Much ado about Pathan supremacist

A much hyped and controversial film, featuring Shah Rukh Khan after his four flop years, Pathan is a super marked artificial thriller that shows SRK as over-rated and true to the hyped entertainer. Immature in a story, Pathan is a much ado about nothing story which is using all tricks for footing.
The film opens with pro-Pakistan sentiments. The plot shows India’s scrapping of controversial and draconian article 370 and its reaction to a Pakistani officer; who wants to harm and damage India for this bold ‘mistake’. He meets daunting Jim, an Indian Ex-Raw agent who feels dodgy by his people. RAW is shown as bad and ISI is good. He is joined by stunning confederate Rubai an ex-ISI agent (Deepika Padukone) with pushy designs.
Shockingly, the story begins by giving prominence to the anger of Pakistan on scrapping Article 370 in an Indian movie. Moreover, an officer of coveted RAW has been portrayed as a traitor. This is a very wrong narrative.
Entry of SRK or Pathan is very poor and repulsive. Pathan, Jim and Rubai twist eyes and minds, as they leap continents and indulge in perilous theatrics of fraud and retribution. All three compete to raze other’s world and secure their own. Over-acting of SRK is clearly visible.
Director Siddharth Anand gives his best to his spy thriller and failed to hide the over-action. He presents super-hero type unbelievable actions. He is fascinated by the hero-worship-type marvel of Hollywood blockbusters in a very open manner. Fabricated action and chase string, Spiderman-type wingsuits, death and gravity horrid stunts on bikes, cars, ice, helicopters and above all in the air look very artificial just like video games. Toy weapons are used. Eternal heroes and villains uttering towering dialogues, in-adequately dressed woman-all dumped together in the hyped idea of patriotism.
The director and the story aim to show Shah Rukh Khan as a superhero to safeguard his dwindling fortune with the help of actions beating emotion and romance. Only time will tell how he lets his thin body do the ‘action’ roles in those fading glory of the late fifties. The entire action and story move around him otherwise in an ordinary masala story. The story rotates around Pathan and tried to show him as a Pathan supremacist; a caste of Muslims. It seems, to show SRK as a super-star with the help of modern gadgets, a virtual world, meta verse, artificial intelligence, smart-phone, satellite phone, jetpack, multi-layered balls, high-end cars and choppers, advanced rockets and other modus operandi etc been used excessively.
In the film, the barbaric Taliban is shown as a victim of America. Similarly, all the cast are kind to Pakistan. This is a very wrong narrative. Vishal & Shekhar tried their best to highlight the hero’s centrist and boasting image on the show. John Abraham is strong in his role as Jim. In his disguised entry and stunts, he is superb and overshadows the hero.
Deepika Padukone’s body is fully on display and used as a cheer-woman dutifully dancing, double-crossing, immorally perfect and made to show her failed chemistry with SRK. She failed to dazzle in the presence of the John-SRK star cast. Her’s is the worst performance. Repeatedly twisting his face Pathan looks very ridiculous.
However, Dimple Kapadia is superb in her limited role and lends much-needed support to the shaky story and advance. She over-shadows all other characters. Ashutosh Rana appears very decent and sober as Colonel Luthra. Music and songs are very ordinary or uninviting.
Salman Khan enters very dramatically donning an Islamic scarf. Pathan uses Islamic mannerisms to greet and even Islamic ways to salute. The second half is utterly boring.
The YRF has tried its best to give a great iconic spy story to glorify SRK. Pathan has all the elements of masala banality — showman, action, fight, dancing-sexy-scantily dressed women and much hyped SRK. It is just like a video game for children, far away from reality. Now his era is on the decline…’ for the movie ”Pathaan” is now live. However, Pathan and SRK have divided cine-goers into religious lines. This is not a good trend for the nation and society.
Media has given tremendous coverage and support to Pathan and SRK. It has been giving minute-to-minute coverage and commentary of Pathan. It seems that some of the newspapers are just busy with the promotion and propaganda of the movie and SRK. Nowhere in the country, no rush or the signboards of ‘House full’ seen outside any cinema hall and multiplexes but the earnings kept on rising at a rapid pace. This is a new phenomenon. In a poor and where people have no employment, a poor movie earning 600 crore rupees within six days is unbelievable. However, the movie is another show of Pathan supremacists like My Name is Khan. Pakistan and ISI will be very happy on the box office hit of the movie.

Posted in Freedoms.