Jawan

[Drunk Monk]

Jawan

The latest from SRK aka King Khan, one of Bollywoods brightest. Also stars Deepika Padukone who I adore. It’s the highest grossing Hindi film of 2023 and the 2nd highest ever.

This film is all over the place. It starts with a tasty bit of ultravi, replete with those dramatic slo-mo moments of impact, some decent long action takes, insane wire work and lots of blood spitting. One of my fav motifs of this film is kicking the defeated so hard that they spit even more blood. Then there’s this wacky train hijacking with SRK playing a sadistic bald villain, playing it to the hilt and clearly relishing it. Then there’s the women’s prison dance number with seemingly over a hundred inmates getting their groove on. And this is just the first three acts of a nearly 3 hour epic.

There were some good twists as the story darted back and forth through time in backstory flashbacks. SRK plays a dual role to good effect - it allows him to dance with himself which amuses. He’s one year younger than me and still got his dance moves, plus some wicked fight choreo moves. The fights are solid  Bollywood style and yet there were a few fresh ideas. The dance numbers all delivered.

It’s got funny quips and witty writing, and then there’s a humiliating pantsing that had to be digitally blurred, plus some brutal deaths including a cute dog, livestock, and a tragic execution. I never quite knew what might happen next and those surprises were rewarding for the most part.

Does it work? It did for me but I doubt it will for others outside of Bollywood fans. There’s some over-the-top absurd physics in a truck convoy heist sequence like flipping a militarized SUV by grappling hooking it to a street lamppost (damn strong lampposts in India). It’s no RRR or even a Bahubaali (although that film is referenced for laughs). It mostly hinges upon SRK who is as charming as ever. Always dashing, he shows a lot of cleavage, and those dimples still sparkle. His mud wrestling scene with Deepika shifts to a glorious song and dance in true Bollywood style. Sure Deepika is 30 years SRK’s junior but it still works. 

Not D00M recommended unless you just fast forward to the fight (and dance) scenes.