Before we begin talking about the trailer of Jawan, let’s address the elephant in the room – yes, this too is a high octane action flick like Pathaan, Sooryavanshi and similar films the Hindi cinema has given us in the recent past. Are we excited for this one then? Let’s break it down.
Jawan is an action thriller which outlines the emotional journey of a man who is set to rectify the wrongs in society. After Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan is back with Jawan, produced by Gauri Khan and directed by Arun Kumar, a.k.a. Atlee. Apart from SRK, the movie stars Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi and Deepika Padukone (in a special appearance).
The trailer begins with a cheesy one liner where the lead character talks about his omnipotence, his one quality that will carry the entire storyline on its shoulders. At least that’s what most Indian movies have shown us. And from the looks of Jawan’s trailer, nothing seems distinct.
Coming to the bit that interests us the most – the visual effects. Here’s the checklist. Helicopters whirring – check. Buildings exploding – check. Glass shattering – check. Cars toppling on a highway – check. One vehicle chase sequence – check. Guns blasting – check.
The action and chase sequences look neat in terms of visual effects. While the crowd shots seem well executed, the fire and explosions too are believable, alleviating the drama in the scenes. One can find many shots of a foot stepping on the ground, sending the dust spraying, petals flying and water splashing. These, along with shots of glass shattering, ash flying around SRK and the actor standing with a spear in the midst of fire sparks are some beautifully crafted scenes. The slow motion in certain scenes – explosions in the backdrop of people fighting, and a vehicle crashing into another sending hay and a white substance flying – brings out the attention to detail.
Haresh (Harry) Hingorani serves as the VFX supervisor with Keitan Yadav as the VFX producer for the film. Recently, Hingorani was invited by Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAAS) to be a member of the organisation. Hingorani is among the 398 other members that the organisation has invited. The chief creative officer of RedchilliesVFX has to his credit films like Zero and Laal Singh Chaddha among others, so one can expect appetising visuals from Jawan.
The Hindi content-watching audience got a glimpse of Sethupathi’s charisma in the Prime Video series Farzi. He is surely one actor to watch out for in the upcoming Jawan. The audience will see Nayathara as a cop, and in the many shots she gets in the trailer, its evident that she will have a major role to play. Padukone and Khan’s chemistry has always entertained the masses, and in the one glimpse we get of her in the prevue, we are looking forward to what her special appearance will bring. Since this was only a prevue, expectations are high for the trailer in terms of the storyline and little more than glimpses of Sethupathi and Padukone.
On the story and the plot-front, we are not expecting anything novel. But it would be interesting to see what this film does differently in terms of action sequences and visual effects. While the two-minute-long prevue is filled with flips, jumps, cars crashing and things catching fire, it will all boil down to the Bollywood King’s charm with Kumar’s South Indian touch.
The Red Chillies Entertainment film will release in theatres on 7 September 2023 in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.