Jawan (transl. Soldier) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Atlee, in his first Hindi film. It is produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under Red Chillies Entertainment. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role, alongside Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone (billed as a special appearance), Priyamani and Sanya Malhotra.
Principal photography commenced in September 2021 with filming taking place in Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Rajasthan and Aurangabad. The film›s soundtrack and background score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography by G. K. Vishnu and editing by Ruben.
Jawan was initially planned for release on 2 June 2023, but was postponed due to unfinished post-production work. It was theatrically released on 7 September 2023 in standard, IMAX, 4DX and other premium formats, coinciding with Janmashtami. Azad Rathore is a prison officer at a woman’s prison who has a purpose to clear the name of his soldier-father Vikram Rathore and keeping a promise made to his mother Aishwarya to become a vigilante and bring justice to the oppressed. Azad and his gang of women consisting of Lakshmi, Eeram, Ishkra, Kalki, Helena and Janhvi; continuously works towards justice for the nation’s citizens, where they face challenges from senior cop and Azad›s love interest Narmada Rai and a global weapons dealer Kaali Gaikwad. The soundtrack is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, who would mark his debut as a solo composer in Bollywood, previously having composed a song for David and the background score of Jersey. Initially, A. R. Rahman was reportedly approached by director Atlee to compose for the film.[71] Rahman subsequently declined the offer for reasons unknown, and Anirudh was chosen to compose for the film. The music rights were bagged by T-Series for ₹36 crore, which was a record price for a Hindi album.
The soundtrack consists of seven original songs composed by Anirudh, namely, «Zinda Banda», «Chaleya», «Not Ramaiya Vastavaiya», «Aararaari Raaro», «Jawan Title Track», «Faraatta» and «Chaleya» (Arabic). Lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil and Kumaar.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan is all set to break box office records on its opening day, and perhaps even the opening weekend. A Rs 75 crore opening would be the biggest single-day collection for any Hindi film in history, and the biggest opening day collection ever for a Hindi-language film. The previous record was held by Shah Rukh’s Pathaan, which made Rs 70 crore on day two after making Rs 57 crore on opening day. The recent superhit Gadar 2 made Rs 40 crore on day one, but peaked on Independence Day, when it made Rs 55 crore. Jawan also beat Pathaan in terms of pre-sales; it sold 5.56 lakh tickets for day one, as compared to Pathaan’s 5.55 lakh tickets.
