With Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan continues what’s begun with Pathaan. His new turn as action hero, reformulating the nationalist film and the emergence of his new avatar: Daddy of the nation.

Jawan begins with a riveting, mythic quality that sadly does not recur. But, as masala films do at their most meaningful, Jawan operates on the cusp of history and myth, reality and desire, plugging into a collective consciousness made of political memories, Bollywood histories and epic figures. Jawan released on Janmashtami. Like Krishna, Shah Rukh Khan’s character Azad, is born in prison, and raised by an adoptive mother, to fight evil and defend good. Alongside, the film invokes Bollywood’s tradition of vigilante cop and common man films. His name Azad, recalls Amitabh Bacchan’s Main Azad Hoon. A Sanjay Dutt cameo recalls Munna Bhai.