The Last of the Stars

Shahrukh Khan in an interview to fellow actor, Anupam Kher, had very confidently and inimitably mentioned without batting an eyelid that he is ‘last of the stars,’ and that there will be none after him. This was in 2014. Movies like Dilwale, Fan, Raees, Jab Harry met Sejal, Zero followed soon after, challenging his claim and allowing trade pundits to? write him off as a star whose time had come. Some even mentioned in nuanced articles that roles like Dr. Jehangir Khan where he played his age and a second lead in Dear Zindagi would suit him better. Covid followed and along with it the rise of OTT platforms and content for the platform began a double assault on Bollywood and King Khan’s claim. Bollywood's enfant terrible and ‘bhai’ was providing entertainment but not hits that united the nation. Was this a cultural phenomenon that with the new political sentiment of the nation, the days of the Khans were getting numbered. But our Badshah of Bollywood, as he is fondly referred to, had aces up his sleeves and was waiting for the right moment to slam the cards on the table and call it ‘Game On’.

Pathan was the first of the aces, Shahrukh dropped to take back the reins of the kingdom he had formed on his own accord. The thriller from the YRF studio’s spy verse helped King Khan to reinvent himself as the action hero he so desperately wanted to establish himself in. Slick and sharp vfx with SRK’s bondesque charm, helped the film to break all records of Box Office, amassing a stupendous 544 crores as domestic collection and a staggering 1050 crore worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of 2023, the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, and the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time. The Badshah had roared and how. He was back in the fray and his fans were loving it. Yet, Pathan was the first ace and Shahrukh was waiting to drop the next one in a grander style in 2023 itself - Jawan, a film his own production house helmed.

I was lucky to have got a first day, second last show for Jawan. Bollywood mass entertainers were not my cup of tea anymore and this movie and ticket was a sheer impulsive reaction to uphold friendship. I expected nothing much, as I had not from Pathan, which I clearly rated in my own humble opinion as a film that did well because of the star cast and deluge of good slick action in Bollywood. My tickets for Jawan were premium and I was in the company of some real august, fine South Delhi or South Gurgaon (if there is any such diversity) crowd. Cinema halls/theatres are a fine analogy of the economic disparity in our country. There are different levels from front row to balcony therefore. However urban classicism has taken it to an all different level with seats that are loungers to regular recliners. With similar price points, the multiplex I was in had all seats priced at INR 1200, clearly trying to make everyone feel equal in an unequal display of capitalism, ironically of course, to enjoy a massy entertainer. Ideologies aside, holding a big bucket of popcorn and a diet cola, I waited for Jawan to begin. I could soon feel the richness of the crowd, literally in the multitude of expensive perfumes and elixir that people around me wore. The Armanis and the Gucci bling winked at me with every person entering the auditorium. The hushed whispers of the crowd relayed the finishing schools they may have graduated from. The ‘excuse me’ and ‘apologies’ on crossing over to reach a seat spoke of the gentry, I would watch this movie with. I did not feel so out of place myself, dressed with my intellectual competence of language and knowledge, which I clearly managed or hoped was understood by the immediate neighbours, while I conversed with my friend speaking somewhat loudly of the decadence of mass Bollywood films. We had seats in the centre, four rows from the loungers in the first. To my right were 3 couples, each finely dressed with mute and pastel colours straight out of an Instagram timeline. My guess was that they must be driving the finest vehicles and working in the finest firms or running their own sweet startups. My company for Jawan was rich, polished and uptight. I was not complaining.

Shahrukh’s entry in the film is immediate but his ‘entry’ in the film is around seven minutes after the first scene and that is when you will witness what a phenomenon he is. I did. I witnessed the finest of Gurgaon and New Delhi, erupt in euphoria with cat calls, whistles, shouts and cheers marking the entry of the star of Indian cinema, perhaps even the last one that our generation will watch. SRK, the star, brought out in each one of us the hope that we sought from our heroes, the faith we have that there will be one who will help and bring a change. Through the storyline, his entry evoked similar reactions and the loudest was before the interval, when his entry into the screen briefly reminded me of a time I had watched a Rajnikant movie in R K Puram with a Tamil audience. Rajnikant is a phenomenon we all are aware of and we also know that the South revere their film stars with a different fervour. That is not a cultural phenomenon in North or West where Bollywood dominates, stars are loved but not revered as we see in South. But here is our SRK making an audience from the finest grammar schools loosen their throats, knees go limp, eyes sparkle in glee and facial muscles exercise harder with the wide smiles every time a cliched scene is played.?

Jawan for me is a revelation of the aspiration that SRK holds in becoming a true blue movie star of India. The choice of a director like Atlee, stalwart actors from South like Vijay Sethupathi, Nayantara, the movie being released in Tamil and Telugu and the audio release ceremony in Chennai indicate that the Badshah is out to expand his territory and stardom. Is this choice merely economic or is there something more that SRK is up to? And if I look beyond the star, to Shahrukh Khan - the philosopher, influencer and the father, the movie, its script and the message he delivers in the penultimate monologue is an indication of the side that the star has taken politically. Without the risk of revealing too much, the dialogue that drew loud cat calls and cheers was “Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar” (Talk to the father before laying a finger on the son). The reaction of the crowd may have been the loudest in this scene, but the dialogue was fraught with SRK’s personal life and the choice he has made to deliver a message to his perpetrators. This is SRK for you. He will manage to send across a message through the people and yet not ruffle feathers, or not care much if he did either. A fearless star who without any overt mention voiced the importance of the choices we make while choosing our leaders. The making of the scene and the background of it may seem to be borrowed from multiple cliches of South Indian and Bollywood pot boilers but it is clear that the Badshah wanted to drive a message across the country before the 2024 general elections. Hence Jawan is your quintessential ‘Wag the Dog’ albeit in a different genre. It uses cinema and SRK to establish a message that we need to hear beyond propaganda based narratives like The Kashmir and Kerala Files. It is the same audience that Jawan will reach out to and subtly talk about what is the reform that they can impact without being melodramatic.

Today is the third day of the release of Jawan and the movie has already collected 350 Cr world wide. Phenomenal for the economy but what has stood out for me is that after a long time, we have a Bollywood movie that has brought the nation together like never before. My Calvin Klein wearing neighbour and the whole set of people in the auditorium sat through the credit song and this is not even a Marvel movie. A young woman gave me a bold smile on the way out. I saw my own smile and joy in her eyes. I saw a billion smiles. Only a magnificent star could have done this and no wonder he could indeed be the last of the stars. Our very own Shahrukh Khan a rare natural resource, that Mr. Anand Mahindra, had fondly referred to him as.

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