Given that this is the first movie I was watching in the new year, in the movie hall no less, I was quite enthused on multiple fronts. And it always helps when you have low to no expectations from a movie barring being entertained; for whatever may be the reason.
And Pathaan does that quite well. It’s not a tear-jerker, it’s not heavily emotive or patriotic and neither is the acting any great shakes. So when you’re left with tightly toned bodies, good visuals and rather over the top posturing and machismo, the only thing left to do is sit back, relax, reach for the tub of popcorn and be prepared to alternately laugh out loud, roll your eyes or facepalm your way through Shah Rukh Khan’s rescue vehicle after the debacle of Zero.
Quasi-spoiler alert: none of the good guys die. There’s no cliffhanger but you’re informed right at the beginning that it’s part of the YRF spyverse along with Tiger showing up midway and again in the post-credit scene discussing who their successors will be. The audience is given a hint that Kabir is also part of this world so one can expect to see Hrithik Roshan dancing his way to another movie sometime down the line.
The main characters are Pathaan, Rubia, Jim, Nandini and Col. Luthra played by SRK, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana respectively. None of the characterisations are cringeworthy but neither are they the kind that gets you hooting or whistling unless you’re a diehard fan of any of the actors or are without anything to do on a Friday night.
The plot is your run of the mill one where a disgruntled and disenchanted former soldier feels let down by the motherland and joins forces with an enemy nation to bring the erstwhile homeland to its knees. Thwarting him every step of the way are a never-say-die patriot soldier, an alluring Mata Hari who uses her long knees to sweep the good and bad guys to their feet while being able to operate heavy artillery guns with the ease of Rambo, the powers that be that are happy to take a bullet for the team and somehow manage to keep up their manicured hands although they never get time for themselves. What’s not to like?!
The run time isn’t too long but the main characters end up monologuing at some inopportune times: imagine blowing up a car with a bazooka and then walking across a busy road in Dubai no less and having a heart to heart with a guy you think you just killed. Erm…yeah.
The OST is hummable and quite catchy. Mercifully restricted to just two songs on the whole, the movie is definitely watchable once for those of us who grew up seeing SRK stutter his way through the 90s. On the cusp of turning 60, he definitely returns to form and even takes a few potshots at his old movie personas while blinking the hair off his face throughout the movie.
P.S: for those who are still in two minds about watching it…Prime Video is the OTT partner so they’ll stream it sooner or later.
Random. Structured. Haphazard. All Me. 