Films are a sacred part of our generation’s cultural fabric. To a great extent, they shape our personalities. You don’t feel drained re-watching your favourite actor’s films for the one hundredth time or desperately waiting for their next film in the pipeline. I was reminded of this with Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film Pathaan, although I wasn’t in my home country during its release. Pathaan is a spy thriller, also starring Deepika Padukone and John Abraham alongside Khan.
Despite being in a foreign city, I was still counting down the days before Pathaan hit the cinemas and, when it did, the magic was amplified. It was incredibly gratifying to watch this film in a different country with whistles and cheers ringing inside the cinema. Perhaps that’s the power of pop culture: entertainment transcends subtitles and so does the magnitude of Shah Rukh Khan.
‘Kintsugi’ is the Japanese art referred to by Pathaan (Khan’s character) to describe an elite squad of Indian soldiers capable of executing a crucial spy mission within the film. Strikingly, the very essence of Pathaan proving to be a smash hit in the cinemas – that haven’t been throbbing with energy since the lockdown – is metaphorically akin to Kintsugi: the fluctuating box office numbers have been fixed by the gold that is none other than Khan. The beating heart of Indian cinema, Khan made his global return on the big screen with Pathaan after a four year hiatus. This is a colossal deal for his fans who know no borders and, personally, a tonic for my heart.
Further, Pathaan draws attention as it successfully dodges the male saviour trope. Khan’s character doesn’t bat an eyelid when women come to his rescue. He bows down to Dimple Kapadia’s character and makes it that her wish is his command while he relies on Padukone’s character to save the day. Despite his machismo, he is not the alpha male who is chock-full of patriarchal ideals.
Breaking free from the shackles of the Hindu-Muslim conundrum, Pathaan also spurs the narrative of peace, patriotism, and most essentially love. Amidst the high-octane action sequences, what really shined through was the breath-taking chemistry between Khan and Padukone. Padukone plays an ISI agent proving to be the best fit for a femme-fetale character. She is manipulative and deceiving, wearing the cloak of an ally. She knocks down men like a hot knife through butter. Yet, you feel that her character deserved more nuance and depth, since you’re left asking for more of her right till the end.
The stronger the villain, the mightier the hero appears to be, and Pathaan craftily got this narrative right. It’s safe to say that John Abraham’s Jim eclipses even the protagonists. He locks horns with the protagonist with his unwavering villainous demeanour and leaves traces of his charm behind till the very end. You can’t help but hate him, which becomes a testimony to how successfully he plays his character. Going back to the high-octane action scenes—they are compelling but devoid of logic. Sure, the idea of hauling two helicopters together is completely delusional; nevertheless the sincerity with which the sequences are orchestrated gives the illusion that it is conceivable. Fear grips the audience as beads of sweat trickle through the protagonist’s brow while springing from one skyscraper to another. Pathaan might not be Khan’s magnum opus, but it certainly makes a way into your heart and refuses to leave.
Written by: Taniya Khan
Edited by: Joanne Spence-Thomas