Pathaan Review: All Style No Substance!

The mega comeback vehicle of Shah Rukh Khan, Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, is the fourth installment in the YRF Spy Universe with co-stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The storyline follows Pathaan, a RAW agent who has been expelled and must now undertake a mission to stop Jim, a former RAW agent who turned rogue and now leads a private terror organization with plans to spread a harmful lab-generated virus across India.

Related: Best Movies of Deepika Padukone You Shouldn’t Miss!

To start with, Shah Rukh Khan’s recent films have been average at best. I recall wanting to leave the theater during the second half of his 2018 film, Zero, and both Jab Harry Met Sejal and Fan were disappointing. As a big fan of his work, I was looking forward to Pathaan, despite my mediocre expectations of Siddharth Anand’s work. However, I was not prepared for a poor film.

Pathaan is a lackluster and costly mess, reminiscent of the director’s prior movies like War (2019). The screenplay by Shridhar Raghavan was mostly predictable, and it seems that Bollywood, as a whole, has been taking cues from successful South Indian films in recent years and tried to replicate it here, in Pathaan, the most lackluster way. It lacks emotive depth and fails to deliver on its build-up to key scenes, resulting in a lack of thrill and excitement.

Moving on, the characters in Pathaan, in all honesty, do not fit their roles as secret agents and appeared to be incredibly dumb. Their decisions made little to no sense, contributing to the movie’s disappointment. Furthermore, the globetrotting action set pieces served no real purpose and did not add anything to the overall story. The over-the-top and bombastic nature of these scenes cannot make up for the lack of substance in the plot.

The action scenes in this movie felt like they’re just present for the sake of spectacle and style and failed to deliver a thrilling viewing experience. The VFX-heavy scenes were forgettable, and the heavy reliance on stunt doubles took away from the impact of the action inside and out. Like, if your stars are not athletic enough, the filmmakers should consciously design scenes that complement their strengths to create a more immersive experience for the viewer.

On to the performances, putting aside all of my criticisms of this movie, it actually felt great watching Shah Rukh Khan on the big screen again. Four years, a break that actually worked, looked at the humoungous box-office numbers of the movie. On the other hand, Deepika Padukone’s action-heavy role well-suited her super-hot physique, and John Abraham playing a generic action movie villain never really generated any excitement to the film.

Overall, the mass euphoria of Shah Rukh Khan’s grand comeback doesn’t change the fact that Pathaan is a bad film. As an action-thriller, it fails to deliver any thrills and is boring, relying on tired templates. The mindless action and forced cameos only add to the movie’s flaws. However, if you’re just there to watch SRK back again on the big screen, go for it. Unfortunately, this is not for me.

‘Pathaan’ Rating – 2.5/5