Jawan review: Shah Rukh Khan is undeniably massy in this Atlee directorial co-starring Nayanthara.

A Shah Rukh Khan film releasing is nothing short of a festival, and I say this with utmost surety because it’s not everyday that you see a theatre housefull for a 6am show. After starting the year with a bang with a blockbuster Pathaan, SRK’s Jawan goes one level up – both on being overtly dramatic and loaded with high-octane action. Writer-director Atlee presents Khan in an all-new avatar – rough, tough, gritty yet not without his impeccable wit.

Jawan is an SRK show from start to end, and it’s double the treat watching him in a dual role. From his heroic entry scene to the fights to dance numbers, there’s nothing that he can’t do and makes you believe in it as well. At 57, turning 58 in November, SRK bowls you over with his action. Given the amount of action he has done in Jawan, it appears that Pathaan was a mere teaser. Atlee makes sure he doesn’t disappoint audiences in his Hindi directorial debut, as he blends all the elements of commercial cinema to build a massy entertainer.

Jawan doesn’t conform to any set templates or tropes and mixes everything that makes for an engaging and entertaining watch. Mention commercial, masala potboiler with action, drama, song and romance and Jawan has it all in abundance. I won’t even say don’t apply brains, please do because it highlights some important topics. The nearly 3-hour long film tells a compelling tale of prevalent corruption at various levels in the system that affects the common man in the most brutal ways. Thankfully, at no point it gets preachy, though it goes into a social commentary zone for a while, especially with a monologue from SRK towards the end.

Jawan’s non-linear narrative starts in the present day and moves 30 years ahead and then uses flashback to explain the why and how. I won’t share highlights of the plot for they may get spoilery. But, one can safely say that Jawan is not entirely a revenge drama but every sequence is a short story in itself with an elaborate flashback reasoning the current actions. Somehow, that also seems to be a problematic thing for I missed the consistency in storytelling. Jawan doesn’t let you stay on one story for too long and hops on to the next too soon, thus breaking the flow.