51. Pathaan; movie review

 

PATHAAN

Cert 12A

146 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, injury detail, sex references

If Mission Impossible were mixed with James Bond and given an Indian twist, we would probably arrive at Pathaan.

Well, at least in terms of the special effects, superstars and amazing locations.

Shah Rukh Khan's fans will come away sated by their man's screen heroism and there will be equal satisfaction for those whose pleasure is derived from seeing Deepika Padukone's midriff.

But, my goodness, it takes a good hour for Pathaan to catch light after a laboured start and its dialogue is mundane throughout.

Let's be honest, Pathaan's opening is so convoluted that Mrs. W turned to me at the interval and admitted she was lost.

It was hard to disagree but from what I could fathom, India makes a significant announcement about the future of Kashmir, riling a terminally ill Pakistani general (Manish Wadhwa).

Thus, he brings on board an unhinged mercenary (John Abraham) - a former Indian foreign intelligence officer who has a massive axe to grind with his country.

They plot a devastating attack and, therefore, a former agent (SRK) is brought out of retirement by his old boss (Dimple Kapadia) to stop them.

So, SRK does his best Tom Cruise impression, adds some trendy long hair, and sets about nailing the villain...

And is inevitably distracted by one of the most attractive women on the planet.

Pathaan will be remembered as much for the Padukone fashion show as it is for its action. I feel as if I have a very intimate knowledge of her belly button and cleavage after two and a half hours of them being in my face.

Being employed merely as eye candy was a bit of an insult to an actress who has now broken into Hollywood but I guess the cheque must have been big enough,

Mind you, Abraham isn't stretched much either - often restricted to a glare, raised eyebrow or gentle grunt.

What we are left with is a movie which is heavy on very impressive stunts and computer-generated action sequences.

One involving a moving train is especially dazzling.

And, of course SRK taking centre stage.

His fans, and those of the Yash Raj Films Spyverse will be pleased but Siddharth Anand's film might find it tougher to impress wider audiences.

Reasons to watch: Its action sequences

Reasons to avoid: Tough-to-follow first half

Laughs: None

Jumps: One

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Pathaan is the fourth-highest-grossing Hindi film and seventh-highest-grossing Indian film of all time, as well as the highest-grossing of Khan's career and Yash Raj Films' releases.

The final word. Siddharth Anand: "I knew there was nothing offensive in the movie but the audience didn’t, because they hadn't seen the movie at that time. Later, they watched the movie & made it a big success. Agendas of the boycott team failed."

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