Who’s your daddy?

Illustration/Uday Mohite

With Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan continues what's begun with Pathaan. His new turn as action hero, reformulating the nationalist film and the emergence of his new avatar: Daddy of the nation.

Jawan begins with a riveting, mythic quality that sadly does not recur. But, as masala films do at their most meaningful, Jawan operates on the cusp of history and myth, reality and desire, plugging into a collective consciousness made of political memories, Bollywood histories and epic figures. Jawan released on Janmashtami. Like Krishna, Shah Rukh Khan's character Azad, is born in prison, and raised by an adoptive mother, to fight evil and defend good. Alongside, the film invokes Bollywood's tradition of vigilante cop and common man films. His name Azad, recalls Amitabh Bacchan's Main Azad Hoon. A Sanjay Dutt cameo recalls Munna Bhai.

Along with his posse of warrior-women, SRK-Azad, holds the government and crony capitalism to account, wresting welfare as ransom. The audacious missions reference farmer suicides, Dr Kafeel Khan, the Bhopal gas tragedy. Prisoners beat steel thalis, recalling lockdown dramas. Money is deposited directly in bank accounts reminding us of certain jumlas. A truck full of black money explodes, trailing infamous 2,000-rupee notes. It is unquestionably heroic to take these political stands, to speak of class and injustice in these times - while committed to the generosity and even inclusiveness of paisa vasool entertainment.

As the film's fidgety structure hurtles through issues, its political and narrative potency start to diffuse somewhat. Sequences like the farmer's debt and Deepika's imprisonment which are anchored in emotion seep into us, and I wanted more of that. But perhaps it is early in the relationship for such commitment.

Eventually what we bond with is the persona of the star, as he crafts a larger narrative from film to film. Against a backdrop of voting machines, SRK-Azad addresses the public: you ask so many questions when you buy something, why not when you vote? It is time, says the figure who symbolised liberalised India in countless brand endorsements, to recast citizenship as we cast a vote; to go from consumer-citizen to politically engaged citizen, to expand the political beyond the electoral. Jump ship. Daddy's got you.

Shah Rukh has always suggested a softer, vulnerable masculinity. His goofiness and charm continue to infuse these muscular masculine heroes he now plays. But both Pathaan and Jawaan present an intriguingly asexual masculinity. The "gopis" of Azad-Krishna are his unit in the fight, not his amorous playmates. For his arranged marriage, he is interviewed as a prospective dad (who sometimes choses disguise as a, well, mummy), not potential mate - an immaculate conception of sorts. His recent history makes fatherhood a charged filmic idiom. His vulnerability is paternal, collegial, filial, not romantic.

Until suddenly, older Shah Rukh appears alongside Deepika with a Padmalaya pop, Jeetuji's cravat and an effortless love-sex vibe. Huzzah! Grizzled, amnesiac, hot, Vikram-Shah Rukh is a sexy Daddy. My friend sent me a video of audience reactions, where one woman heavy breathes "Shah Rukh ke Pappa! Woh chahiye. La ke doge?" Quite. Two SRKs dance side by side at the end. Who's your Daddy? Must we choose? Do they remain fragmented, one in waiting, one in battle? Do they merge into a man both sexy and good, dutiful and beautiful so we can lip sync jawan janeman haseen dilurba again together? Woh picture abhi baaki hai. But tickets are booked.

Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with fiction and non-fiction. Reach her at paromita.vohra@mid-day.com