With Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starring together, this might be the one of the closest-to-perfection spy thrillers. Pathaan is a spy movie laced with heavy doses of patriotism bouncing off the screen, with Shah Rukh Khan acting as the action avatar, flaunting his classic and mesmerizing acting skills with his iconic features. Pathaan checks all the boxes for an action movie — non-stop action, unexpected twists, cameos by other beloved stars, the classic hero who can save the world, and an high-octane set piece.
The highly anticipated movie Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, is finally released. Huge enthusiasm for the movie is evident among the viewers. It has surpassed the previous record of 5 lakh tickets for KGF-2 purchased in advance.
Yash Raj Films has launched its Spy Universe with this movie with Shah Rukh Khan playing the leading role of the RAW agent Pathaan.
The movie opens with the intelligence service when there is a threat of a terrorist assault on India. And so, Pathaan’s pursuit begins. When Pathaan comes up to defend the nation, ex-RAW agent Jim, played by John Abraham, turns against it. Jim currently houses the private terrorist group Outfit X. Rubina, played by Deepika Padukone who is a single ISI agent, is simultaneously striving to add a plot twist.
The movie is enjoyable during the first half. The plot has a lot of twists and turns that will keep you interested. The excitement remains constant during the second half as well. Although Shah Rukh Khan has starred in action movies before, his performance in Pathaan is a reminder to all of us that SRK remains unchallenged and is a timeless action hero. The fight between John and Shah Rukh is quite interesting. Deepika is also seen in incredible action making the movie even more thrilling with the duo constantly in action.
Performance of actors
Shah Rukh’s performance is impressive, and Deepika has good screen presence. Pathaan is played well by SRK and his acting is captivating as always with impressive action sequences.
However, on the downside of Deepika’s character who doesn’t have many strong dialogues, her character is a Pakistani doctor who becomes an ISI spy, and the Pakistani touch is not apparent in the boldness with which she is portrayed. Also unnoticed is her Pakistani accent.
Writing and direction
When it comes to direction, Siddharth Anand’s work is superb. He did a great job of presenting each scene. The film’s screenplay is fantastic, and it is challenging to identify flaws with it.
Pathaan’s music is its best part
The background music for Pathaan is fairly modern. One benefit of the music is that none of it is overused. Vishal-Sheykhar’s music is of chartbuster variety. ‘Besharam Rang’ is already a rage and comes into the film at an important juncture. The same goes for ‘Jhoome Jo Pathaan’. Every scene has fresh music that keeps the movie flowing.
Should you watch the film?
Salman Khan, aka Bhaijaan, also makes an appearance in the movie. Salman makes a fantastic cameo in his ‘Tiger’ persona. While the plot might seem cliche with just another task force and threat to be annihilated, the way Pathaan executes this storyline is quite unique.
This movie’s greatest achievement is that it keeps you hooked and on your toes for the entire time.
To be critical of the plot, which unfolds quickly, the writers were unable to reveal the origin stories of each character. The first few seconds of Deepika’s childhood were discussed; the rest of her story is open to interpretation. Also, Shah Rukh’s background didn’t have much depth to it, the character of Pathaan was built with minimal information.
The effort put into John’s entry scene is effortless and thrilling. Salman appears at one point for a brief cameo to help Pathaan escape from enemy territory. While the scene doesn’t contribute much to the story, the audience was beyond excited to see this duo in action.
An aspect that one might find a little odd compared to most other Bollywood spy movies, is that there isn’t much romance between Shah Rukh and Deepika’s character which might even weaken the movie.
John, who ended up playing the villain, was said to be a little too powerful, but in the end he was dropped with ease. You might also find it strange that the villain keeps telling himself how to halt his own plot.
VFX
Fans were ecstatic to see SRK playing a detective in the Pathaan teaser, but they also failed to notice one important detail – VFX from the film Pathaan. Everyone now prefers powerful VFX which Bollywood yet cannot deliver. Pathaan’s VFX wasn’t great. Some of the VFX that was used in some action scenes were disappointing. Some fans claim that Prabhas’ 2019 movie Saaho has greater visual effects than Pathaan.
Pathaan, like Shah Rukh Khan’s come-into-my-arms gesture, aims for inclusivity that embraces not just India but the entire region.
While various weapons are used, the film’s greatest blaster is its hero, who uses his well-oiled impishness, time-tested charm, and mesmeric screen presence for a cheesy but entertaining save-the-nation exercise.