Jawan is replete with subplots about farmer suicides, health infrastructure, industrial mishaps leading to the death of an entire village, and more. But Atlee and his co-writers deal with all of these elements through the rivalry between the presumed-dead special forces soldier, Vikram Rathore, and the fourth-largest arms dealer in the world, Kalee. To make matters even more interesting and “masala,” Vikram’s son, Azad, enters the picture to avenge Vikram and his mother, Aishwarya. So, let’s talk about how the central plot is handled and whether or not the film ends with a Jawan 2 sequel tease.
Spoiler Alert
The Root of the Rivalry Between Vikram, Azad, and Kalee
Back in the 1980s, Kalee was an arms dealer. He was the one who sold batches of malfunctioning rifles to the Indian Army. This led to the death of one platoon because their guns didn’t work when they were surrounded by terrorists. When Vikram’s special forces team was sent to deal with these terrorists, they suffered the same fate. However, instead of letting it slide, when the Indian Army thanked them for their contribution to the nation, Vikram took that opportunity to request an internal inquiry into these faulty weapons. This brought Vikram and Kalee face-to-face for the first time, and Vikram absolutely humiliated Kalee by displaying how Kalee’s complacency was leading to the loss of Indian lives. Instead of correcting his ways, Kalee went after Vikram and his wife, Aishwarya. To make sure that there was no way for Vikram to survive, Kalee and his goons took him up into the skies, shot him multiple times, and threw him into the river. Aishwarya was framed for conspiring with Vikram against the nation by selling important defense documents and she was all set to be hanged.
However, right as the noose was about to be tied around her neck, the authorities found out that Aishwarya was pregnant with Vikram’s child. This extended her lifetime by five years as she brought up her son, Azad. She eventually had to part ways with him, and Azad grew up in the prison to become the jailer there, partake in vigilante activities, and avenge the girls who have been unfairly imprisoned. In the meantime, Kalee’s empire spread exponentially, and he began to influence and poison every sector in India.
When Azad realized that he could force Kalee to give away his money to the poor by putting all of these sectors on hold, thereby hampering Kalee’s rise to more power, he began to hit him where it hurt. The only mistake that Azad made was marrying a high-profile officer like Narmada, thereby putting him in the crosshairs of her assistant, Irani, who was actually an informant for Kalee. Azad was about to be killed by Kalee’s brother, Manish. However, one of Azad’s hostages recognized the name Vikram Rathore, traced him back to the messiah in his hometown, and reunited Vikram with his son, which led to Manish’s death. So far, Kalee hadn’t suffered any personal losses, while Vikram and Azad had to live with Aishwarya’s death. Therefore, even though Azad and Vikram’s enmity with Kalee was personal from the beginning, Kalee began to reciprocate it after Manish’s death.
How Did Kalee Die?
To set up the final act, Vikram, Azad, Eeram, Iskra, Janvi, Helana, and the members of Vikram’s old special forces attack the convoy that’s transporting tons of money to pay off the voters who’ll keep the party in power that favors Kalee and his illegal activities. Simultaneously, Narmada leads a group that attacks a convoy carrying electronic voting machines (EVMs) and brings all of it to the jail where Azad and the girls operate from. Kalee’s men manage to capture Vikram and his men, while Azad makes a public statement about holding onto the EVMs until and unless all of the companies that are poisoning the country aren’t shut down permanently.
Madhavan Naik is brought in to conduct the negotiations. He takes an aggressive approach and simply tries to barge into the jail and retrieve the EVMs. That backfires quite literally. That’s why Naik is forced to ask the Head of State to do what Azad wants him to do, and the Head of State obliges because he and his colleagues realize that Azad and his team aren’t the real terrorists; the elected leaders are. Yes, it’s a very optimistic statement, but given the state of the country, we need this brand of optimism.
Anyway, Azad doesn’t just let the EVMs go. He makes a passionate plea to the people listening to him and asks them to realize the power that their vote has. He wants the general populace to understand that voting for a leader doesn’t mean that they should ignore their misdeeds for five whole years and then awaken from their slumber for the next election cycle. The people of this country should prioritize their basic rights by holding their leaders accountable; that’s all. With that out of the way, Azad begins to track down his father and his team. However, Kalee manages to extract the information about Azad’s vigilantism by torturing Vikram’s men and enters his headquarters. This leads to a standoff between Kalee, his goons, Azad, and Vikram. For a second, it seems like Kalee is about to kill Vikram, but Kalee’s malfunctioning gun reignites Vikram’s memory, and he and his son go berserk on the villains.
During Jawan‘s ending, Vikram, Azad, and the girls drag Kalee to the execution room and put the noose around his neck. Kalee tries to make a last-minute deal with Vikram and Azad because that’s the only thing he knows. He thinks anything can be bought with money and that every individual has a price tag on their heads. What he doesn’t understand is that there’s a limit to exploitative behavior. When people are treated like expendable assets, they stop caring about the value set by the powers that be and begin the act of self-evaluation. Once that process is in motion, no crony capitalist can buy you. Before Kalee can understand that, Azad’s girl gang pulls the lever, and Kalee dies. Vikram remembers his life with Aishwarya before taking a long drag of his cigar and concluding the film.
Does The End Credits Scene Hint At A Sequel?
As the credits roll, Azad, Vikram, and the rest of their team are seen vacationing in a foreign location. Madhavan Naik appears out of thin air and holds Azad at gunpoint. For a moment, it seems like he’s going to arrest Azad for nearly upending the elections. However, as both of them break into laughter and hugs, it’s revealed that Naik has been Azad’s partner-in-crime all this time. It makes sense because a jailer cannot orchestrate such large-scale operations without help from the inside, and given Naik’s reach, he can easily access everything that Azad needs and help him with his “clean India” project. And apparently, the next phase of this never-ending mission involves Swiss banks. Of course, Jawan doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but real-life, official figures suggest that these Swiss banks are home to billions of Swiss francs that belong to Indian individuals and business firms.
Why Swiss banks? Well, because of the secrecy they provide, it has become the number one choice for the corrupt to stash away their money. Since this is such an open secret, various countries have gone after it to hold them accountable for enabling illegal activities. However, the justice that we see is probably a fraction of the justice that should be delivered. Given the over-the-top nature of Atlee’s films, I don’t expect Jawan 2 to give a lengthy explanation of how Swiss banks function or who these individuals and businesses are that Vikram and Azad are after. But I’m sure he and his writers are going to come up with an elaborate affair to bluntly address the insidious relationship between India and Switzerland.
In addition to all that, I have to remind you that there is a loose thread in the form of Kalee’s daughter, Alia. I am not sure what she has learned from Azad’s vigilantism. That said, there’s a good chance that she isn’t going to forgive him and Vikram for killing her uncle and her father. I mean, if she does, then good for her. If she doesn’t, well, we can expect her to be one of the villains of Jawan 2. In addition to all that, I expect the sequel to Jawan to again utilize Shah Rukh Khan’s star power to the fullest via action sequences, comedy, and monologues that move the masses in the right direction.
