Lyrical Muse

After 33 years of shaping Indian cinema with charm, intelligence and relentless reinvention, Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan finally has a National Film Award to his name.

It is a moment that feels both historic and overdue. For millions who grew up watching him in films like Swades, Chak De! India, and My Name Is Khan, the announcement has triggered celebration across fan clubs and film circles, while also bringing a quiet sense of closure.

It’s a recognition that many believed should have arrived years ago. And yet, the celebration comes with a question that refuses to stay quiet: why Jawan?

There is no denying that Jawan was one of the most significant cinematic events of 2023. Directed by Atlee, the film is loud, ambitious, confrontational and unapologetically commercial. It is a vigilante spectacle designed to blend mass entertainment with social commentary. Shah Rukh Khan moves seamlessly between personas: from an ageing soldier to a morally driven rebel to a showman who knows exactly how to command a crowd. The film broke box office records, dominated public discourse and reaffirmed Khan’s unmatched connection with audiences.

But a National Award has traditionally stood for something different. The awards have often recognised restraint over spectacle, nuance over noise and craft over commercial momentum. That is where the discomfort begins. Shah Rukh Khan has delivered National Award–worthy performances before, performances that redefined what mainstream Hindi cinema could achieve.

In Swades, he gave us Mohan Bhargava, a character built on stillness and moral conflict, showing that patriotism could exist without grandstanding. In Chak De! India, his Kabir Khan carried the emotional weight of national failure and redemption with quiet dignity. In My Name Is Khan, he stripped away stardom to portray vulnerability and resilience in a deeply political global context. Even in a romantic drama like Veer-Zaara, his performance endures not for its scale, but for its restraint, for the silences it trusted, and for everything Veer’s eyes managed to say long after the dialogues had faded.

Those performances were intimate, layered and courageous in ways that challenged both audience expectations and industry norms. None of them were rewarded at the time. That is why this win feels less like a discovery of talent and more like a delayed acknowledgment, shaped as much by timing as by performance.

The context of Shah Rukh Khan’s 2023 comeback matters here.

After a five-year absence from leading roles, he returned with Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki, three films that re-established his dominance at the box office and reminded the industry of his cultural and economic power. Pathaan presented him as a patriotic action hero. Jawan pushed him into overtly political territory, addressing issues such as farmer distress, healthcare failures, military negligence and civic responsibility. Dunki rounded off the year with a more emotional, character-driven narrative.

These films marked one of the most significant comeback arcs in modern Indian cinema. Not only they reinforced Khan’s stardom, but also his symbolic role as a unifying cultural figure in an increasingly polarised public space.

Jawan, in particular, stood out for its political undertones. Beneath the spectacle, the film questioned governance, accountability and public responsibility. It urged citizens to vote thoughtfully, demanded better systems, and framed its vigilante narrative around institutional failure. Yet it packaged these ideas within a familiar masala structure, ensuring that its critique remained accessible, entertaining and broadly acceptable.

This balance between confrontation and commercial safety is perhaps what made Jawan palatable to both audiences and institutions. It spoke the language of dissent through the grammar of mainstream cinema. Seen from this perspective, the National Award begins to look less surprising. They recognise not only a performance, but also a moment where star power, political messaging and cultural relevance converge.

The decision to share the Best Actor award with Vikrant Massey for critically acclaimed 12th Fail further reflects this balancing act. Massey’s performance was restrained, deeply internal and rooted in realism. It represents the kind of acting the National Awards have historically championed. By honouring both actors, the jury acknowledges two different traditions of Indian cinema: the intimate and the spectacular, the grounded and the grand.

It is a diplomatic choice, but also a telling one.

Over the years, the National Film Awards have moved closer to the mainstream, reflecting the evolving nature of Indian cinema itself. The boundaries between art-house credibility and commercial appeal have softened, and popular cinema is no longer automatically dismissed as artistically inferior. This shift mirrors a broader cultural transition, one that recognises the power of mass storytelling in shaping national conversations.

Still, the decision inevitably invites reflection on what we value when we honour our artists. Is the award celebrating Shah Rukh Khan’s performance in Jawan, or acknowledging his lifelong influence on Indian cinema? Is it rewarding a single role, or recognising a legacy that has defined generations of moviegoers?

Perhaps it is both.

There is genuine joy in seeing Shah Rukh Khan receive this recognition. Few actors have carried the emotional weight of popular cinema with such consistency, intelligence and grace. His stardom has always been larger than awards, but institutional recognition brings a different kind of legitimacy. It places him formally within the national cinematic canon.

At the same time, it is difficult to ignore the lingering sense that the award arrived late and landed on the wrong film. Not because Jawan lacks merit, but because his career has offered performances that felt more urgent, more daring and more aligned with the spirit these awards once claimed to represent.

In the end, this moment is both celebratory and reflective. It honours an icon while quietly revealing how institutions evolve alongside the industries they recognise. Awards, like cinema, tell stories about the times they belong to, and about what a nation chooses to applaud, endorse and remember.

Shah Rukh Khan finally has his National Award. It is a milestone worth celebrating.

But it also leaves us with a lingering thought – one that many fans and observers will carry for a long time: Shah Rukh Khan undoubetedly deserves a National Award. He just deserved a better one.

What do you think — was Jawan the right film for this milestone win? Join the conversation with us on X, and explore more cultural deep-dives on Lyrical Muse.