Jawan is Bold, Unapologetic, And Direct as Shah Rukh Khan and Atlee Pose Questions to Establishment

The movie also depicts the corruption that prevails in the defence section. The film shows how officials are fully involved with arm dealers to supply inferior quality arms to our jawans.

Jawan Movie: Shah Rukh Khan’s second power-packed movie of the year ‘Jawan’ was released across the globe on September 7. The 2-hour 45-minute Atlee’s movie opened to houseful theatres with the fans celebrating hysterically as they headed to catch the 6 a.m. shows. The movie is what but a “typical Bollywood masala cinema” lock stock and barrel, but what it also had was Shah Rukh Khan going out clear with his political commentary. From farmer suicides to hospital deaths and unlawful arms dealings– Shah Rukh Khan and Atlee took a bold political stand in the movie without an iota of qualms.

Bollywood, in the past, had produced a slew of movies where an ordinary man stands up to the system, and speaks about injustice and corruption; remember Akshay Kumar in Gabbar Is Back? These films have always managed to prick the emotional chord of the common man who is not only frustrated with corrupt politicians but also feels helpless in front of bureaucratic red tapism.

But, make no mistake, Jawan is a full ‘Paisa Vasool’ movie with a well-calculated, tailored mix of adrenaline-pumping action sequences with love, friendship, blood, and of course, gore. Not one, but two Shah Rukh Khans force you to react to every dialogue and make you fall in love with them over and over again.

However, the second of the film boomerangs right on our faces, intellect, and thought process with its not-so-gentle reminder of the dark realities that exist in our society.

For example, there is a part in the movie where a farmer has been shown committing suicide due to acute pressure for loan repayment. Farmer suicides in India refer to the national catastrophe of farmers dying by suicide since the 1970s, due to their inability to repay loans mostly taken from private landlords and banks. NCRB data shows that the incidence of farmer suicides has remained high in the six years between 2014 and 2020. Fifty-six hundred farmers died by suicide in 2014, and 5,500 in 2020. In Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan acts as a messiah who extorts money from the rich (old school way of drama and unlawfully) and distributes it among farmers to repay their loans. Did someone say Robinhood?

In another sequence, the 1984 Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster has been portrayed quite powerfully. On December 3, 1984, about 45 tons of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant that was owned by the Indian subsidiary of the American firm Union Carbide Corporation. The gas drifted over the densely populated neighbourhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating a panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee Bhopal. Jawan picks on the reference and focuses on anti-environment industrialists and their malicious attempts to manipulate the government.

Jawan also took a bold reference to the 2017 Gorakhpur hospital deaths in which 175 children suffering from encephalitis died due to the government’s negligence in supplying oxygen. In the entire movie, this was the most direct and real reference used. Dr Kafeel Khan – one of the hospital’s pediatricians – tried all he could to save the children by arranging oxygen cylinders from his own pocket and was hailed instantly as a hero by the public. However, he was later charged by the state government with dereliction of duty and engaging in private practice. He was arrested, left bankrupt, and his family was attacked before he was finally acquitted in 2019.

The movie also depicts the corruption that prevails in the defence section. The film shows how officials are fully involved with the arm dealers to supply inferior quality arms to our jawans.

In the movie, SRK almost looks into your soul with his powerful dialogues. Jawan is heavy on political commentary with the subject of EVM, corruption, and farmer suicides taking centre stage in the middle of well-choreographed action pieces.