Genre: Action, thriller

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani

King Khan is raking in the moolah like never before with the stupendous success of Jawan. The much anticipated release of this movie, which could easily have been named ‘Pathan 2.0’, has also compelled many small-time cinema houses in parts of north India to reopen in a bid to share the spoils. And how!

Co-written and directed by Atlee – the 36-year-old Tamil film director whose directorial debut in Hindi cinema has now catapulted him to an all new level – Jawan is produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under Red Chillies Entertainment. It stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role as father and son doppelgangers who team up to rectify corruption in Indian society – something that Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has done ‘n’ number of times in Akhree Rasta (1986), Desh Premee (1982), Adalat (1976), Mahaan (1983), et al.

The story revolves around Azad (SRK) the jailer of a woman’s prison in Mumbai, who along with a group of inmates (consisting of Lakshmi, Eeram, Ishkra, Kalki, Helena and Janhvi) hijack a Mumbai Metro. He negotiates with NSG officer Narmada Rai (Nayanthara) to ask the agriculture minister to send ₹40,000 crores in exchange for the passengers’ lives. Kaliee Gaikwad (Vijay Sethupathi), a global arms dealer, learns that his daughter Alia is also one of the captives and agrees to fund the deal. When Alia questions their motive, Azad reveals his plan of donating the money towards the loan waiver of 700,000 impoverished farmers in the country. Azad and his gang directly transfer the funds into the farmers’ bank accounts and escape from the metro. Azad reveals his name as Vikram Rathore to Kaalie through Alia.

Meanwhile, Azad meets Narmada and her daughter Suchi, and they eventually get married. (Like we were not expecting it.) Azad and his gang next kidnap the health minister and demand to initiate better infrastructure at every government hospital, in exchange for the health minister’s life. The infrastructure is immediately initiated in the hospitals, allowing Azad and his gang to escape again after a shootout between Narmada and her team.

By and by, Narmada finds out about Azad’s true identity and confronts him, but Kaliee’s brother and his henchmen capture and torture them. However, Azad is saved by his doppelganger named Vikram. Narmada finds out the identities of Azad’s accomplices and confronts them, where she learns about Azad and Vikram’s connection. Well, that’s how the masala is usually ground.

The action in Jawan might be persuasive and akin to what Atlee does best. You see drones, choppers, guns and the whole inventory of Hollywood-style action blockbusters. However, what really sells this action packed drama is not the templated sequences of international action but the fact that it has been given an Indian flavour.

This ‘clean India’ campaign by Khan, tailing traitors one after the other, is much appreciated by the audience, given the fact that the meal is served out by Bollywood’s much-loved dimpled star. (Btw, where have the dimples gone?) The same applies when south superstar Rajinikant does it, over and over again. As for the songs, you won’t remember them once you run out of popcorn. A good weekend watch!

Verdict: ****