A movie like Jawan could not happen without Atlee. A movie like Jawan cannot happen without SRK (two of them at that, in baap beta mode). Nayantara, Deepika, Vijay Sethupati, and SRKs own Oceans Six, dish up a movie which with brutal realism holds the mirror to the state of our nation.
Amidst all the bling and bright, there’s a nation which has failed it’s farmers, it’s defence forces (so much for jai jawan jai kisan), failed it’s people with flailing and faulty health systems, a corrupt police and bureaucracy, a derailed environment governance, a country which routinely fails it’s women (I do hope somewhere there’s a jail such as the one they show in the film), the hand in glove political corporate nexus which cares little for ordinary people (p.s. tax on a Mercedes vehicle is less than tax on a tractor!)
Atlee’s picks issues that have been in the news, debated and discussed, and gets much of his facts right. His film making sensibilities are spot-on, as he jogs our conscience, even as he entertains. Left to him, he’d have packed in more, and we would have continued to watch, spellbound. In his little speech, SRK’s Azad makes the only overt reference to caste and religion and exhorts us to vote responsibly, based on real issues.
I’m hoping this short snippet where SRK almost commands us to vote well, and hold our elected government to account, will go viral, and prick every person going out to vote in 2024 (p.s. roughly 68% of the voting population currently exercise their rights).
We’re still a thriving democracy. We matter, our vote counts. Atlee and SRK couldn’t have said it louder. It’s the ultimate South North combo movie. For these alone it should get tax free status, and every Indian exhorted to see it!!!
As the film goes on to rake a thousand crores (as per trade estimates) I do hope it strikes our conscience, wakes us from the deep slumber we are in…
