Pathaan Review: A Grand Action Film But Nothing More - OtakuKart (2024)

Shahrukh Khan is back on the big screens after more than four years, and the fans have lost all cool. Produced by Yash Raj Films, the movie Pathaan is an action-spy-thriller directed by Siddharth Anand. Pathaan hit cinemas all around the country on January 25th, 2023.

With the ongoing hype around the movie and its even popular songs, it is hard to miss the fact that the movie stars Shahrukh Khan as its male protagonist, a cast-out RAW agent. The movie is named after his character in the film, Pathaan.

For the role of the female lead, the producers have cast an equally charismatic actress, Deepika Padukone, who is playing the role of an ISI agent, Rubaiya working in close proximity with Pathaan. Actor ‘Pinocchio’ Kdrama Cast: Where Are They Now? has returned to the action genre after Ek Villian Returns as Jim, arch-nemesis of Shahrukh Khan’s character.

Alongside this glamorous trio, we have celebrated actress Dimple Kapadia and famous actor Ashutosh Rana in supporting roles. The movie also portrays a sort of reunion of the loved duo of Karan-Arjun from the movie Karan Arjun, with Salman Khan making a guest appearance in the movie, as partners with Pathaan.

The movie is said to make an OTT release on Prime Videos on April 25th, 2023. The film, Pathaan revolves around how Shahrukh Khan’s character makes his return to the army as an undercover agent to protect his country from a wicked group of mercenaries.

Pathaan Storyline

The movie opens with the news of the Indian government annulling Article 370, which was originally providing special status to the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir. So we know the timeline starts from the year 2019.

We then see General Kaadir, a Pakistani army officer suffering from cancer, hearing this news and plotting a plan of revenge against India. And to execute this plan, our villain and the antagonist of the film John Abraham AKA Jim is introduced. He is shown as the leader of his gang of terrorists called ‘Outfit X.’

He meets with General Kaadir and joins hands with him in his plan of vengeance. So while Pakistan is planning a full-blown bio-chemical war against India, India decides to call for the exiled ex-RAW officer, Pathaan, back to work to deal with what’s coming and to save India.

Pathaan, with his senior officer, forms a unit the call ‘Joint Operation and Covert Research’ to get more such ex-officers who are still willing to work for the country. Once assembled, the unit moves to Dubai to put up a fight against Outfit X’s plan of attacking the Indian President at some conference.

With all the arrangements made to protect the President of India, it is only later that the unit realizes that the so-called attack on the President was only a cover-up and that, in reality, Outfit X was after something else all along. They had deliberately created this fake attack to divert the Indian unit’s attention.

What Outfit X was after were two scientists who were going to be present at the same conference as the President. Fortunately, Pathaan catches onto this, and when Jim launches an attack on the scientists’ entourage, Pathaan tries to stop him from doing so, and they both end up in a fight where Jim manages to break free with one of the two doctors who they were initially after, Dr. Sahani.

The unit retreats to the headquarters after their partial failure, and it is here that Colonel Sunil Luthra, RAW’s joint secretary, reveals Jim’s backstory and how he came to be the leader of a terrorist organization.

She tells the team that Jim was initially a member of the RAW force who even received the Vir Puraskar for being brave for his country. But it was after his wife and soon-to-be-born child got killed in an attack, and when the agency could not find their bodies, he went rogue and decided to avenge their deaths by working to destroy the country.

We realize that Jim is fueled by the urge to get revenge and that he will not back away from it anytime soon. Pathaan realizes that he needs to be the one to stop. And it is this search for Jim and his organization that brings Pathaan to Spain, where he finally gets to meet Rubaiya, a Pakistani doctor.

Upon reaching Spain, he is taken away by Jim’s men, and around this time, he finds that Rubaiya, apart from being a doctor, is also an ex-ISI agent. Pathaan is eventually saved by Rubaiya, and the both of them run off together. Before coming to Spain, Pathaan learns of some sort of a code word, the meaning of which will be revealed later in the movie.

It is revealed that ‘Raktbeej,’ the code word, is in Moscow. So after Spain, they travel to Moscow to get their hands on it before Jim or any of his men can. A twist occurs in Moscow when Rubaiya hands Pathaan over to the police to keep him captured in one place. She has been in contact with Jim and ends up betraying Pathaan.

We find that Jim wanted to make use of Pathaan to get his hands on ‘Raktbeej.’ While Jim and Rubaiya are moving towards the ‘Raktbeej,’ Pathaan ends up being saved by Tiger (12 Vintage Anime To Watch in 2023) while he is being taken to prison.

Pathaan is saved, but Jim has escaped. A time-lapse of three years occurs, and we see Pathaan in Africa, where he has captured one of Jim’s close lackeys, Raafe. We hear of Jim buying saber missiles and of Rubaiya’s new location.

Pathaan goes to meet Rubaiya in Paris, where she finally reveals exactly what ‘Raktbeej’ is. She tells him that it is a mutated version of the smallpox virus that was developed to be used as a biological weapon by the same doctor who we saw get captured by Jim’s men, Dr. Sahani.

She also apologizes to him for betraying him in Moscow and tells him how guilty she felt knowing what her country was planning on doing to his country. They head over to Siberia and manage to get their hands on one of the vials containing the virus mutation.

The mutation is carried back to India for the Indian research facilities to develop an antidote for it. Rubaiya, in the meantime, finds herself behind bars for betraying India. Jim calls the Indian facility to let them know that virus has already infected the faculty and to keep it contained. The infected scientists all agree to shoot themselves.

Jim has two of the saber missiles pointed directly at India. He warns India to completely remove the Indian soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir and give up trying to take control of it. Pathaan questions Raafe regarding Jim’s whereabouts and finds that he is located in Afghanistan.

Rubaiya is released, and both she and Pathaan go to Afghanistan to put an end to Jim’s plan. Rubaiya goes after General Kaadir, who has control over the missile, and right before he gets to launch an attack, she manages to kill him. Pathaan is the one to go after Jim. They both indulge in one last showdown. At the same time, after killing Kaadir, Rubaiya moves to deactivate the launch but finds ‘Raktbeej’ missing.

She discovers that the virus is on a plane that is soon set to land in India. Upon knowing this, Pathaan finds Jim loaded with a detonator. On the one hand, both Pathaan and Jim fight each other to get the detonator away from the other, and the RAW agency tries to stop the plane from landing in the country.

Eventually, Pathaan manages to get his hands on the detonator, stops Raktbeej, and ends up pushing Jim off a cliff. Though we do not get to see his dead body, we can only assume that he is dead. In the end, Pathaan returns to the RAW force as the head of the Joint Operations and Covert Research unit, and the dead scientists get rewarded for their bravery.

Pathaan Review

The fight, action, crime, and thriller genre is not new for Yash Raj Productions. They have a history of making similar movies like Dhoom 3, War, Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai, and many more. Does it mean that they must be good at it? Not really. Will they still probably continue making more such films? Probably yes.

The last of the actual stars of Bollywood has finally made a comeback, and fans could not be more excited about it. Audiences’ expectations were through the roof with just the release of the movie’s trailer. The release of the song, Besharam Rang, created more hype, and we could not wait for the movie to release.

Now it is almost close to being a month since the movie has come out, and the audience reaction, vibes inside the theater halls, and the box-office collections are more than enough to tell you that the movie seems to have done more than well itself and has set the bar even higher for the up and coming generations of actors.

With the name of the movie made public followed by the trailer release and then the song, Besharam Rang, the movie managed to be controversial until it was finally out in cinemas. Perfect time for Shahrukh Khan to prove that no matter the amount of hate, the love the fandom has for the actor will always overpower it.

The main stars of the movie all have prior experiences with similar genres, so while it is not completely new for them, it is also not an entirely new experience for the fans. John Abraham has a vast history full of movies that are either action-genre or patriotic in nature or a combination of both.

Deepika Padukone, too, has previously starred in action-thrillers, and the same is for Shahrukh Khan. So what makes Pathaan so different from the rest? It is obviously not the mediocre seen-before plotline and or its averagely-written dialogues.

Watch the trailer for Pathhan:

One fact that has added majorly to the film’s success is that it is a Shahrukh Khan starrer and that he has come back on the screen after a break of four years. The love that people have for him makes them blind to the point where they do not wish to recognize the mediocrity of the script and storyline.

The entire plot feels way too familiar and is nothing new. Out of the two songs, one became a major sensation for a lot of different reasons, and the other became Shahrukh Khan’s personal anthem.

Though the movie fails at creating a gripping and fresh line of the story, it manages to come up with fantastical CGI and beautifully crafted action scenes. The film has some commendable shots, with shooting done all over Afghanistan, Spain, France, Russia, and a few other places.

The actors, especially Deepika Padukone, look stunning with their styling and wardrobe. She has, in gen Z terms, ‘slayed’ her character perfectly. Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan are together on the screen for the first time in ten years since Chennai Express. Their chemistry on-screen is as alive as ever.

Though this could be mainly because of Shahrukh Khan again because the man has eyes that just express so much at once, it may be because of this, but the duo of Shahrukh Khan and John Abraham is one that got even more attention than the actual protagonists.

Another ship you need to prepare yourself for is that of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. The actors have shared a screen before, but this time, they come together in the form of a collaboration of parallel universes with Tiger and Pathaan coming together, and the moment seems very special.

Our Verdict

It is a known fact that some creators in the Bollywood industry have ventured off to experiment and explore and take risks; there remain some who are just fine in their comfort zone. This Yash Raj production is just that, a tried and tested content that will be, without fail, a success.

This is what we would a typical Bollywood-style movie that has drama, over-the-top action, and perfectly ripped bodies. A classic Bollywood Masala action movie with India’s continued obsession with Pakistan constantly potentially planning to attack them, if you will.

So if you are somebody who finds people flying helicopters vertically or two people fighting on top of a speeding train fun, or if you’re just a Shahrukh Khan fan, then do check the movie out. We give this movie a rating of 3 out of 5.

Our Rating: 3/5.

Also Read:50 Best Bollywood Movies For Wholesome Entertainment