Pathan | Entertaining as hell!

Although captured by a terrorist group whose leader is a former colleague, an Indian secret service agent is called upon to save his country from an attack with disastrous consequences…

In Montreal, the Cineplex Forum theater regularly shows popular Asian productions, mainly from India or China, in some of its theaters. Presented on the sidelines of the “official” circuit, without the local media being alerted in any way, these productions often achieve great success with our fellow citizens from these countries. They even sometimes offer pearls such as, recently, RRR (nominated for the Oscars in the category of best original song).

Pathan, an action film mixing James Bond and Mission Impossible in a Bollywood packaging, is currently breaking records in India since its release on January 25th. He even climbed to 3^e rank of the best receipts in North America last weekend by occupying 695 screens (A Man Called Ottoat 4^e rank, is presented on more than 3900 screens). The return to the cinema, after five years of absence, of veteran Shah Rukh Khan, superstar of the subcontinent for 30 years, and the presence of Deepika Padukone, one of the most prominent actresses in the country (member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival last year), no doubt explain the enthusiasm. Add to this the fact that Pathan is part of the “YRF Spy Universe”, a series of spy films produced by Yash Raj Films, which sometimes answer each other in winks from one to the other.

Let’s face it: you won’t find anything more entertaining in a movie theater these days. Right from the start, director Siddharth Anand (War) commands the complicity of the spectator thanks to a scene where the hero, tortured and beaten, suddenly pulls himself together, bulging muscles in a bloody shirt, hair in the wind (the budget allocated to the fans must have been quite substantial), and regains all his energy to fight his executioners. The plot of Pathan, which takes place in Dubai, Moscow, Spain, Paris and New Delhi, is secondary here. Nothing is to be taken seriously. Everything is put at the service of the show, during which are linked hallucinating action scenes, despite all logic.

There is obviously a “no relation” choreography in the middle of the story, as well as another, tradition obliges, during the credits at the end, in which the two stars perform. It’s a bit like Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly giving us a number worthy of Revolution at the end of Top Gun: Maverick. The charisma of the two protagonists also contributes a lot to the success of the film. At 57, Shah Rukh Khan, in the same club as the Brad Pitts and Tom Cruises of this world, is impressive. A British journalist also suggested recognition for the latter’s personal trainer. If ever the Oscars were to open a category to these professionals, that of Shah Rukh Khan would indeed have an excellent chance.

Presented in original Hindi version with English subtitles, Pathan is currently playing in Montreal.

Indoors

Thriller

Pathan

Siddharth Anand

With Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham

2:26 a.m.

7.5/10