JAWAN is the story of a vigilante. A brutally injured and mysterious man (Shah Rukh Khan) is rescued by kind villagers living near the border. A few months later, the militants attack the village. The mysterious man, who has now recovered, saves them all. However, he seems to have lost his memory. 30 years later, the mysterious man hijacks a metro train in Mumbai with the help of his gang of women comprising Laxmi (Priya Mani), Eeram (Sanya Malhotra), Ishkra (Girija Oak), Kalki (Lehar Khan), Helena (Sanjeeta Bhattacharya) and Janvi (Aaliyah Qureishi). The mysterious man asks the government for Rs. 40,000 crores. But he doesn’t want the money for himself. Instead, he donates the amount to a certain economically disadvantaged class. Narmada (Nayanthara), who has successfully handled such hostage operations in the past, is given charge. Despite her best efforts, the mysterious man escapes and so does his team of women. Kalee Gaikwad (Vijay Sethupathi), one of the biggest arms dealers in the world, gets involved in this mess as the government takes money from him to give it to the mysterious man as per the latter’s request. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Atlee’s story is not just entertaining but also makes an important comment on our political system. Atlee and S Ramanagirivasan’s screenplay is riveting. There’s so much exciting happening in the film every moment that one doesn’t get time to think. However, logic takes a backseat in certain portions. Sumit Arora’s dialogues are powerful. Several one-liners will induce claps and whistles in theatres.

Atlee’s direction is terrific. He keeps the narrative very simple and hence, it’ll be easy to understand. The narrative is a bit South style as the film touches upon social issues and at the same time, doesn’t compromise on entertainment quotient. Yet, JAWAN is very much a Bollywood film. The balance has been achieved wonderfully by Atlee. There’s a lot of flashbacks and back and forth in the narrative. It adds to the intrigue value as one is constantly curious to know the back story.

On the flipside, the second half is comparatively weaker. Several moments give you a been-there-done-that feeling. The cinematic liberties are too many. Also, Atlee introduced several characters and plot points but they were forgotten after a point.

JAWAN begins with a bang. Shah Rukh Khan’s entry will create a frenzy in cinemas. Before you can process the sequence, the story jumps to the metro hijack episode. It is not just badass but also very moving, especially the flashback scene. The scenes of Suji (Seeza Saroj Mehta) are cute. The film then again goes on a high with the hospital sequence. The intermission point is another scene where the masses will go crazy. The second half also has its share of exciting scenes but pales in comparison to the out-of-the-world first half. Two scenes that stand out are the ones of the prisoner giving birth in jail and Kalee’s enquiry. The climax, however, is when the film yet again scores a sixer.

Shah Rukh Khan rocks and also shocks as in the last 31 years, viewers have never seen him in such avatars. All his looks are entertaining and add a lot to the mass quotient of the film. Vijay Sethupathi is okay initially but shines in the second half. Nayanthara looks stunning and delivers a first-rate performance. The chemistry between her and Shah Rukh Khan, however, is not as electrifying as intended as the director didn’t devote time to developing their love story. From the girl squad, Priya Mani, Sanya Malhotra and Lehar Khan leave a huge mark. Girija Oak and Sanjeeta Bhattacharya also do well. Seeza Saroj Mehta is adorable. Sunil Grover (Irani), Eijaz Jhan (Manish), Ridhi Dogra (Kaveri) and Ashlesha (Alia; Kalee’s daughter) don’t get much scope. Omkar Das Manikpuri (Kalki’s father) is quite good. Naresh Gosain (Agriculture minister), Ashwin Kaushal (Health Minister) and Mukesh Chhabra (Pappu; Health Minister’s PA) are aptly cast. Deepika Padukone (Aishwarya Rathore) is there for nearly 20 minutes and is too good. Sanjay Dutt (Madhavan Naik) is crowd-pleasing.

Anirudh’s music comes across as one of the weak points of the film however the songs are lavishly picturised. The title song is like the theme of the film and is the best of the lot. ‘Not Ramaiya Vastavaiya’ and ‘Zinda Banda’ work due to the placement. The same goes for ‘Aararaari Raaro’. ‘Chaleya’ and ‘Faraatta’ are decent. Anirudh’s background score enhances the mass appeal.

G K Vishnu’s cinematography is very rich. T Muthuraj’s production design is superior. Anirudh and Dipika Lal’s costumes stand out. Preetisheel Singh D’souza’s make-up and prosthetics deserve a special mention. Spiro Razatos, Anl Arasu, Craig Macrae, Yannick Ben, Kecha Khamphakdee and Sunil Rodrigues’ action is visually appealing and not too gory. Redchillies.vfx’s VFX matches global standards. Ruben’s editing is razor-sharp.

On the whole, JAWAN is a mass entertainer at its best with superlative performances, thrilling and clap worthy moments, larger-than-life action sequences, and a never-before-seen avatar of Shah Rukh Khan. At the box office, it will emerge as a blockbuster of epic proportions, setting new records and rewriting existing ones.