JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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LAXMII (2020): no bomb 💣 here

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Directed by: Raghava Lawrence 

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Rajesh Sharma, Manu Rishi Chadda, Tarun Arora, Ayesha Reza, Ashwini Kalshikar, Prachi Pandya, Adhvik Mahajan, Master Jason, Baby Grace, and Sharad Kelkar. 

Now this one is an official remake of an over the top south movie, so you got to get used to the loud background score, superficial hamming by all artists, stunts defying gravity and the likes, if that’s not your cup of tea, well then you’ll have to skip this supernatural comedy, which unfortunately has nothing ‘super’ nor ‘comical’ about it. 



Haven’t watched the original hence unsure whether that had any authenticity but the remake is awful and generously low on substance. The story (or the lack of it) is about a man who gets possessed by the revengeful ghost of a transgender who has to settle score with some evil conspirators. The screenplay is loaded with loopholes, you’ve to try really hard to laugh at the onscreen proceedings, the humour somehow sucks, quite literally. 

The director loses grip as he is unable to tickle the funny bone, that’s the basic premise for a comedy, even the intended ‘scary’ scenes look dated and as a result the movie fizzles out with no proper genre to be categorised into. 



What falters technically could’ve been saved by the actors, alas! They ham, act like kindergarten kids who’re forced to perform for a lolipop. Akshay Kumar totally over the top is mighty unimpressive, his act is oh so Salman Khanish casual. The supporting artists make weird faces, roll their eyes, master the act of looking scared and that’s it! Kiara Advani is the delightful eye candy looking as fresh and delicious as vintage Hema Malini, but hey she can’t emote at all. The only decent performance is Sharad Kelkar’s in the titular role. 



The director also wastes considerable screen time in promoting communal harmony, but this movie or the genre just doesn’t support this kind of act. One can’t force unnecessary communal mishap in-order to please a certain section of the viewers, there is certain sensitivity and a different platform that can be used. 



Two noteworthy aspects would be the two highlighted songs, Burj Khalifa and Bum Bum Bhole, both choreographed, sung and performed exceptionally well, otherwise this comic caper has nothing more to boast of. ⭐️

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