Pathaan Movie Review: A Good Mix Of Aws and Oops!

Spies, undercover agents, ex-army man (who is usually the villain, with a bad flashback) – all these are not new to us. We have seen stories around these characters over and over and over and over again!

Pathaan is added to this list of movies. But does Pathaan has anything new to excite us or wow us? Read on.

Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan) is an ex army man, who is now an undercover agent – this man goes to any extent for the sake of his country. On the other hand we have Jim (John Abraham), an ex-army man with a bad flash back. This guy would do anything to bring down the people and the country that gave him his bad past.

And we have Rubai an ex-ISI agent (Deepika Padukone) to complete the triangle. The three play dangerous games – there’s betrayal, there’s saving, there’s destroying and what not!

The whole set up of the script and many scenes definitely bring Mission Impossible and similar movies in our mind and right in front of our eyes too. Many stunt scenes (the sequences) are dittoed from those movies!

Nevertheless, there is an aw factor to it – especially in the indoor stunts. I liked the camera work much better in indoor stunt sequences more than the outdoor sequences where CGI looked too toyish.

Though the story and staging are not new to us, the work of the three leads – SRK, John Abraham and Deepika definitely add some power and punch to the whole staging.

As the three they add their own signature, swag and style to the scenes, there is definitely something to look into. The scenes where the three meet are well written.

And I must mention that the three have worked well on their physique to suit their respective characters!

What could have been better?

The stunt sequences should have been well thought to eradicate the obvious similarities to the Mission Impossible-likeness (landing on a glassy roof-top – slip through and walk along, cutting through glass windows, running over a falling train and so on).

While it is OK to have cinematic liberty in such movies, gravity defying shots were way too many. Next is the outdoor stunts involving helicopter, wing suit, train could have been a little bit more realistic.

SRK displays toughness, patriotism, heroism and grace in one solid package – himself. John, on the other hand, screams nothing but danger. He is apt for the role and emotes fiercefully.

Deepika slays the bond-girl like characterisation with much ease.

Despite the negatives I shared above, the movie still manages to entertain. If you are too used to watching such bond-like or Mission Impossible-like outings, you could be meh-ed watching Pathaan.

But if you are someone who goes with the flow and enjoys the acting, presentation, stunts and doesn’t mind freshness or repetition, you will enjoy watching Pathaan.

Me? Well, I enjoyed it partly and it was a decent show.

Try it. It is available on Prime!