Pathaan -  Shah Rukh Khan saves this bondesque mission impossible 

Shah Rukh Khan, hailed as the Bollywood Badshah has not had any release for four years.  Hence the hype for 'Pathaan' is sky high and the film had a grand release in over 7500 screens worldwide today.  Whether this heavily western influenced globe trotting action adventure will satisfy its target audience remains to be seen.

A cancer-stricken Pakistani General wants to take revenge on India for revoking Article 370 on Kashmir and makes a deal with an ex raw agent turned super terrorrist Jim (John Abraham).  They are planning total devastation of India with a secret weapon.  The National Security Head (Dimple Kapadia) opts to bring out Pathaan (SRK) , a super spy who, like all the super spies of the world, is in hibernation in a foreign country.  He is smoked out and assigned to bring Jim down and foil his plans.  The rest of the screenplay is not about whether Pathan can accomplish the mission but how he does it  by risking his life a hundred odd times.  And by the way there is a romance thrown in for good measure with a twist involving Rubina Mohsin (Deepika Padukone).

Shah Rukh Khan as usual charms his way frame by frame, into the audience's hearts and that too with his mischievous smile more than anything else.  He shows vulnerability when romancing the mysterious Rubina and when interacting with his chief who is more a mother figure for him.  He elevates the near immortal super spy character to believable levels thanks to his agility in action set pieces on land, water, ice, high rise buildings and the skies.  Deepika Padukone oozes glamour during her seduction and deception scenes.  At the same time she also excels in the action sequences as well.  John Abraham as the villain is adequate while Dimple Kapadia as the Indian version of M makes a strong impact in her final scene.

What works best in 'Pathaan' is the "bondesque" "mission impossible" action that hits you every other minute.  That is if you dont mind being reminded of those Hollywood biggies. Salman Khan's cameo as Tiger is mounted on an interesting train fight and gives both the superstars fans a lot to cheer for.  Watch out for a bonus at the very end.  

On the flip side the cliched characters and scenes borrowed heavily from mindless Hollywood masalas is a downer.  The lack of comedy is compensated when the villain spares the hero's life when he has the upper hand, once too often for reasons best known to him.  Post interval the action is so blatant that its mind numbing and we are not even talking about logic here.

Satchith Paulose' cinematography is on par with Hollywood spy thrillers, effectively capturing the action in the skies and on moving trains.  Aarif Sheikh's editing keeps the scenes racy and its not his fault that the screenplay is repetitive.  Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara have scored the music and while the songs are foot tapping the background score is loud and obtrusive.  Siddharth Anand has taken a beaten to death story and written a cliched screenplay and just about manages to entertain.  Yash Raj Films has produced big budgeted films with high production values.

Verdict : Go for this action entertainer if you are fans of SRK, Sallu Bhai and Deepika.