4 min readNew DelhiAug 6, 2025 11:31 AM IST
While most of the Indians are in agreement that a National Award was long overdue for Shah Rukh Khan, many have questioned the choice of film that has finally brought him the award. A set of people on social media are not convinced with Jawan being the film bringing Shah Rukh Khan his first ever National Award in over 30-year career. People are drawing comparisons with his previous movies such as Swades, Chak De India and My Name Is Khan, which according to them, should ideally have brought him the national recognition for best actor.
The reactions started pouring in when the Government of India announced the list of National Award winners on Friday. The name SRK for Best Actor brought joy to many. He shared the Best Actor award with 12th Fail star Vikrant Massey. The social media was full of congratulatory messages for the actor from all corners. But many, including his fans, questioned the jury, especially Ashutosh Gowariker. Now, the actor’s friend Viveck Vaswani has come in his support.
On Tuesday, he took to his official X handle to share a post in both SRK and Ashutosh Gowariker’s support. He wrote, “Just putting it out there. It’s a National Award. It’s not small. And Jawaan was a great performance and a relevant film for the times. And Ashutosh Gowariker is one of the most ethical people in the industry, I’ve known him longer than SRK!”
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This, however, received mixed reactions from people online. A user commented, “It’s a validation that he was denied this award for long enough time. People r talking abt Animal then Srk gave Baazigar, Darr & Anjaam even when the audience was not matured enough to embrace such characters.”
Other comments read: “But best direction and cinematography for THE KERALA FILES? Com’mon Viveck, spare us.”
Viveck and Shah Rukh Khan have been good friends and co-actors in the 1992 film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. Viveck was also a co-producer in the film along with GP Sippy.
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Fans question SRK receiving National Film Award for Jawan
Shah Rukh Khan’s win became a topic of discussion since Friday. Several threads were created on Reddit, where people anonymously shared their opinions. Many were not convinced with the choice of film and shared comments like: “I strongly believe that Chak De India and Swades are the movies for which SRK should have received the award. The National Award for Jawan is something fishy and even funny as well.” Another comment read, “SRK should have won for Swades.” A user wrote, “Same year when we have Mammootty in Kaathal the core, we see SRK winning for Jawan. The irony is that he has been snubbed for Swades, Chak De and My Name Is Khan.”
The choice of film even prompted people to state that their faith in National Awards is lost. A user wrote, “The very fact that a film like Jawan could fetch a National Award says more about the award than the film. Yet another reason to not take these awards seriously. Guess I’m officially joining the Aamir Khan club now.” Another user wrote, ” won for pushpa now it’s even worse.”
Even when SRK shared a thank you video post his win, many said he should have won it much sooner. A fan commented, “We all love you SRK, but you deserved the National Award for your roles in films like Swades, Chak De India and maybe even Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Keep giving it your best and please sign more meaningful films like Swades and Chak De!” Another fan commented, “They should have given you for Swades… your best movie of all time.”
Jawan released in 2023. (Photo: Ashutosh Gowariker/Viveck Vaswani/Instagram/IMDb)