It was an evening of admiration, revelry and love as the winning team of Jawan came together to celebrate the gigantic success and popularity of the film, since its release on September 7. Held amid a closed, private affair in Mumbai, the event saw the media and fans turn out in attendance. The Free Press Journal team was also present.
Representing the film’s team, the event witnessed actors Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Vijay Sethupathi, Sanya Malhotra, Ridhi Dogra, Sunil Grover, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureshi and director Atlee grace the occasion. The team was also accompanied by composer Anirudh Ravichander and rapper-singer-songwriter Raja Kumari. Besides celebrating the sweet taste of success, the objective of the occasion was to honour the efforts of the film’s technicians who put in their blood, sweat and tears to lead Jawan to its fruition.
As Khan began the proceedings of the event, he mentioned that Jawan was in the making for over 4 years, given the constraints of Covid. He added that a lot of technicians had to shift base to Mumbai, to make this film a reality. To quote the actor, he says, “Very seldom do we get this opportunity that we get to live so many years with a film. Jawan has been with us for four years because of Covid and time constraints. There were so many people involved in this film, especially people from down South who came and shifted to Mumbai for the last four years, working day and night for this film. A lot of people didn’t return to their homes. There are many who had their kids here, like Atlee. The real heroes and heroines of this film are the technicians who worked hard for the last four years.”
The technicians honoured included cinematographer GK Vishnu, editor Ruben, production designer T Muthuraj, dialogue writer Sumit Arora and sound designer Kunal Rajan, alongside co-producer Gaurav Verma.
As the evening progressed, the audience were treated to delightful performances by the cast on the film’s thumping soundtrack. As Ravichander and Raja Kumari took to the stage, they had everyone in spirits while crooning Zinda Banda and Jawan Prevue Theme. But the highlight proved to be SRK and Deepika’s impromptu jig to Chaleya, which has emerged as a crowd-favourite from the album.
The supporting cast took to the stage to speak about what the film’s success means to them and shared about SRK’s magnanimity. Sanya, who spoke on behalf of the Jawan girls, gushes, “When Atlee sir approached me with the script, he kept narrating the whole story, not knowing that I was convinced to do the film within five minutes.”
Deepika, whose extended cameo as Aishwarya Rathore in the film, leaves a profound impact, shares how she was ‘tricked’ by SRK and Atlee to do the film. "All of it has been overwhelming, to be honest. I am now discovering that I was fooled and conned on this stage. (smiles) I was shooting for Project K in Hyderabad, and both of them flew down to come and see me. They narrated the whole story to me and told me about this very important part of Aishwarya. For me, it was not about the length of the role; it was about the impact that this character was going to have in the entire film.”
The audience were in for a pleasant treat as SRK and Sethupathi spoke in mutual admiration of one another. Speaking about Sethupathi’s calibre as an actor, SRK shares, “I’ve had immense respect for Vijay sir as an actor, ever since I saw him in Super Deluxe. Working with him in Jawan has enabled me to become a better actor and I would want to work with him a lot more.”
Sethupathi also shares how he finds SRK’s mind very fascinating. He says, “I judge a man by his mind and his thoughts. Sir has a very beautiful mind and that’s what makes me admire him a lot. After spending so many years in the business, I like how he is still willing to learn.”
Jawan released in cinemas in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and has broken all existing box-office records within a week.
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