Pathaan movie cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, Ashutosh Rana
Pathaan movie director: Siddharth Anand
Pathaan movie review: ⭐⭐⭐
Pathaan Film Review: Pathaan is a package consisting of references from Mission Impossible, Money Heist, Marvel, and Fast and Furious – in no particular order or logic. Starring one of the biggest superstars in Indian cinema Shah Rukh Khan, along with John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, Pathaan has all the right ingredients – non-stop action, glamorous songs, a guy who can save the world, and emotional scenes, but still, something is missing.
The film marks Shah Rukh Khan’s return to the big screen in a full-fledged role after four years, however, he made his presence felt all throughout with his cameos in films like Brahmastra and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, and with his interviews to various portals that screamed nothing but intelligence. And that is what was missing from the film. As a Shah Rukh Khan fan, I was expecting the film to be logical. I know I wasn’t expecting too much because SRK knows how to engage the audience by talking sense.
Having said that, I would like to compliment Siddharth Anand for not trying too hard to make Shah Rukh Khan look young. That would have been a deal breaker – With his hair significantly longer, 8-pack abs, and that dimpled smile – SRK is winning the hearts of the audience. Pathaan is probably a perfect addition to the director’s spy universe that previously saw Salman Khan’s Tiger and Hrithik Roshan’s Kabir. From Deepika Padukone’s action scenes and dance moves to John Abraham’s chiseled-tattooed body to Shah Rukh Khan’s abs, Salman Khan’s massive fan following – the film has something for everyone, but the only requirement is that you don’t go too deep to find a meaningful story or logic.
The makers have taken time to establish what people are fighting for, and what are the reasons behind it, other than the beginning of the film where General Kadir says that he wants to finish India. It took the makers more than half the film to reveal the main reason behind the high-octane fights. The real plot surrounds a deadly virus, much more dangerous than Covid 19, that is being cooked up in top-secret labs.
Verdict: The film might become a blockbuster, all thanks to Shah Rukh Khan and his massive fan following. Other than that, the weak plot, cliché, and at times cheap dialogues, and gravity and logic-defying illogical scenes, would not have worked for the current-day audience who no longer want masala-Bollywood films.