I hope you'll enjoy the movie. The protagonist is Shah Rukh Khan, who is one of the most famous actors in India. I haven't seen much of him since 2018. This year he also starred in "Pathaan (2023)", which is at number one in the Indian Box Office (2023).

Wasn't aware of "Pathaan", but it's now on my Prime watchlist; thanks for that shout.

My first Bollywood film at the cinema! I really enjoyed "Jawan", not as much as "RRR", but it was still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, though the film is going great guns globally, it was just me and what appeared to be a couple of the older generations of an Indian family on a Saturday night. Mme LeMarchand passed as she thought it would be took stressful but though there is one sequence that, when it's on Netflix (who seem to have put money into it) I'd probably have to fast-forward (children dying), it's more OTT comic book violence. If you enjoyed RRR, definitely worth a look at the cinema. If you thought RRR was "OK", I'd try this when it's on Netflix. If you're new to Indian movies, RRR is still the gold standard and the one to start with, but this makes a good follow up. I'm going to see if I can convince Mme LeMarchand to give it a go at the cinema...

Oh, the trailer is very well put together and shows a lot, but doesn't give too much away; the reason why all those characters look alike does make sense eventually (well, about as much sense as possible in a film with song and dance numbers and action scenes that Zack Snyder would think were too OTT). The film also has a surprising political edge that, if they watched cinema from other regions, the "usual suspects" would take it to task for.

I'm curious as to how anybody can take a movie billed as a 'crime/action/thriller that has song & dance routines seriously. I have seen many movies from India that were very good & were straight drama without any singing & dancing. I have also seen many 'Bollywood' type movies that were fun but they weren't billed as a 'crime/action/thriller.

@M.LeMarchand said:

Wasn't aware of "Pathaan", but it's now on my Prime watchlist; thanks for that shout.

My first Bollywood film at the cinema! I really enjoyed "Jawan", not as much as "RRR", but it was still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, though the film is going great guns globally, it was just me and what appeared to be a couple of the older generations of an Indian family on a Saturday night. Mme LeMarchand passed as she thought it would be took stressful but though there is one sequence that, when it's on Netflix (who seem to have put money into it) I'd probably have to fast-forward (children dying), it's more OTT comic book violence. If you enjoyed RRR, definitely worth a look at the cinema. If you thought RRR was "OK", I'd try this when it's on Netflix. If you're new to Indian movies, RRR is still the gold standard and the one to start with, but this makes a good follow up. I'm going to see if I can convince Mme LeMarchand to give it a go at the cinema...

Oh, the trailer is very well put together and shows a lot, but doesn't give too much away; the reason why all those characters look alike does make sense eventually (well, about as much sense as possible in a film with song and dance numbers and action scenes that Zack Snyder would think were too OTT). The film also has a surprising political edge that, if they watched cinema from other regions, the "usual suspects" would take it to task for.

What I love about Indian movies are the music, dance and song. There is Bollywood (Hindi) and the South Indian Cinema (Tamil-Kollywood, Telugu-Tollywood, Malayalam-Mollywood and Kannada-Sandalwood).

No cinema is limited to one genre, all have movies with action, crime, romance, period drama, etc. For example "Ponniyin Selvan: II" - trailer is a historical drama from Kollywood and of course there is also this. If you like a romantic comedy, then there is for example the Bollywood movie "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" - trailer with more of this. Or another crime drama from Tollywood like "Waltair Veerayya" - trailer with the inevitable song and dance.

@wonder2wonder said:

What I love about Indian movies are the music, dance and song. There is Bollywood (Hindi) and the South Indian Cinema (Tamil-Kollywood, Telugu-Tollywood, Malayalam-Mollywood and Kannada-Sandalwood).

No cinema is limited to one genre, all have movies with action, crime, romance, period drama, etc. For example "Ponniyin Selvan: II" - trailer is a historical drama from Kollywood and of course there is also this. If you like a romantic comedy, then there is for example the Bollywood movie "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" - trailer with more of this. Or another crime drama from Tollywood like "Waltair Veerayya" - trailer with the inevitable song and dance.

I find the song and dance numbers amusing/bemusing. More something that you are going to get with the movie rather than a reason to see the movie, like seeing a "F&F" movie means speeches about "family" in with the action and carnage. That said, "Naatu Naatu" in "RRR" really worked for me, even though it's not going to be added to my Spotify list.

The Indian movies I've seen are the sort of thing I'd watch a "Western" film about, so I've seen action movies, fantasy stuff, a superhero movie and a space launch drama. There are a few on my Netflix list that are stretching the range, though.

@bratface said:

I'm curious as to how anybody can take a movie billed as a 'crime/action/thriller that has song & dance routines seriously. I have seen many movies from India that were very good & were straight drama without any singing & dancing. I have also seen many 'Bollywood' type movies that were fun but they weren't billed as a 'crime/action/thriller.

That's cleared up something I've always wondered about, as I've seen trailers for some pretty serious looking Indian films and wondered if they still had singing and dancing in!

I have yet to see an Indian movie without singing and dancing, though I tend to go for the lighter end of the spectrum. Even Mission Mangal, a based-on-true-events drama about an "underdog" Indian space mission, found time for musical numbers. My viewing only covers films from this century (IIRC) where often the song and dance numbers are built into the plot like at a wedding or similar. In "Jawan" one of the numbers is supposed to be a performance, though it appears to start in the day and go on well into the night! The Oscar winning "Naatu Naatu" number from RRR (Action, Drama) is framed as a dance off between the plucky Indians and the stuck up Brit oppressors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsU0CGZoV8E. That said, there are still "random" musical numbers (if there is a colourfully dressed crowd, watch out!) though, from the movies I've seen, it's not people breaking into song in the middle of an action sequence. There are also quite a lot of "romantic" numbers, which are only a bit of a step up from the "montage to a pop hit" that features in many Western romance movies.

If you have Netflix and enjoy OTT action movies, I'd give "RRR" a go - there is plenty of chest on display as well (not Jason's, but still...): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVVO3Yat_Bw

@M.LeMarchand said:

I find the song and dance numbers amusing/bemusing. More something that you are going to get with the movie rather than a reason to see the movie, like seeing a "F&F" movie means speeches about "family" in with the action and carnage. That said, "Naatu Naatu" in "RRR" really worked for me, even though it's not going to be added to my Spotify list.

I can understand that. The indian population love the songs in their movies. It's what draws them to the theatres since the beginning of Indian cinema when the silent films were replaced by sound in the 1930s. What they'll talk about, often even before the movie is released, is 'what songs are there in the movie'.

There are many reasons why almost each Indian movie has song and dance. One reason is that intimate love scenes are considered inappropriate. These scenes are then replaced by dancing and singing. For example, in a romantic movie the first meeting usually starts with song and dance. Even if intimate moments are shown, they only last a few minutes and are not as detailed as in Hollywood movies. There are changes nowadays, but mostly in the way of performing the musical numbers. The actors dance in a way - their movements, style and how they look at each other - are more intimate and provocative than in the past.

Another reason is financial. While Hollywood makes a clear distinction between genres and they'll make an all-action movie or a musical, Indian producers will include at least two songs in their movies. If the song is a hit then it draws more people to the theatres. For example the crime drama "Raees" - trailer would not have been in the top ten highest grossing movie at the Indian Box Office in 2017, if it was not for the song "Laila Main Laila" .

A third reason is that songs affect the mood of the audience and create a stronger connection between the viewers and the characters. "Channa Mereya" from the movie "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" - trailer made the audience so sad when watching the ending: Ayan has lost his 'moon'.

Sidenote:

A Hollywood movie that is technically not a musical, but does have songs, is "Barbie (2023)", where the director and producers used this method to enhance the movie. Not only the song "I'm just Ken" touched the audience, but Billie Eilish song "What was I made for" with the video montage of home videos of families - women, mothers, daughters, friends, etc. - brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience.

@M.LeMarchand said:

@bratface said:

I'm curious as to how anybody can take a movie billed as a 'crime/action/thriller that has song & dance routines seriously. I have seen many movies from India that were very good & were straight drama without any singing & dancing. I have also seen many 'Bollywood' type movies that were fun but they weren't billed as a 'crime/action/thriller.

That's cleared up something I've always wondered about, as I've seen trailers for some pretty serious looking Indian films and wondered if they still had singing and dancing in!

I have yet to see an Indian movie without singing and dancing, though I tend to go for the lighter end of the spectrum. Even Mission Mangal, a based-on-true-events drama about an "underdog" Indian space mission, found time for musical numbers. My viewing only covers films from this century (IIRC) where often the song and dance numbers are built into the plot like at a wedding or similar. In "Jawan" one of the numbers is supposed to be a performance, though it appears to start in the day and go on well into the night! The Oscar winning "Naatu Naatu" number from RRR (Action, Drama) is framed as a dance off between the plucky Indians and the stuck up Brit oppressors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsU0CGZoV8E. That said, there are still "random" musical numbers (if there is a colourfully dressed crowd, watch out!) though, from the movies I've seen, it's not people breaking into song in the middle of an action sequence. There are also quite a lot of "romantic" numbers, which are only a bit of a step up from the "montage to a pop hit" that features in many Western romance movies.

If you have Netflix and enjoy OTT action movies, I'd give "RRR" a go - there is plenty of chest on display as well (not Jason's, but still...): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVVO3Yat_Bw

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Much to my surprise, given the attendance when I saw the film, "Jawan" is being retained for another week at our local theatre. I've checked their bookings, which are almost non-existent; they must be hoping that the film's popularity everywhere else might spread to our town. https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/shah-rukh-khan-jawan-nun-2-uk-ireland-box-office-1235720690/

Took my wife to see this last night. The non-Indian audience in the screen got raised by 100%. Unfortunately we made up half the audience. I was the only guy at an Action/Thriller/Crime movie with "strong violence, injury detail, threat, suicide" (https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/jawan-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde0nzu5) though.

@M.LeMarchand said:

Took my wife to see this last night. The non-Indian audience in the screen got raised by 100%. Unfortunately we made up half the audience. I was the only guy at an Action/Thriller/Crime movie with "strong violence, injury detail, threat, suicide" (https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/jawan-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde0nzu5) though.

It is interesting how movies are classified. If you only look at the rating without the details, then you'll see some interesting results when you compare movies with each other.

Here are four examples (using the above mentioned site):

"Jawan (2023)"

Violence ●●●●○
Threat and horror ●●●●○
Suicide ●●●●○
Sex ●●●○○
Sexual violence and sexual threat ●●●○○
Language ●●●○○

"Barbie (2023)"

Violence ●●○○○
Threat and horror ●●○○○ Suicide ○○○○○
Sex ●●●○○
Sexual violence and sexual threat ●●●○○
Language ●●●○○

"Oppenheimer (2023)"

Violence ●●●○○
Threat and horror ●●●○○ Suicide ●●●○○ Sex ●●●●○
Sexual violence and sexual threat ○○○○○
Language ●●●●○

"Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)"

Violence ●●●○○
Threat and horror ●●●○○ Suicide ○○○○○
Sex ○○○○○
Sexual violence and sexual threat ●●○○○
Language ●●○○○