Review for PATHAAN:
(REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI R)
•Language: Hindi
•Duration: 02 Hours 26 Minutes.
•Genre: Action Thriller.
- POSITIVES:
1: Performance of Shah Rukh Khan
2: Action Sequences
3: Direction
4:Cinematography
5: Story
6: Editing
7: Production Design
8: Songs and Background Score
NEGATIVE:
1: The second half could have been better
2: Some Illogical Action Scenes.
3: Little flaws in VFX.
4: Predictability of scenes.
•ONE WORD: The terrific comeback of SRK, ‘Pathaan’ offers a thrilling theater experience.
•STORY IDEA:
A special status for Jammu and Kashmiri is granted by the Indian government by abolishing Article 370 . This news impacts a Pakistani army general Qadir who’s a cancer ridden patient joint hands with Jim to impose vengeance against india who was a former R&AW agent-turned-rogue leader of “Outfit X”, a private terror organization, and also wants to seek revenge against India for not trusting him. the head of “Joint Operation and Covert Research” (JOCR) Nandini and R&AW joint secretary Colonel Sunil Luthra, convokes Pathaan, an expelled field operative to knock over Jim. Pathaan along with ex-ISI agent Rubina mohsin investigates and exposes outs Jim’s plan of spreading of deadly mutated virus named ‘Raktbeej’ over India and stops the execution of Jim’s plan.
•DETAILED REVIEW:
The film ‘Pathaan’ is written and directed by Siddharth Anand after the blockbuster hit ‘War’. The screenplay for Pathaan is written by Shridhar Raghavan. The film is produced by Aditya Chopra under the production company of Yash Raj Films and his distribution company Yash Raj Films itself distributes the film all over India. The film has a duration of 146 minutes and is currently running in theaters with a censor certificate of U/A.
After four years Shah Rukh Khan is back with a bang, and the film ‘Pathaan’ marks the strongest comeback of the Superstar. I enjoyed the film, it was thrilling and gripping with terrific unbelievable actions. The happiest thing is that through the film ‘Pathaan’ the YRF spy universe has gotten bigger and more intense. I am excited and waiting to catch the upcoming movies under this Spy series, ‘Pathaan, Tiger and Kabir’ is gonna conquer the box office soon.
The biggest plus factor of ‘Pathaan’ is the ravishing screen presence of Shah Rukh Khan, it was like he was dominating the screen. His energy, his attitude, his grace, his body, his acting and his action sequence was giving a spectacular theatre experience and I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. The director Sidharth Anand was successful in exhibiting the elegance and charmingness of Shah Rukh Khan. He had made the character Pathaan stronger and blended the character with the right attitude and satire. The audience always craved to see Shah Rukh Khan in his energetic form and it was missing for several years. So knowing this the director Siddharth Anand has written the character Pathaan with the best elements, and the final output on the screen is remarkable. As a director and writer Siddharth Anand had delivered his job without fail, his story and the premise of the movie were promising for a spy thriller.
The direction and making of Siddharth Anand were good, he had carefully executed the entire film and I had only felt minor flaws. The high-volt action sequences, modern machinery equipment, terrorism, patriotism and cat and mouse gameplay of hero and villain make the movie Pathaan more interesting. The movie follows the usual template and regular formulas of a spy thriller but what makes Pathaan more compelling is the characters associated with YRF Spy Universe. As I said when the film reveals the characters like Kabir and Tiger it gives more curiosity and excitement. The journey of Pathaan and Rubina Mohsin (Deepika Padukone) to save the world from a disaster was crammed with the right components to make the audience thrilled. Their combination scene was replenished with slight romance, haunting past, actions, and betrayals. These factors were implemented in the screenplay and direction in the right convincing manner so their journey was offering an engaging theatre experience.
The cat-and-mouse play between Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham was offered a compelling experience. Their action sequences, their face-to-face scenes and their ultimate head-to-head scene in the climax were brilliantly executed by the director Siddharth Anand. Also, every single character in the film was nicely written out, especially the character of Dimple Kapadia. Her character Nandini, the head of JOCR, was sealed with a good emotional sequence and the bondage scenes with Shah Rukh Khan also matches the premise. The narration was steady till the end and the movie didn’t make me feel any lag or bored. The action and fight sequences in the film give what exactly an SRK fan wants so overall the film will surely entertain anyone.
Still, there are some flaws, the screenplay could have been written better because the predictability of scenes was felt in many crucial scenes. The twists and turns in the film are easily understandable and we don’t need to crack our heads to know what is going to happen next. The VFX was also average, some action sequences looked too artificial. The law of physics is never applied to this film so one should not ever think about logic. Also, I felt a few more screen scenes could have been given for John Abraham, his antagonist character looked rigid but the hero-villain was relatively less. So I felt the writer Shridhar Raghavan had only done a moderate job on the screenplay.
The performance of Deepika Padukone as Rubina Mohsin, an ex-ISI agent was outstanding. She was looking sexier, her action sequences were thrilling and the combination scene with Shah Rukh Khan was making the movie interesting. John Abraham as Jim also did a great job as the villain. I wish he could have got more screen space, his villain character was powerful but his character could have been written better. His looks, smile, villain-shade personality and the The scenes with SRK were a treat to watch. Dimple Kapadia delivered a notable performance, her emotional scene and the paired scene with SRK went rightly. Ashutosh Rana also did justice to his supportive character Colonel Sunil Luthra.
The songs “Besharam Rang” and “Jhoome Jo Pathaan” were awesome, the beauty of Deepika Padukone and the stylish avatar of SRK will delight your eyes. The background score was also good for making the action sequences more thrilling. The cinematography by Satchith Paulose was outstanding, the visuals of foreign countries were pleasing and attractive. The action sequences were also filmed fairly, the camera movements, the placements of the camera and the sudden camera shift were fitting for the fight scenes. The closeup frames of SRK, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham looked stylish and hot. The editing of Aarif Sheikh was intact because the duration of 146 minutes didn’t feel long. The running time was right, and the transition of scenes didn’t feel mismatched. The colour grading was flawless, and the action choreographer deserves special mention for the unbelievably shocking stunts.
•CONCLUSION:
So overall the film ‘Pathaan’ had given me a fantastic theatre experience, the movie marks the biggest comeback of SRK and it’s a visual treat for action movie lovers. The direction and story of Siddharth Anand and the production design of ‘Pathaan’ are rich enough to attract anyone. The stunning screen presence of Shah Rukh Khan as ‘Pathaan’ is something which needs to be watched on the big screen. Therefore, I will definitely recommend the film ‘Pathaan’, it’s just the beginning of a big YRF Spy Universe, so never miss it from theatres.
- FINAL RATING: 3.5/5
- A Review by ARUNJYOTHI. R
