Jawan: OLD WINE in a NEW BOTTLE
So much anticipation was built up for Jawan, especially after the prevue dropped. People started guessing the plot what would be the story etc. etc. At last, it released on 7th Sept’23 with a bumper opening and with positive reviews. My curiosity rose each passing day and at last I was able to see the movie today.
On the onset I must confess that my opinion or review of the movie is solely mine and others may differ.
In my opinion, if you are 80’s or 90’s kid and if you have grown up watching those Amitabh Bachchan -Manmohan Desai movies which were 
the true definition of Bollywood masala potboilers, you may end up liking JAWAN. So the storyline is nothing new and novel and you would exactly know where the movie is headed. It is the execution of director Atlee that makes the movie stand out. The movie is definitely made on a grand scale and is worth viewing on Big Screen. The screenplay by Atlee S.Ramanagirivasan is tight and doesn’t give you a minute to waste. Other than the main plot, some other social issues like farmer suicides, faulty healthcare infrastructure are also touched, albeit very superfluously as backstories of the girl squad of Azad Rathore played by Shahrukh Khan. There are so many plots and subplots and social issues that somewhere I grappled to make sense of it, even before you soak in the sequences the movie has moved forward to the next issue. Where it scores from being a mundane masala movie is the woman empowerment shown in the movie, whether it is the girl squad or the lady inspector played Nayanthara, all the woman characters are shown strong and at par with males, which was a breath of fresh air. The movie refrains from being jingoistic and never feels preachy. The pre interval point was the highlight, better than the climax. Dialogues by Sumit Arora is a mixed bag, it has some major highlight dialogues and somewhere it is absolutely silly and cheesy.
Coming to the performances of the ensemble cast, starting with our King Khan Shahrukh Khan, I guess this is SRK’s most physically demanding role till now if I am not mistaken, and he does complete justice in action sequences, he looks so convincing that you root for him while watching. As far his acting is concerned SRK is a good actor who borders in hamming sometimes, but in JAWAN he gives his complete heart and soul to both the roles (Well this is not a spoiler as everyone knows by now that SRK has dual role in the movie), but personally I felt he was better as Vikram Rathod the father than the son Azad Rathod. But without any doubt SRK shines, but I have to mention SRK’s monologue speech in the movie where he breaks the third wall was impressive. Nayanthara debuts in Bollywood with JAWAN as Narmada the NSG officer and she is kick ass. She is tough and is absolutely convincing in action sequences, where I thought she fell short was her chemistry with SRK which just didn’t work for me. The girl squad comprising of Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Girija Oak, Lehar Khan, Aaliya Qureishi, all did an excellent job, but I thought Sanya Malhotra as Dr Eeram stood out. Coming to the antagonist Kalee Gaikwad played by the brilliant Vijay Sethupathi was good but as per me, he played better roles as antagonist in previous movies, this is definitely not his best. Deepika Padukone in an extended cameo shine and how. Other cast comprising of Eijaz Khan, Riddhi Dogra, Sunil Grover also do a good job. Sanjay Dutt in cameo is delightful.
Atlee makes an impressive debut in Bollywood, his vision in execution is just excellent, especially the action sequences are the best choreographed sequences. Atlee gives you a larger-than-life movie with adrenalin pumping action. Somewhere Atlee imitates his mentor Shankar mixing social issues with the plot like Hindustani and Nayak. Really looking forward what Atlee has next in his kitty.
Action is the highlight of the movie, every action sequence is precisely written and executed and gives an international feel and keeps you on the edge. The VFX which has been done by Red Chillies themselves is top class and elevates the scenes.
Music by Anirudh though I didn’t like initially but after watching the songs on screen it had a different impact, especially Zinda Banda, Chaleya and Not Ramaiyavastavaiya. But I have to give full credit to Anirudh for the BGM, it is top class and makes the impact of scenes manifold, definitely a highlight of the movie.
JAWAN in a nutshell is OLD WINE in a NEW BOTTLE and Packaging which is very average as far as storyline goes but extremely top notch as far as presentation is concerned. If you are an action junkie and like 80’s and 90’s kinda cinema then you will love it, others please go on your own risk.