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‘Pathaan’ Review: Fighting the Good (and Long) Fight

Filled to the brim with action set pieces, “Pathaan” stars Shah Rukh Khan as a secret agent saving India from havoc unleashed by a vengeful former operative.

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By Nicolas Rapold

The all-out action movie of the sort honed by Hollywood is not as prevalent in Bollywood. But “Pathaan,” a record-setting addition to a series of spy adventures, rolls out a flaming dessert cart of chugging guns, midair melees and ceaseless showdowns.

Shah Rukh Khan stars as an affable Indian government agent, Pathaan, who’s pursuing a vengeful former agent named — somewhat less than diabolically — Jim (John Abraham). Jim’s been hired by a rogue Pakistani general to sow havoc in India because of a dispute over Kashmir. He turned smirkingly nihilistic after India once refused to pay ransom for him and his (now dead) pregnant wife.

Plotting or politics is an afterthought in this delivery system for action on planes, trains and automobiles, in Dubai, Moscow, Paris, the Spanish coast and apparently the Italian Dolomites. The director, Siddharth Anand (“War”), opens big with Pathaan’s breakout from detainment, swiveling the camera to follow kicks and sending a helicopter aloft indoors.

Other setups have the same top-this sense of fun. Anand’s crew boasts the stunt coordinator of “Top Gun: Maverick,” Casey O’Neill, and the “Mad Max: Fury Road” stunt performer Craig Macrae. But the director doesn’t have the greatest feel for tempo, or a consistent flair for staging. A monotonous fight on a train is only redeemed by a Looney Tunes escape from derailment.

Lending welcome panache is Deepika Padukone as another deadly operative, Rubina, who may prove helpful to Pathaan. The sweet rapport between Padukone and Khan loosens up the film’s endless fracas, and it’s the spark for, yes, a song. When Pathaan spots Rubina poolside in Spain, she launches a joyful crowded bump-and-grind number. (“The moment I feel a wave of modesty, I throw it to the wind!”)

As a villain, Jim’s a bit of a cold bath, and not just because he starts video-calling in threats of biological warfare. “Pathaan” is in some ways a save-the-world superhero movie without suits, and while less self-serious, the hefty length can lag. More is not always better — though the gusto of Padukone speedskating to the rescue at one point goes a long way.

Pathaan Not rated. In Hindi, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 26 minutes. In theaters.

‘Pathaan’ Review: A Bollywood Espionage Action Spectacular So Fast and Furious — and Chaotic and Derivative — It Makes ‘RRR’ Look Classical

It's James Bond meets Jason Bourne meets Jason Statham meets Fabio in an overwrought epic.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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“ Pathaan ,” the new Bollywood espionage action spectacular, opened wide this past weekend in the U.S., where it amassed an impressive tally of $9.5 million. That’s exactly what “RRR” made on its opening weekend in the U.S. close to a year ago — though, of course, that was before “RRR” went on to become a crossover cultural phenomenon, with a visibility and acclaim in the American media that Indian films seldom, if ever, attain.

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The characters in “Pathaan” often speak like movie posters (“Be rich. Be powerful. Or be a corpse”). They’re photographed like model-gods, and though “Pathaan” isn’t a musical, the music that plays during the action sequences is an overwhelming constant — that EDM Bollywood throb, revving even routine battles to a maximum rush. Khan, who suggests a sleeker, more ripped Adam Driver in a man-bun, plays the title character, a veteran RAW agent who’s gone undercover and been left for dead, though he shows up in an early scene, bloody and battered, tied to a torturer’s chair. He then frees himself and defeats his captors in the first of what must be the film’s two dozen whirling, crunching, gravity-defying fight scenes. This is the sort of movie in which even Pathaan walking in slo-mo slipping on his aviator sunglasses counts as an action moment.

His mission is to stop Jim (Abraham), an agent who has gone rogue and leads Outfit X, an international terror organization that commits atrocities for profit. I wouldn’t even try to describe the plot of “Pathaan,” which zigs and zags all over the globe, and all over the place, in a way that defies logic. The film’s only real logic is its pop fetishization of power (bullet power, fire power, 12-pack-ab power), along with its enthusiastic mutating of genres — now it’s a heist movie, now it’s a human-superhero-with-machine-wings movie, now it’s a contagion thriller with Jim threatening to unleash the power of Raktjeeb, a killer virus that makes COVID look like the common cold. What’s in it for Jim? From what we can tell, the sheer megalomaniacal pleasure of it all.

This may sound like a recipe for fun, but “Pathaan” has a stop-and-go rhythm, and a strung-together structure, that grows wearying. (Two-and-a-half hours of frenetic derivative pulp is a lot of pulp.) There’s a car chase through Dubai, a motorcycle chase on ice, and a hand-to-hand fight at the climax in which Pathaan and Jim go at each other so hard that the wooden shack in which they’re fighting starts to slip down the mountain stilts it’s perched on. “RRR” was no model of restraint (and some critics salivated over its overwrought fairy-tale technological bravura in a way that felt vaguely patronizing), but it was a work of high classical precision next to “Pathaan.” Yet I must say I’m glad that Indian films are finding a home here. Here’s hoping, as in the old days, that they bring a new spirit to our cinemas, rather than just blending in with what we’re already doing.           

Reviewed at AMC Empire, Jan. 30, 2023. Running time: 146 MIN.

• Production: A Yash Raj Films USA Inc. release of a Yash Raj Films, Etalon Films production. Producer: Aditya Chopra.
• Crew: Director: Siddharth Anand. Screenplay: Shridhar Raghavan, Abbas Tyrewala. Camera: Satchith Paulose. Editor: Aarif Sheikh. Music: Ankit Balhara, Sanchit Balhara, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani.
• With: Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Dimple Kapadia, Ashutosh Rana, Salman Khan.

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Pathaan Movie Review : An entertaining globetrotting spy thriller that’s massy, messy and outlandish

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Pathaan Reviews

“Pathaan” unabashedly wears its trope-filled narrative on its sleeve and has fun using the subversive tongue-in-cheek flair of your friendly neighborhood “Mission Impossible” film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 9, 2024

It’s Bollywood’s best answer to Mission Impossible. But it is also a menacing and even sinister film.

Full Review | Jul 9, 2024

You will get some 50 variations from him. That's Mr. Shah Rukh Khan for you...

Full Review | Nov 10, 2023

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 26, 2023

Let’s be honest, we are watching Pathaan for the one and only Shah Rukh Khan. And, as mentioned before, the minute he appears on the screen, you feel goosebumps coursing through your body.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 23, 2023

Pathaan does not undermine our intelligence. Written by Anand (Shridhar Raghavan has furnished the screenplay and Abbas Tyrewala the dialogues), the film walks the tightrope between fitting fan service and a clever entertainer.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2023

If there's one thing you can't fault here it's the film's ambition.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 24, 2023

With Khan's irresistible charm on full display, one cannot help but overlook Pathaan's many flaws and just immerse yourself in the action.

Full Review | Feb 17, 2023

Director Siddharth Anand and his creative company conjure a globetrotting spectacle bursting with crowd-pleasing allures.

Full Review | Feb 16, 2023

There are too many dull spots in this overlong thriller to overcome.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Feb 4, 2023

This film feels like Siddharth Anand watched all of the Mission: Impossible movies and determined John Woo’s MI2 was the best but could be done even better.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 2, 2023

The director doesn’t have the greatest feel for tempo, or a consistent flair for staging.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2023

Pathaan is a blast.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 1, 2023

Pathaan got Indians across the world to cheer for a Pakistani ex-ISI agent, and Pakistanis to cheer for a Bollywood superstar. Nobel Peace Prize or bust.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2023

A sprawling, mountainous tangle of pulp that stacks one genre on top of the next with an arbitrary verve.

Pathaan delivers high-octane thrills through over-the-top action sequences that would feel right at home in any Mission Impossible film. The characters are deeply developed and extremely charismatic, creating story arcs that are captivating and emotional.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 31, 2023

While its reach may exceed its grasp, any shortcomings of Pathaan are papered over by the sheer charisma of its lead actor [Shah Rukh Khan], who once again demonstrates why he is one of the most popular movie stars in the world.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 30, 2023

Bursting at the seams with high-caliber action and loads of panache, “Pathaan” is an off-the-charts, full-throttle Bollywood blockbuster in every sense.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 30, 2023

An amateurish Indian super-spy thriller that’s never as well-executed as it is conceptually goofy and politically dubious.

Full Review | Jan 29, 2023

A cartoonish, patriotic action saga, whose scattered pieces are heat-welded together by Khan’s blazing screen presence.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2023

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Pathaan Review: Shah Rukh Khan Doesn't Miss A Trick In Phenomenally Entertaining Spy Thriller

Pathaan review: deepika padukone pulls off the dual act of an irrepressible femme fatale and a committed soldier with elan..

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham

Director: Siddharth Anand

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Phenomenally entertaining and consistently engaging, Pathaan , for all the derivative genre components it compiles, is a spy thriller that crackles with energy. It goes the distance riding on the insouciant and cocky charm that Shah Rukh Khan, in his first full-fledged appearance on the big screen since 2018's Zero , brings to an exercise that is at once excessive and exciting.

It isn't, however, the superstar alone who propels Pathaan, which plays to the gallery with abandon. The writing by Shridhar Raghavan is smart although not everything in the unabashedly fantastical film makes total sense. Abbas Tyrewala, who peppers Pathaan with gunpowder-dry punch lines, contributes in no small measure to keeping this action-packed movie on the boil all the way till the end.

On the technical side, too, Pathaan packs a massive punch. The cinematography by Satchith Paulose is from the topmost drawer. Editor Aarif Sheikh lends the film a pacy rhythm that leaves no room for dull passages. And the pulpy panache of Siddharth Anand's directorial sleights is impressive. They combine to make Pathaan a thoroughly riveting movie that instantly gets the willing suspension of disbelief that it demands and thrives on. 

The ease is, of course, facilitated majorly by the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, who does not miss a trick in jettisoning his King of Romance persona and donning the garb of an unflappable, unstoppable action hero. He does not let the effort behind the transition show one bit. He sails through the role and the film as if this is what he was always meant to do.

The performances from most of the other principal actors - Deepika Padukone, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana - are perfectly in tune with the style and substance of Pathaan. The film hits its straps without wasting any time. The actors, especially Deepika Padukone, do likewise, getting into the swing of things in a jiffy.   

The heroine of Pathaan is an ISI agent with a back story that makes her the inscrutable and unpredictable person she is. Her enigma ensnares the hero more than once and provides the film's biggest twists. Deepika Padukone pulls off the dual act of an irrepressible femme fatale and a committed soldier with elan.  

However, John Abraham as the very, very bad guy who has a score to settle with the nation he once served with distinction does not exude the level of menace that you would expect from a man wounded and incensed to the point of insanity.     The most striking aspect of Pathaan , a masala entertainer at heart, is that it has the gumption to go beyond the parameters of a massy movie and produce sharp, insightful moments that serve as a commentary on pressing issues of the day. It is far more about humanity than about shallow patriotism, which, coming at a time when the Mumbai movie industry thrives on the othering and demonising of communities to further a dominant political narrative, is an act of courage that deserves to be celebrated. 

Although it is essentially about people going for the jugular and centres on a villain who plans to unleash a biological weapon on civilians, Pathaan adopts a pacifist approach to war and espionage. It offers a counter-narrative to the Islamophobic thrillers and historical epics that the Mumbai industry has of late been dumping upon the audience without the slightest attempt to disguise its prejudices and propensity for falsification. 

Pathaan is in fact a far cry from Yash Raj Films' previous spy drama War, which was also directed by Siddharth Anand. Pathaan is neither jingoistic nor does it direct all its ire at one nation. It does open with a Pakistani general plotting a reprisal against India on the day of the revocation of Article 370, but the villain of the film is not a hate-spewing mullah but a venomous RAW agent gone rogue.

Although the badman's reasons are palpably faulty, he contributes his mite to the discourse that Pathaan engages in. A mercenary who works on behalf of terrorists no matter of what hue they are, he says he does not believe in the notion of a nation and borders do not matter to him. Nations and borders are created by the powerful to lull people into submission, he thunders, implying that he has broken the shackles in order to make a point.  

Jim (John Abraham), whose first appearance on the screen triggers a violent confrontation with a hero who grew up in an orphanage and owes a debt of gratitude to an Afghan family that saved him after a secret mission left him severely wounded.

When asked by Dr. Rubina Mohsin (Deepika Padukone) if he is a Mussalman (this is the only time in the film that anybody's religious identity is broached), the male protagonist reveals that he does not know who his parents were.  The nation assumed the form of a mother and sustained me, so I decided to serve the nation the way I would have served my mother if I had one, he asserts with just a hint of emotion.

He isn't a steely hero who is beyond injury and pain. He needs a painkiller when violent adversaries inflict wounds on his body. The medicine is offered to him by another member of the YRF Spy Universe in the course of a fight sequence staged in a hurtling train somewhere in Russia.

With Shah Rukh Khan joining Tiger (Salman Khan) and Kabir (Hrithik Roshan) to complete a trio of invincible YRF spies, expect a lot of big-screen explosions, extremes and extravagances in the coming years. But it is doubtful if anything would be as big, ballsy or unalloyed as Pathaan. It comes closer to what mass-oriented Hindi cinema once used to be than any other recent star vehicle has done. 

Pathaan swings and strikes with all the style and aplomb in the world. It will be a hard act to follow.                     

• Cast Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham
• Director Siddharth Anand

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‘Pathaan’ movie review: Shah Rukh Khan shines in this spectacle sans secrets 

Marked by deepika padukone’s eye-catching performance and john abraham’s stylish presence, ‘pathaan’ is a sincere crowd-pleaser .

Updated - January 28, 2023 02:59 pm IST

Published - January 25, 2023 03:55 pm IST

Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Pathaan’

The story of a son of India who puts country before self,  Pathaan  is a crowd pleaser that marks the return of Shah Rukh Khan to the action genre with new toys and a lot more bombast. Returning after a hiatus, SRK is in form in the larger-than-life space of Yash Raj banner’s growing spy universe where writers pick strands from the real world and propel them at  escape  velocity. 

Here, director Siddharth Anand draws from current affairs like the abrogation of Article 370, Pakistan’s fascination for Kashmir, bio-warfare and mysterious viral attacks to conjure up a spectacle sans secrets that is safe for the thin-skinned and provides fans of Hollywood spy agents some smart  desi  stuff to cheer about. 

Moving at a breakneck speed in locations across the world, itis about an aging Indian secret agent (Shah Rukh) who puts together a team of retired agents to navigate where the red tape doesn’t stick. Their fight is against an insider called Jim (John Abraham) who has turned rogue and is out to finish India in collusion with a Pakistani general. Along the way, Pathaan comes across an ISI agent Rubina (Deepika Padukone) whose fashion sense is obvious, but her designs are ambiguous. 

Writers Sridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala (dialogues) segue Shah Rukh’s genetic material with the screenplay to create some whistle-inducing dialogues on  Pathaan ’s commitment, courage and camaraderie. With Shah Rukh, it is not just about brawn as he brings his trademark wit, irreverence and self-deprecatory humour, making Pathaan different from Tiger and Kabir, the other agents prowling in the vicinity. Only Shah Rukh could pop a pain killer with the coolth of chewing a gum. 

Instead of finding the villain in a particular religion or country, the writers present a world where terrorism has been corporatised and the services of mercenaries are available to the highest bidder. It is this colour-agnostic enemy who has no shame in putting lucre before humanity that  Besharam Rang , the so-called controversial song in the film, hints at. More importantly, the film looks at the definition of nationalism as to how you look at your country, your mother or your lover.   

Like the good old days, the writers have given the surname-less villain a compelling back story, and the hero the licence to put him in this rightful place. They have gently mixed the personal with the political. For instance, the Pakistani General, who has evil designs on India, is fighting cancer.  Interestingly, in the geopolitics of the narrative, there is no mention of the US, Russia is an indispensable ally, and an orphaned Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan) finds his identity during a mission in Afghanistan. Also, the film refrains from painting every Pakistani with the same brush and differentiates between political interests and a global crisis. 

In the macho space, Siddharth has created solid platforms for female characters. Dimple Kapadia is imposing as Pathaan’s boss who doesn’t let emotion come in the way of duty. And in between the good and the evil, Deepika comes as a shining shade of grey. She is not just ravishing but risky as well. Together, Shah Rukh and Deepika are like camphor and flame who threaten to set the screen on fire with their chemistry where grace meets risqué.   

The affair of an Indian and Pakistani agent reminds of the  Tiger series, and provides material for one among many inside jokes in the film which in a way carries forward  Veer Zara ’s gender equation between the two countries in Hindi cinema. Salman Khan’s cameo on a moving train is a kind of bonus for the fans; wish we had more to chew between the lines. 

Delivering one of his better performances in the last few years, John turns out to be a strong match up for Shah Rukh. It is not just the abdominal muscles; he provides the film breath of cool air. 

More than the political layers, the makers are interested in putting together breathtaking action sequences. Shot in almost all possible means of transport, they are a step ahead than what we have watched before in Bollywood, but the computer-generated imagery is not seamless, and the lack of intrinsic logic becomes baffling at times. The utter lack of surprise in the way some of the conflicts resolve leaves one disappointed. Also, certain scenes and plot devices sound like a Hindi dub of sequences lifted from Hollywood tentpoles, making them feel generic and plastic. 

Siddharth focuses too much on choreographing action, often leaving emotions hanging by a thread, but it is the individual charm of the performers that makes up for the lack of strong emotional core. No wonder, early in the film, a scientist says, science is easy; love is hard. 

Pathaan is currently running in theatres

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Metacritic reviews

• 80 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Aparita Bhandari The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Aparita Bhandari Pathaan is by no means flawless. It tries to marry a Hollywood-style action film with Bollywood camp. Sometimes it delivers, and sometimes the script is just too banal. It could also be edited more judiciously. But the film entertains and leaves you grooving to an infectious tune at the end.
• 70 Screen Daily Screen Daily It’s a chaotic, protracted, wild ride that takes the audience across global locations and through past and present, but the amped up scale, imagination and audacity, the spectacular action set-pieces, clever writing and in-your-face charisma of its stars including Shah Rukh Khan in a long-awaited return to the big screen make it, in Indian parlance, paisa vasool - a film well worth the price of admission.
• 60 The Guardian Cath Clarke The Guardian Cath Clarke The film sags a little towards the end, with a few too many implausible action sequences: characters jumping out of helicopters and fighting on top of speeding SUVs, the choreography glossing over the basics of gravity and physics. Still, the cheers kept coming.
• 60 Empire Empire While its reach may exceed its grasp, any shortcomings of Pathaan are papered over by the sheer charisma of its lead actor, who once again demonstrates why he is one of the most popular movie stars in the world.
• 50 The New York Times Nicolas Rapold The New York Times Nicolas Rapold Pathaan is in some ways a save-the-world superhero movie without suits, and while less self-serious, the hefty length can lag. More is not always better — though the gusto of Padukone speedskating to the rescue at one point goes a long way.
• 40 Variety Owen Gleiberman Variety Owen Gleiberman Pathaan has a stop-and-go rhythm, and a strung-together structure, that grows wearying. (Two-and-a-half hours of frenetic derivative pulp is a lot of pulp.)
• 25 TheWrap Simon Abrams TheWrap Simon Abrams Some high-concept set pieces rise above shoddy execution and creative mismanagement, particularly any wire stunts involving helicopters, byplanes, or rocket-powered jet packs.
• See all 7 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Pathaan

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