Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan teaser first thoughts: Is that Don? Ek Tha Tiger? War? Bang Bang?
Despite all its hype, the Pathaan teaser doesn't seem to carry too much of originality (photo-DailyO)
As Shah Rukh Khan turns 57 today (November 2), his fans got their birthday return gift with a teaser for his upcoming spy-thriller Pathaan. Clocking at 1 minute and 45 seconds, the clip offers a glimpse of the titular protagonist’s back story and the big-budget action sequences.
Co-stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone also make appearances as the villain and the hero’s romantic interest/possible partner-in-crime. Directed by Siddharth Anand (whose previous action credits include the Hrithik Roshan-starrers Bang Bang and War) and produced under the Yash Raj Films banner, the film is slated for a 2023 release on January 25 to capitalise on the Republic Day time bracket.
Is this Don 3? SRK fans have been demanding a sequel to Don 2 since ages and this somehow seems to be an indirect sequel! If not Don 3, Pathaan seems to give off the feel of a Don 2 remake.
Much like the antihero Don in Farhan Akhthar’s action flick, Pathaan returns from apparent retirement. Even Pathaan’s long-haired appearance seems to mirror Don’s look. Much like an introductory action scene in Don 2, Pathaan wields a shotgun to attack his captors in an almost frame-to-frame remake.
SRK’s typical half-grinning dialogue delivery in scenes seem to be ripped out of a Don 3 screenplay draft. “Apni kursi ki beti baand lo, mausam bigadne wala hai.” (Fasten your seatbelts, there is a storm coming). Yeah, that’s very Don-like of Pathaan!
Same, old tropes as previous YRF Spy films: Salman Khan’s Tiger franchise, Hrithik Roshan’s War (and its upcoming sequel) and Pathaan all collectively share the same universe, namely theYRF Spyverse. While all films are bound to share similar tropes, Pathaan’s teaser seems to go down an all-too-familiar route.
With Siddharth Anand sitting on the director’s chair, the clip’s action sequences seem to mirror the style of both Bang Bang and War. There seems to be a high-octane bike chase sequence. While the bike chases in both his previous films were impressive for Bollywood standards, here’s hoping that Anand doesn’t just rehash previous elements for his first outing with King Khan.
SRK seems to be gliding his motocross bike on an icy landscape which yet again will remind audiences of War’s third act which was shot in the Arctic Circle.
With Pathaan being tortured by his enemies in the start and then announcing his comeback with quotable “dialoguebaazi”, Salman Khan’s Tiger duology also pops up in the head.
Even the YouTube thumbnail of the clip is reminiscent of War incorporating the familiar fire-and-ice (orangish-red and blue) colour tone that are plaguing unoriginal blockbuster posters these days. So, how would Pathaan set itself apart from other YRF Spyverse films? The teaser doesn’t really offer many answers in this regard.
A touch of “desi Marvel” too: John Abraham’s villain (who seems to resemble every John Abraham character in recent memory) is shown briefly wearing a white helmet, almost making him look like the skull helmet-wearing Marvel villain Crossbones who makes a brief appearance in Captain America: Civil War.