an entry in the Hindi cinema industry with Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan. Shah Rukh Khan has been in the industry for over 30 years now, and he's never looked this MASSY before! That's what Jawan is in one line. Atlee is known for making typical South-flavoured mass action dramas that have human relationships and emotions at their core. He may have looked repetitive and a copy-master, but the idea of presenting the main hero, the superstar, in a never-seen-before avatar so that fans can worship him, scream for him, dance for him, and make it a memorable community viewing experience. Atlee does that to Shah Rukh Khan with Jawan. Salman had Dabangg, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, and other films; Aamir got Ghajini and Dhoom 3; Hrithik had Dhoom 2, Bang Bang, and War; but SRK fans had to wait till Pathaan. With Jawan, they can say that we have Jawan now—the father of all recent mass hero segments. As a critic, I may have a few countable issues with Atlee's filmmaking, but that's all forgiven because he gives a KING-SIZE mass image to Shah Rukh Khan, and there are not one but two Shah Rukhs in the film. Imagine the hysteria and have a safe ride into SRK-Atlee's mass-amusement park for 3 hours.Jawan is about Azad Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), a police officer at a woman's jail who has another personality of a Robin Hood, Vikram Rathore. Azad and his girls gang have plans to force the government to do all these things within minutes that they couldn't do in years for the betterment of the public. The main agenda behind this is destroying the corrupt empire of a weapon dealer, Kaali (Vijay Sethupathi). Kaali had a feud with Azad's father in the past, whom he supposedly killed. But there's a twist—a predictable one, of course, but a twist nonetheless. Azad falls in love with Narmada (Nayanthara), who happens to be the officer assigned to stop Vikram Rathore and his girl gang, pitting husband and wife against each other. It all comes to a conclusion as a revenge drama with a kick of typical socialism and an emotional touch of family drama.Jawan is 170 minutes long, and the songs have made it look stretched. Pathaan was more engaging because it was presented as a spy thriller, while Jawan is a mix of thriller, drama, romance, comedy, heist, social drama, and emotional family drama. The first scene of the film gives you a clear idea of what you are going to see. Jawan is the massiest entry scene Shah Rukh Khan could have gotten after all these years. Jawan is the massiest introduction scene Atlee could have given to any Bollywood hero in his Hindi debut. The film was touted to be inspired by Amitabh Bachchan's Aakhri Raasta, and it has one or two similarities too. But it is more like Big B's Shahenshah at first. Shehenshah is known for "Rishte Mein To Hum Tumhare Baap Hote Hain, Naam Hai Shahenshah," and I think Jawan will be known for "Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar". Baap Baap hota hai, and Jawan runs all the way with a sticker of it. The interval block was predictable, but it's mass hysteria for sure. In the second half, you get to see a Rajinikanth-level mass scene with that bike and money-loaded trucks' chasing sequence. People made memes about Rajinikanth saying that he can do ANYTHING and Atlee made Shah Rukh Khan do all that "ANYTHING" a Mass hero in Jawan, and remember why I said "Baap Baap Hota Hai"! In this film, Baap Baap hi hai.Jawan is dull at a few things, starting with the outdated vision of Atlee, which is getting annoying now. Every single backdrop scene has those slow mos and terribly melodramatic background scores, as if we are watching 'Himmatwala'. Why, Atlee Anna? Why are you so backward with your own vision of storytelling? I am getting used to all his tricks now—a lady and kids are imminent parts of them. Jawan is a simple replay into a new zone; that's all. The songs could have been better and could have been trimmed from the final cut. Zinda Banda still works despite the bad, dubbed-looking sound because it's a celebration song. Fans are entitled to dance their hearts out inside cinema halls, no matter if it's not a good song. Anirudh could have done much better for his big Hindi debut. Can't blame him, though, as the days of Chammak Challo and Lungi Dance are gone now. Chaleya provides you with a loo break at the right time, while the rest of the songs are not impressive at all.Shah Rukh Khan rules Jawan like never before in his career. This is the mass hero image he has been waiting for. Comparisons with other superstars might make it look smaller, so let's avoid them. Anyway, it's a new beginning for him in 2023, so let's enjoy it. Azad Khan still has that old SRK reference, and he tries to make it look more presentable. He succeeds sometimes and fails sometimes. What horrible work the makeup man has done in some scenes, and I wonder how nobody noticed it. Now for the second role, Vikram Rathore. No complaints on this side. Vikram Rathore is an out-and-out SRK show as a new-style mass-action hero. That swag, the dialogue delivery, that cigar, those hair, those eyes, and the personality. The backdrop of Vikram is quite grounded as a special ops officer, so keep expectations low for that part. 20 minutes of Deepika Padukone in Jawan, and I am convinced that no one could have done this role better than her. What a delight it is to see Deepika in a complete role, even if it is a supporting role. Vijay Sethupathi is somewhat underwhelming because he is "more talk" than action." Come on, Vijay in a negative role is a beast. Don't tie him to limits. Atlee, sir, we deserve an explanation why Sethupathi wasn't taken to new heights as Kaali. The leading lady, Nayanthara, has a ravishing and swaggy impact, even though the character seems very familiar to old-school masala entertainers. The girls gang: Sanya Malhotra, Girija Oak, Priyamani, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Aaliyah Qureshi, and Lehar Khan, have done fine. Sunil Grover has a small but important role with a twist, while Ridhi Dogra is decent. The big supporting cast in small roles did fine, whereas Sanjay Dutt humming "Nayak nahi khalnayak hoon mein" will have you screaming for his surprising cameo.Jawan is a lavish film, and it's visible on screen. It is made as a big-screen spectacle, and the production design looks huge enough for whatever Atlee could do with the given budget. Jawan lacks theoretical sense in many scenes that you overlook because of mass mania, and I am sure that you will notice it on repeat viewing. Does that matter? Nowadays, we are happy even with one-time-watch event films, and Jawan is a safe bet for that. Raja Rani (2013) was Atlee's (his debut) only non-massy and wannabe content-driven flick, and even that couldn't match the original classic, Mouna Ragam" (1986). Then, Atlee shifted gears in another direction and entered the mass zone. "Theri" (2016), "Mersal" (2017), "Bigil" (2019)—all are mass entertainers, but they aren't full proof. The repeat value is low, and Atlee preferred it that way. With Jawan, he outscores his previous massy works, with the only problem being that his vision is still stuck on the same ideas. Thanks to pan-India sensationalism and a brilliant cast, Jawan is superior to Atlee's previous three works. Well, it depends on the audience too. He had to make such films because he was making them for Tamil audiences. Now, he had to make a film for Tami as well as Hindi audiences, which gave him a chance to improvise a few things on a bigger platform. He did fine—at least better than what I expected. As a whole, Jawan is an out-and-out massy blockbuster that we have been craving, and thankfully, it's not as mediocre as some of the recent blockbuster hits.