‘Jawan’, the Super Hero and the Vicarious Satisfaction the Indian Middle Classes Experience

J John

The Shah Rukh Khan film ‘Jawan’, was released for theatrical shows on September 7, 2023. [Within 19 days](#), it amassed more than Rs.1000 crore in box office collection globally and crossed Rs.566 crores in India. Red Chillies, its production house released these figures. Jawan is competing in box office collection with others in the league – Dangal with 1970 crores, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion with 1800 crores, KGF Chapter 2 with 1230 crore and RRR with 1241 crores gross.

Atlee, Director of the film, has created a storyline coalescing a contrived world of realism with a phantasmic superhero who coerces accountability from bankers, industrialists and political leadership and reminds citizens to use their power to vote.

In a dystopian world, Shah Rukh Khan (Azad) arrives as the ultimate personage to save the world performing ‘sanitised’ violence. He also undergoes excruciating suffering as acts of heroism by the redemptive superhuman. Shah Rukh Khan engages in dazzling dances at all opportune moments. Among the most spectacular being his (Jail warden’s) dance with the female inmates. The action defies logic at all times – when the vigilante group captures whole train or when the group attacks the convoy of trucks loaded with money or when the senior Shah Rukh Khan makes his unbelievable escape from the aircraft.

Rarely does the film demands acting from the characters, they are only expected to stage-manage. Nayantara (Narmada) tends to behave like an actress. Soon the prominence shifts to Deepika Padukone (Aishwarya), who matches Shah Rukh Khan in phantasmagoric performances, this time, with his avatar as Azad’s father, Captain Vikram Rathore.

The film is well within the nationalistic discourse as in the case of most of the popular action thrillers of contemporary India. Soldier is the redeemer not only at the borders but also of issues within the nation.

Jawan raises many social, economic and financial issues – children dying in a hospital due to lack of oxygen, faulty army weapons and dangerous factories near residential areas and influencing voters using money power etc.,. [Many](#) hold that it is this social messaging that contributed to the box office success of the film. It might be true. Atlee, Director has said, “I am a layman, I am also a part of this society. It is my voice, [it is the audience’s voice, and it is a common Indian’s voice](#).” He denied that he is an ‘anti-establishment’ director.

Burgeoning Indian middle class – the common man – has given Jawan a big thumps up. Does this signify a change in the social and political consciousness of the common man? Not to the extent that they take collective action against the systems that contribute to the social and political issues outlined in the film. [The Indian middle class must rank as one of the most aspirational classes in the world.](#) They encounter corruption, poverty, collusion between business class, bureaucracy and politicians. Yet, they do not have time or inclination to engage in collective action to change the systems. What they need is a ‘super hero’, who could deliver what they themselves cannot do. It is this Atlee and Shah Rukh Khan have provided through the film Jawan.

Shah Rukh Khan becomes the real strongman and avenger of justice and takes on the corrupt and the powerful, distributes money to distressed farmers and ensure prompt upkeep of government hospitals. To execute justice, Shah Rukh Khan builds a vigilante group from among the women prisoners and the audience accepts it as probable. Indian middle classes get their vicarious satisfaction that the problems are getting resolved.

This vote bank, who aspire for the strong avenger, is something Indian political parties cannot afford to loose. [BJP, Congress and AAP](#) defended the film. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia in his tweet thanked Shah Rukh Khan “for exposing the corrupt, policy paralysis ridden Congress rule from 2004 to 2014 through #JawaanMovie, reminds all viewers of the tragic political past during the UPA government.” The Aam Aadmi Party claimed the dialogues of Jawan are what Arvind Kejriwal has been saying all along.

The Film Jawan, fits into India’s contemporary national psyche.

PS: _’Common man’ took AAP to power in 2013 and BJP in 2024 on issues like those raised by Atlee and Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan. Can Congress project a superman for the 2024 election?_