Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Ashutosh Rana and Dimple Kapadia in prominent roles has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.

Story: To stop Outfit X, a private terrorist group led by Jim(John Abraham) plans a massive attack on India. After receiving the red flag through Indian intelligence, the Indian government approaches Pathaan ( Shah Rukh Khan), a soldier who is in exile for the past few years to stop the Outfit X group’s attack on India. What kind of risky activities will Pathaan do to restrict Jim’s plan, forms key crux.

Performances: As Shah Rukh Khan is returning to the silver screens after four years, the expectations on him comeback are sky-high among fans and moviegoers. Living up to the hype, SRK just nailed it with his style and swag throughout the film.

SRK’s makeover with long hair and chiseled body with abs adds stylish and cheerful moments at regular intervals. He performed risky stunts in an authentic way. Yet another star Salman Khan’s cameo is smashing. His amazing screen presence along with SRK in an action sequence is definitely a full Paisa Vasool treat for the audience.

Physical appearance-wise, John Abraham is fit and did his part perfectly. The face-off action sequences between SRK and John are executed nicely. Deepika Padukone is glamorous on screen and she performed well in her role which lacks proper detailing. Noted artists Ashutosh Rana and Dimple Kapadia are alright in their purposeful roles as Army officials.

Technicalities: The action part is designed in a superb manner. Adding to it, the lavish production values are definitely utilized to shoot the film on a grandeur note at various rich locations abroad.

The Cinematography work by Satchith Paulose is impressive as he canned the entire film on a lavish note. His framing for action blocks is outstanding as well. The editing work by Aarif Sheikh is decent but would have chopped off close to ten minutes to make things more appealing.

Music by Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara is fine as they tried to elevate all action blocks with their background score.

Analysis: Just like in Siddharth Anand’s previous action films like WAR, Bang Bang among others, Pathaan also lacks a solid storyline but the director managed the full screen with some breathtaking action sequences at regular intervals.

Though John Abraham performed well in his negative shaded role, the lack of proper detailing regarding his backstory dilutes the proceedings related to his role. An Army officer forming his own network and emerging as the most wanted terrorist leader and going against the norms of the country looks unconvincing.

To summarize, Pathaan is an action-packed drama that has high-end action blocks to satisfy the audience. On the other hand, the pace of the film drops in the middle of the second half but ends up as a satisfactory watch with the final fun conversation between Tiger and Pathaan on further flicks from Yash Raj Films Spy Universe.

Verdict: Action engages!

Rating: 3/5