Pathaan 2023 Movie Review
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana
Streaming: Theater
Synopsis:
An Indian spy battles against the leader of a gang of mercenaries who have a heinous plot for his homeland.
Pathaan 2023 Movie Review:
Pathaan is a mashup of old-style Hollywood spy movies. The virus, the vault, rogue agent, Hot female lead, etc you name it everything is there. The only thing missing was uniqueness in treatment.
Anyways jokes aside I am not at all convinced by the title of the movie as Pathaan. Shahrukh does nothing that shows he is a Pathaan. Even the backstory is very abrupt and seems convenient which adds no emotional angle at all. The movie tries to get from one plot to another without really building up on anything.
Siddharth Anand’s prime focus is the action he is not bothered by why it’s done or how it’s done. It’s clearly visible that the Dubai fight sequence with John is done in front of a green screen the background looked like a poster.
The train sequence when it starts the whole background looks like cheap animation even the water in the river still does not flow at all. I can go on and on and on about poor vfx some are at Adipurush level if you look at it. Shahrukh should have insisted on practical effects.
Siddharth, can you please answer why every action piece needs to be at an impossible level? Even video games are believable. It’s not that hard to make an action sequence difficult and believable at the same time. Looking at Pathaan I felt Marvel movies were still believable given the circumstances. I am not even talking about loopholes which were plenty.
Also Read Brahmāstra Movie Review: not a Landmark film but an enjoyable and Good film
Coming to acting and screen presence John Abraham completely steals the show as he is given almost all of the best lines and he delivers them like a pro. He never looked so handsome, the dashing villain ever. Not convinced by his background story yet you can feel his anger.
Clearly, he is the best part of the movie, his end could have been better not in an animated Hut, please. Dimple Kapadia’s role is saved by her acting prowess she is a class act, and I feel bad that her character is dead she could have added a lot of value to the franchise.
I feel Shahrukh and Deepika only added star value. Their characters need a lot of groundwork to connect with the audience. Please hire some real foreign actors I guess Russian actors are not expensive. Terrible acting by all Russians.
Also Read RRR Movie Review: Powerful and Emotional Action Drama.
Pathaan feels like a movie that wants to show you the destination and forgets that the real magic is the journey. The movie rests on the laurels of the huge fandom of its cast. People who have grown up watching Bond movies mission impossible movies or the Bourne trilogy will find it funny. The others have found it entertaining.
Verdict:
This is not a movie Shahrukh should be proud of. It’s not unique or new or path-breaking. It’s just run of a mill average spy movie a huge hit in the Indian context. Miles to go till we make a real spy movie.
