'Jawan' Ending Explained: What Is Vikram Rathore's Real Plan? (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains Jawan spoilers.

Shah Rukh Khan revels in joy by the time the curtain falls on Atlee Kumar’s Jawan. After delivering a record-breaking opening weekend for a Hindi-language Indian film, Jawan continues attracting audiences to theatres, largely riding on its lead's star power. Following Shah Rukh Khan in the double role of a father and son who are out to seek revenge from a notorious weapons dealer, Jawan delivers a joy-ride for the fans of the actor through larger-than-life action set pieces, witty one-liners, and double the number of Shah Rukh Khans on the screen. As if the nearly three-hour-long movie was not already filled with enough twists, Jawan keeps its most enticing revelation for the very end.

Shah Rukh Khan Leaves a Haunting First Impression in 'Jawan'

Khan’s last venture, Pathaan, had established that he was ready to drop his lover boy image and embrace the action star persona. But Jawan creates a whole different impression of the actor when it begins with Khan in a bloody, injured, and near-death state. Thankfully, the local villagers save his character from death and using traditional healing methods. However, the stranger’s medical rest is interrupted when a group of local militants mercilessly wreak havoc on the village. Just as the villagers need a messiah, they find one in the form of the stranger they rescued. The stranger, still wrapped in bandages, attacks the militants with equal levels of brutality and violence. By the time the action settles, the bandages on the man’s face have torn enough to begin revealing his identity. His first words come together to form a question, “Who am I?” One of the kids from the village, thankful for the stranger’s help, promises that he will help the man find his true identity, one day.

The scene then shifts forward in time to a metropolitan city to set the stage for Khan’s arrival in another domineering avatar. The man, who later introduces himself as Vikram Rathore (Shah Rukh Khan), leads a mission to hijack the local metro train, with the help of a group of women. As soon as the news of the hijacking hits the city, Narmada Rai (Nayanthara) is tasked with negotiating. In front of Narmada, Vikram places his demand to meet the Agriculture Minister. When the minister arrives, Vikram uses the opportunity to reprimand him for the poor condition of farmers across the country. He places his demand for a hefty amount of money in front of the minister. It so happens that Alia (Ashlesha Thakur), the daughter of weapons tycoon, Kaali Gaekwad (Vijay Sethupathi), was also on the train. To rescue his daughter, Kaali quickly transfers the money, which is then transferred by Vikram’s team to the accounts of all the debt-ridden farmers in India.

Shah Rukh Khan Becomes the Anti-hero in 'Jawan'

Eventually, Narmada arrives with her forces in a bid to capture Vikram and his group of hijackers. But using the power of distraction, Vikram and his team easily slip away from Narmada’s hands. In the media, Vikram Rathore is celebrated in the form of a Robinhood-like figure. After escaping from the metro station, the women are shown taking a secret passage into the local women’s prison. It is revealed during the hijacking that Vikram’s accomplices – Eeram (Sanya Malhotra), Lakshmi (Priyamani), Kalki (Leher Khan), Helena (Sanjeeta Bhattacharya), and Ishkra (Girija Oak) - were all prisoners of the women’s prison. It turns out that the jailer, Azad (Shah Rukh Khan), in the disguise of a bald man, led the hijacking. The true intentions of Azad and his team remain under the veil. Kalki’s background is also revealed at this moment. Her father was a farmer forced to commit suicide due to the threats of the local government office. Kalki was imprisoned for murdering the man responsible for his father's death. This revelation also somewhat highlights the motivation behind Vikram and his team’s first act of rebellion.

Azad met Suji, Narmada’s daughter because he was forced to meet women for an arranged marriage by Kaveri Amma. Unaware that Azad is the one she is looking for, Narmada meets Azad in a bid to find a partner, who can be a loving father for her daughter. Through his charm, Azad wins over Suji, attracting Narmada’s trust in the process. While Narmada and Azad’s love blossoms, Vikram Rathore appears again and kidnaps the Health Minister with the help of his girl gang. This time, Vikram demands a confession from the Health Secretary who was directly responsible for the death of many children at a government hospital, and the wrongful imprisonment of Eeram, who was held responsible for the deaths. Finally, Vikram demands that the conditions of the public hospitals be improved to avert such tragedies. For his team’s safe passage, he also demands a chopper. Although Narmada puts up a brave fight to stop Vikram, the latter escapes once again.

Shah Rukh Khan Rescues Shah Rukh Khan in 'Jawan' Interval Block

Kaali witnesses Vikram’s actions from the pavilion. Before leaving on a business trip, he advises his brother, Manish Gaekwad (Eijaz Khan), to wait for the right opportunity. Meanwhile, based on her encounter with Vikram, Narmada orders the drawing of a facial sketch before leaving for her marriage with Azad. Narmada’s trusted deputy, Irani (Sunil Grover) finds out that Vikram is indeed Azad. By the time Narmada gets to know about Azad’s truth, it is already late. With a broken heart and her gun pointing at Azad, Narmada confronts him for his actions. However, the conversation is disrupted by the goons sent by Manish, who did not wait for his brother’s return before taking matters into his own hands. Azad and Narmada are kidnapped by Manish who’s looking for an opportunity to exact revenge, and the girl gang rushes to the spot to save their leader. Manish meets a sudden demise when an unexpected messiah appears on the scene to rescue Azad and Narmada. Before the girls can do anything, the man murders Manish in a bid to save the couple.

After escaping a near-death situation, Narmada’s anger toward Azad only gets further heightened. During the action at Manish’s hideout, she was able to see Kalki’s face. In search of Azad, Narmada pretends to be imprisoned for her association with a known criminal, joining the same prison cell shared by Eeram, Kalki, Laxmi, Helen, and Ishkra. When Narmada seeks further details about Azad’s motivations, she comes to know about the vigilante cop’s backstory.

'Jawan's Title Finds Roots in Vikram Rathore's Backstory

Back in time, Captain Vikram Rathore was a jawan (soldier) in the Indian Army. During a special operations mission, several members were killed due to the malfunctioning guns at their disposal. The guns were supplied by none other than Kaali Gaekwad, who tried to blame the brave soldiers of Vikram’s team. An army inquiry was set up against Kaali as a result of the charges put forth by Vikram, but Kaali resorted to extreme measures to save his empire and reputation. He kidnapped and tried to kill Vikram, framing him as a traitor. When Vikram’s wife Aishwarya (Deepika Padukone) refused to play along and ended up killing three cops in self-defense, she was awarded a death sentence. But Aishwarya’s unexpected pregnancy gave her an extended lease of life because Indian law does not allow the death penalty for women with kids younger than five years. For five years, Azad has lived among the prison inmates with his mother. When Azad turned five, Aishwarya was hanged to death, just like Kaali had planned. Azad was then adopted by Kaveri Amma (Ridhi Dogra), the jailer of the prison. When Azad grew up, he became the jailer of the prison and helped the many women who, like his mother, were wrongfully imprisoned. By using his father’s name, he also intended to give him the justice he deserved.

In the present, when Vikram opens his eyes, he finds out that his father has survived his injuries, thanks to the benevolent community who gave him refuge. After the events shown in the opening scene, Vikram continued to live in the community with no memory of his past. The kid, who promised to help Vikram find his identity, grew up to become a police officer. On facing Vikram’s lookalike during the metro hijacking, the police officer traced Azad’s alias Vikram Rathore. The officer’s findings helped him track down Vikram’s team members from the army and subsequently, Azad. Unfortunately, Vikram’s loss of memory robs him of the emotional connection with his son. Another surprise is revealed – Irani was working for Kaali all this while. Resultantly, Suji is kidnapped and Narmada is held hostage by Irani at the women’s prison. Thanks to Vikram and Azad, Suji and Narmada are rescued, but Azad’s team member, Laxmi, succumbs during the action.

Fueled by vengeance, Azad plans to intercept the truckload of money being transferred through the city by Kaali for the upcoming elections. While Vikram is tasked with handling the money, Azad comes on live television to announce his takeover of the women’s prison. Expert negotiator, Officer Madhavan Nair (Sanjay Dutt) is sent to the scene to negotiate with Azad. Soon, Madhavan realizes that all the inmates are part of the mission. It’s also revealed that Narmada and the rest of the girls were tasked with getting hold of the convoy with the voting machines for the election. In exchange for the voting machines, Azad demands all the illegal factories, which have caused widespread death and environmental damage, be shut down. After his first demand is completed, Azad places his next demand in front of the citizens of India by requesting them to realize the power of their votes and choose wisely when they head to elect their officials. Unfortunately for Vikram, he and his friends are captured by Kaali during the heist.

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Does 'Jawan' Post-Credits Scene Hint at a Sequel?

With Vikram at his gunpoint, Kaali makes his way to the prison to meet Azad in a final faceoff. To make Azad relive the memory of losing his mother, Kaali decides to make him witness his father’s death, but he discovers that his gun has malfunctioned. The sound of the stuck gun brings to Vikram the memories of the day his gun malfunctioned on the battlefield. Consequently, all of Vikram’s memories of his past life come back to him. With newfound passion, Vikram supports his son in defeating Kaali. At the end of Jawan, Kaali is gifted a death at the end of a noose, in a fashion similar to what Aishwarya had to endure.

After removing Kaali from the way, Vikram and Azad are seen in a distant paradise in the post-credits scene of Jawan. In a final surprise, Madhavan Nair, the cop tasked with catching Azad during the prison hostage situation, turns out to be Azad's partner-in-crime. In what seems to be a strong setup for a sequel, Madhavan tasks Azad with another mission, which will take him to Switzerland. It’s hinted that the mission may have something to do with the Swiss Bank, known to be a haven for Indian black money. But before Azad and Vikram embark on their next mission, Vikram insists they relax a bit and break into dancing to a final song. Although it is too soon to suggest that the SRK-Atlee duo would return for a sequel, Jawan’s ending does prepare the ground for the film to happen, if the prospects were to be ever explored.