Pathaan review: An event film of sorts,
since it marks Shah Rukh Khan's return to
the big screen after four long years,
Pathaan is an ambitious action thriller that
plays to the gallery and lives up to the
hype. Far-fetched in writing but high on
star power and style, Pathaan initially
seems like a filmy Mountain Dew
commercial which slowly but steadily finds
its footing.
The plot follows India's revocation of
article 370 (special status of Jammu and
Kashmir) and its impact on a Pakistani
officer, who wants India to pay for this
mistake'. He reaches out to the formidable
Jim, an Ex-RAW agent wronged by his own
people. He is joined by his ravishing
accomplice Rubai an ex-lSI agent (Deepika
Padukone) with ambiguous motives.
Pathaan, Jim and Rubai lock eyes and
horns, as they hop continents and indulge
in a dangerous game of betrayal and
revenge. The three race to destroy and
protect the worlds they believe in.
Director Siddharth Anand gives an over-
the-top treatment to his spy thriller. He
presents it more like a superhero film that
needs massive suspension of disbelief. His
fascination and fanboy worship of
mainstream Hollywood blockbusters like
Marvel films or Tom Cruise's Mission
impossible series to name a few, is evident
here. Expect Falcon like wingsuit,exaggerated action & chase sequences,
death and gravity-defying stunts on cars,
bikes, ice and helicopters, immortal heroes
and villains mouthing punchy dialogues, a
femme fatale and all of this seeped in the
idea of patriotism.
Action overrides emotions for major part of
the film and that's new territory for SRK,
who is most loved in romantic or
conversational roles. It's interesting how
he lets his body do the talking along with
those powerfully evocative eyes at 57, as aa
full-fledged action hero. It is his presence
that salvages an average script and subpar
VFX. While the background score doesn't
quite feel in sync with the scenarios, the
film's music by Vishal & Shekhar manages
to reflect the heroism and bravado oon
display.
Pathaan's highlight is also John Abraham's
solid portrayal of Jim. Be it his Bane like
masked entry or stunt sequences, John is
menacing and makes a classic case of the
villain overshadowing the hero in portions.
Deepika Padukone can kick ass and is
perfectly cast as the dutiful, double
crossing, morally ambiguous leggy agent
but her chemistry with SRK feels
underdeveloped. It lacks the spark that
John-SRK's characters share. Dimple
Kapadia does a Tenet once again and
lends that much-needed gravitas and
emotional heft to the proceedings. You
wish other characters exuded the sincerity
of her part.
The YRF spy universe reunites Karan and
Arjun (wink wink) to give you an iconic
whistle moment as Bhai meets the
badshah. If you are willing to overlook the
frivolity in dialogues like 'You are pretty
screwed', Pathaan has all the ingredients
of a masala potboiler- slowmo entries,
iconic battle of good versus bacd and most
importantly, a sexy-smouldering Shah Rukh
Khan, who can fight the good fight on and
off the screen. He's still the undisputed
King.
Also See
Pathaan box office collection day 1: Shah
Rukh Khan and Deepika starrer BEATS
War' and 'KGF 2' as it earns a historic Rs
54 crore on opening day
Also See: Pathaan worldwide box office
collection day 1: Shah Rukh Khan starrer
smashes records with 100 crore on
opening day!