Jawan is out, and like it or not, Shah Rukh Khan's politics is here to stay

In recent years, Bollywood's biggest star Shah Rukh Khan has stopped speaking to the press directly.  

Instead, he is reaching out and speaking his mind through his cinema. In the past year, Khan has made a splashing comeback - first in Pathaan and now, eight months on, in Jawan. 

Pathaan came at a time when Khan had taken a sabbatical of four years after delivering a series of duds at the box office. Many claim that Khan was disappointed and reassessing his choices in scripts after films like Fan and Zero failed to create a mark. 

Or maybe, Covid pandemic compelled him to take a break of sorts. 

One doesn't know why or what led to Khan's long break from facing the camera. But the man ensured he made a comeback that would be remembered by many for years to come.

Also Read | Jawan review: Shah Rukh Khan cements his position as numero uno with this vigilante thriller

Khan has ruled the box office for over three decades and is perhaps one of the most known Indian entertainment industry faces in the world. Loved by generations, the man has changed the way romance is perceived in Indian cinema in this period. 

While he is revered and loved, he is also loathed by certain sections of society, deeply. For the right-leaning, he is a Muslim man living and ruling the hearts of a predominantly Hindu nation-  that itself can make many uncomfortable.

SRK is also one of those few actors who has never bent on any ruling party and its ideologies. 

Also read: Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan: Bollywood's reigning monarch strikes gold yet again

Haters will state that he and his family have always had a leaning for the Congress party, but the man has never campaigned for the party or curried favours when it was at the Centre. Many of his contemporaries have over the years shown their allegiance to the governments at the Centre, yet SRK has steered clear of it.

The actor has had to pay a hefty price for it though. 

In 2015, in an interview with journalist Barkha Dutt, SRK spoke about religious intolerance in the country, which led to a nationwide hate campaign against the actor, with many terming him as 'anti-national.'

After that interview, Khan almost withdrew into a shell, refraining from commenting on any political issue, lest that gets misconstrued and cause a backlash.

In 2021, his son Aryan was arrested in a drug case in Mumbai. Many feel it was to rattle Khan. The actor, however, maintained a stoic silence throughout. Even when Aryan's name was cleared earlier this year, Khan kept mum on the issue—no statement to the media, no comments on social media either.

Films made Khan the star that he is. And so, he has now decided to use the medium to say what he feels.

Pathaan courted controversy weeks before its release. It was scrutinised by the Censor Board after a song featuring Deepika Padukone and SRK made certain people uncomfortable. Some claimed it was vulgar, showing a Muslim man manhandling (!?) a Hindu woman, dressed in saffron colour. It may sound bizarre to most of us but the allegations prompted the state-owned Censor board to reassess the film.

But in spite of what appeared to be an orchestrated hate campaign, Pathaan opened to thunderous response and just reiterated Khan's liberal stand as an individual off camera. 

In the SIddharth Anand directorial, Khan plays an intelligence officer who was named Pathaan by an Afghan family who saved him during a war. 

He is an orphan in the film. It has Deepika Padukone playing a Pakistani intelligence agent who joins hands with Pathaan to fight the evil: an Indian ex-army officer played by John Abraham, who went rogue and now poses a threat to world peace and order.

The actor, who is married to Gauri Khan, a Hindu, has time and again spoken about his religious tolerance and how his children practice both his and his wife's religion at home. 

In Pathaan, Khan seemed to play an extension of his persona who fights for India but never really bashes the neighbour or for that matter any religion.

If Pathaan talked about his liberal stand, Jawan talks about Khan the feminist, who has been a vocal ally of women's empowerment. 

His NGO has for years financially helped acid-attack victims, the opening credits of his films feature the leading lady's name before his and he has often talked on public platforms about the role women- his mother, sister, wife and daughter- have played in his life. 

In Jawan- a vigilante drama- SRK takes on the system with a bunch of female convicts who have been wronged in society and landed behind bars on false charges. SRK and 'his girls' are portrayed as larger than life, taking on goons double their size.

Jawan also subtly delivers a message or two to the government and the fallacies in the system. 

The methods may not be conventional, but SRK's Azaad Rathore gives solutions on problems like farmer's suicide due to debt, the lack of facilities in state-run hospitals and the importance of voting for the right party (ahem!). 

The film even takes a sly dig (or does it) on the Aryan Khan case, with the older SRK telling the villain to first talk to the father before laying his hand on the son: "Bete ko haath lagane se phele baap se baat kar".

We get it, Shah Rukh, we do and we applaud you for doing it this way.

Jawan has already created history with its opening numbers on Thursday. Amid protests of boycott, Khan has once again cemented his position at the top. 

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Khan delivered mostly romantic films, thereby earning the title of King of Romance.

In the present decade, as he nears 60, Khan is making his politics clear to one and all. He may not speak at public forums about it, he may also not take a clear stand on burning societal issues or campaign for any party or its ideology, but he is letting his films talk. 

And we are listening.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)