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 ...

Missed the Bus with BIG B ?



Who’s the greatest superstar of them all? Though the answer is debatable there are a millions who swear by their loyal dedication to Amitabh Bachchan, a mega star of the millennium. Whatever his greatness maybe but one can’t deny he had his preferred camps be it directors, production houses, playback singers or his leading ladies. It was a dream for any female actor during Bachchan’s peak (1973-1992) to be cast opposite him, so here’s a wish-list of prominent leading ladies during that peak period who were never romantically paired with him, wonder why? 



Shabana Azmi 
I know I know they did a movie called Main Azaad Hoon(1989) but not too sure if there was a romantic angle between their roles in that movie. Basically the supremely talented Shabana wasn’t cast as Bachchan’s love interest though they worked in blockbusters like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), wouldn’t it have been a really intellectual pair had they played a romantic couple in a movie? 



Reena Roy 
A big mystery as to why this top list star was not cast opposite Bachchan. He was known to prefer A list heroines and Madame Roy had earned that league with unbeatable hard-work. They worked in Naseeb(1981) and danced in a special song in a Punjabi movie but never played a romantic pair ever. What a miss really ! 



Deepti Naval 
Why Deepti? Why not? He could sizzle in the rain with Smita then why not Deepti? In the 80s she emerged as a thinking men’s dream girl. An unusually unconventional pairing between Bachchan and Naval would’ve looked nice on screen. Opposites attract don’t they? Tall and debonair Bachchan with a petite and demure Naval, lovely unseen pair. 



Tina Munim 
They were seen together in Pukar(1983) with different on screen partners. Tina’s fashionable South Bombay image would’ve complemented Bachchan’s Bambaiyya stature in so many movies. She had that cute soft image that could have worked wonders for the angry middle aged men Bachchan in the 80s. 



Anita Raj 
Now this is one pairing that should’ve been tried in the 80s. Perfectly made for each other on the big screen. She was tall, handsome just like him, had that macho tough look and would’ve looked like a female mirror image of Big B. Wonder why they weren’t cast even once. 



Madhuri Dixit 
Phew! This could’ve been a dream pair. Madhuri emerged as a numero uno when Amitabh announced his semi retirement. What a timing !! There were two movies announced with them, Shanakht in 1989 and Rishta in 1995, both shelved. What a jinxed pair! 

It is widely publicized that Amitabh had no say in the choice of his heroines during his days as the number one megastar. True or not, he did restrict himself to around half a dozen heroines whom he very frequently worked with, while some were lucky to get even one movie with him like Ranjita and there were others who missed the bus! Sigh. 

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