From Pathaan in January to Jawan this September, Shah Rukh Khan has undergone a massive change. Arun Kumar, known as Atlee, is the chef who has taken the star ingredient of Khan and delivered a masala, massy, political and progressive movie. The film is as much signature Atlee, as it is the star power and dimpled-charm of King Khan. And neither pull back punches when it comes to the many messages that Jawan packs. The film does not resort to Pakistan-dissing, because this time, the enemy is internal.
Jawan is this decade’s Rang De Basanti (2006), but it stands on the shoulders of one man. The king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, is grace personified. He didn’t lose it even when his son Aaryan Khan battled drug-abuse charges. That’s precisely why the movie’s dialogue about facing the father before laying a finger on his son is going to remain iconic in film history.
Yash Raj Films chief Aditya Chopra may not have wanted to waste Khan’s dreamy eyes on an action film, but Atlee shows how they can teach a political lesson, and that too without being obnoxious. Pathaan magnified the chest-thumping, Pakistan-dissing patriotism, relying on us vs them, while Jawan showed the rotting trunks of India’s various systems. “He asked me to make a film in my template and that he would act in it,” Atlee said in an interview. This collaboration has worked its magic, and given a political film that is flashy, but it does not blind anyone to important issues of the current times.
Politics of cinema
Cinema from South of India has been unabashedly political. Tamil cinema, considered to be the bastion of big stars, and even bigger commercial movies, have often brought together entertainment and politics. MG Ramachandran, better known as MGR, acquired a Robin Hood-like persona championing the downtrodden after two of his action films with political undertones, Manthiri Kumari (1950) and Marmayogi (1951).
Parasakthi (1952), written by M. Karunanidhi became a propaganda vehicle, and cemented the nexus between Tamil Nadu politics and cinema. Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar (1997), now considered a masterpiece, might not have set cash registers ringing, but its exploration of the relationships between political stalwarts MGR and M Karunanidhi and MGR and Jayalalitha is a memorable bit of cinematic glory.
KV Anand blended elements of commercial cinema with realism to deliver KO (2011). From politicians colluding with Naxalites to student leaders rising to power, the film strikes a fine balance between the mass appeal and thought-provoking content.
Unlike in Bollywood, South Indian stars aren’t hesitant to act in political movies. Rajnikanth has acted in masala political films throughout his career, be it in Muthu (1995) to Baba (2002). When Rajnikanth stepped into active politics, many called it the sequel to Baba. In recent years, movies like Pa Ranjith’s Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018), which explore issues of caste, minority subjugation, police violence, and demolitions in Dharavi, are as politically charged as they are larger-than-life, thanks to the inclusion of Thalaivar.
Nayanthara, paired opposite Khan in Jawan has played the role of a district collector who goes against the system to save a child trapped in a borewell in Aramm (2017). Mahesh Narayanan’s Malik (2021), starring Fahadh Faasil, uses a multi-layered narrative woven around a manufactured conflict between two communities. Suriya’s Jai Bhim (2021) is a legal-political entertainer that takes on caste discrimination and judiciary.
But in Bollywood, political films never fall under the category of ‘entertainers’; they are considered two separate genres. Even with films that explore patriotism, like Pathaan, India faces threats from other nations. No one dares to step out of clear political lines. From selfies with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the deafening silence in the Aaryan Khan case, Bollywood has never been known for its backbone. Atlee just brought blazing guns, literally and cinematically, to show how it is done.
In Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Shershaah (2021), the protagonist fights against an enemy country. India’s internal problems are never really addressed, except in a passing manner. Even when Khan’s character in Pathaan questions the government’s handling of Jim’s (John Abraham) abduction and the killing of his wife and unborn child by terrorists, it is swiftly swept under the larger carpet of Indian-ness.
Also read: Can Shah Rukh Khan deliver with Jawan what Rajinikanth couldn’t with Jailer? Pan-India success
Mersal, Bigil, Theri
The 33-year-old hitmaker, Atlee, has belted out successive commercial successes through Theri (2016), Mersal (2017) and Bigil (2019). All three films had featured Tamil superstar Vijay. Atlee’s signature style is delivering massy and commercial blockbusters, with a beating heart.
Atlee invites the audience to take accountability in Jawan as much as he points the finger and gun at the corrupt political system. And while this is happening, people can shake a leg or two and engage in romance. There’s no need for these two elements to be separate from the other. That is Atlee’s way.
His Mersal, in particular, was deeply political in its criticism of PM Modi’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Digital India initiatives. The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association also objected to the negative portrayal of medical professionals in the movie. Indian Medical Association (IMA) shared links of the movie on pirated portals through social media, as a mark of protest.
Atlee’s films also have the element of self-reflection. In Mersal, one of the three characters played by Vijay does one-armed push-ups to a song from Vettaikaaran, which is originally an MGR film from 1964. But it is also the name of Vijay’s film released in 2009. In a similar way, in Jawan, there is a callback to Khan’s much-loved character of the hockey coach Kabir in Chak De! India (2007). Instead of a women’s hockey team, Khan leads women’s jail inmates in Jawan.
Also read: “Uff!! Love u for loving Jawan”: Shah Rukh Khan on fans’ overwhelming response to film
Glimmer of hope
The year 2023 is officially Shah Rukh Khan’s year. Through Pathaan and Jawan, he fulfilled his aspiration of being a full-on action hero. In the Netflix documentary, The Romantics, Khan had said that he wanted to become an action hero but became the king of romance instead. Finally, in his 50s, the actor has fulfilled his dream.
An added bonus is that even in a film like Jawan, Khan infuses his emotions, charm, and the uprightness of Major Ram Prasad Sharma from Main Hoon Na (2004), who provides reassurance to the hapless college students held hostage by Raghavan Datta (Suniel Shetty). The actor has played an army personnel in his debut serial Fauji (1989), an air force officer in Veer Zara (2004) and a part of a bomb squad officer in Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). All these films were political in some sense but Khan’s character has never been as anti-establishment as he is in Jawan.
Jawan’s final monologue works only because Shah Rukh Khan is the last superstar of Bollywood. Atlee brings to screen the idea that the actor embodies. In a fractured state, it is the actor who symbolises love and communal unity. When all is lost, people look at cinema for a glimmer of hope, and who better than Shah Rukh Khan to give us that?
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(Edited by Ratan Priya)