Pathaan gave us our ‘Dhoom wala’ John Abraham back!
Yes, yes, I haven’t forgotten that SRK is in the film.
But, as much as my jaw dropped, and reached the floor while looking at Shah Rukh burn the screen with his charming smile, and deadly moves, I couldn’t help but feel in total awe of John Abraham, who has walked away with the largest piece of the cake.
Pathaan is essentially an action-thriller, with a patriotic pitch that hits the right notes. SRK plays Pathaan, a RAW agent, who is now running a separate rogue unit (JOCR), to catch the deadliest terror outfit(Outfit X); one which is beyond the concept of good and bad. Jim, the head of this organization, is played by John Abraham, who has completely stolen the show with his Ambuja cement-like solidness, combined with a cheeky and devilish charm that surprisingly works in his favour!
In fact, SRK even mentioned this in one of the promotional interviews, and while we thought he’s just being sweet and generous as always, he was actually dropping truth bombs (pun intended).
Because where on one side we already know that SRK is awesome, watching John was supremely elating, like OMG…where was this guy hiding? What took him so long to get a film that not just presented him as the quintessential ‘action hero’, something he’s anyway known for, but as someone who can do the heavy-lifting when it comes to justifying a villain like Jim. And boy, has he done a clean, and smooth deadlift!
Right from his entry scene, you know Jim means business. He stands tall, unwavering, as solid as his belief, rendering him directly at war, with Pathaan, the ultimate patriot. Ironically, there’s patriot tattooed on Jim’s neck, and we instinctively understand, what must have happened. The trope is nothing new, but the freshness that John brings to Jim’s character is simply astounding, given that he’s playing a role we’ve seen change only minimally, in so many films. There’s just something so menacing, yet calming in his eyes, it unsettles you, and makes you take him bloody seriously.
Where he shines, apart from action sequences, are his dialogues, that land as smoothly as a Vistara airline. Jokes apart, he truly made me cry in one scene, but won’t tell which one. It’s the permanent pain, in his eyes, despite the menacing smile, that leaves you feeling empathetic for a villain, who had to die, if the hero has to live.
But, for me, personally even if Jim is dead, my ‘Dhoom wala’ John Abraham has come back to life.
Here’s hoping we see him in more and more such films, that not only have maar-dhaar, but some scope for solid acting punches from him too!
This is not a Pathaan review, of course.
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