Directed by Siddharth Anand (“War,” 2019), action-thriller “Pathaan” is the fourth film in the YRF (Yash Raj Films) Spy Universe and stars an ensemble cast of Indian actors that includes Shah Rukh Khan (“Fan,” 2016), Deepika Padukone (“xXx: The Return of Xander Cage,” 2017), John Abraham (“New York,” 2009), and Dimple Kapadia (“Tenet,” 2020). The film is—in quite a few ways—the origin story of its titular character (Khan), an Indian secret agent whose rendezvous with Jim (Abraham), the mastermind of a private terrorist organization dubbed Outfit X, turns into a race against time to save the lives of millions. 

On paper, the story’s nothing new—different flavors of a country in peril with a ticking clock and an antagonist one step ahead of the good guys; you get the drill. Here’s the thing, though: Anand, for lack of a better term, just gets it. The director pushes every action set piece—and every single ab of Shah Rukh Khan (not that this writer’s complaining, really)—front and center, making sure viewers understand that every single character, place, action, and thing in the narrative have “COOL” written in the biggest-boldest all-caps possible. 

Even better? The movie is excellent, actually. “Pathaan” unabashedly wears its trope-filled narrative on its sleeve and has fun using the subversive tongue-in-cheek flair of your friendly neighborhood “Mission Impossible” film. With the dangerous magnetism of a field threatening to cross the 500,000 gauss mark, Khan walks in like a boss and arrests your attention in every action sequence (and every frame that has his shirt conveniently missing, almost like the film was made for me and me alone).

Khan doesn’t take his character too seriously, though—he seems to have a lot of fun when the narrative roasts his persona occasionally, balancing the larger-than-life aura of his relentless star power. Whether it’s in the surprise set-piece shakeup in the film’s second half or ISI agent Rubina Mohsin (Padukone) coming to his rescue, the film is packed with opportunities both the actor and Anand are more than happy to grab to give viewers a reprieve of sorts from the endless loop of status exchanges in the Indian action blockbuster landscape.

It’s not like “Pathaan” is all sunshine and rainbows, though. Much like many mainstream Indian movies, there’s always some anti-Pakistani xenophobia peppered in throughout, using the same old archetypes Hollywood’s been using in their North American gaze of the Middle East. However, cliches are used more like a tool than a crutch here; Anand and writer Sridhar Raghavan complement the heavy-handed nature of jingoism with a deliciously crunchy indictment of the government’s treatment of its key employees in the secret services as disposable.

Where “War”—also directed by Anand, preceding “Pathaan,” and part of the same cinematic universe—explored a fatal end to a critical human asset its protagonist (Hrithik Roshan; “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara;” Eng. Transl.: “You Only Live Once,” 2011) felt a personal affinity toward, Anand’s newest makes an interesting—if somewhat shaky—attempt to scratch beyond the surface of the worst that can happen when a capable agent is left for dead by their own employer. While not a novel effort in Hindi cinema—Abhinav Deo’s “Force 2” (2016), incidentally also starring Abraham, deals with a similar point of conflict—the director has a lot more fun with its extreme consequential possibilities.

(The fun part here is that the light-touch nature of its anti-establishment themes seem to sync almost poetically to the general audience being both unbothered and tired as hell of calls for its boycott by conservative pearl-clutching grifters over the color of swimwear in a music video. As of this review’s publishing date, “Pathaan” is globally the eighth highest-grossing Indian film of all time. The people have voted with their wallets, and their actions have spoken louder than words ever could).

In a welcome departure from Indian film conventions, the film’s narrative has one musical number, followed by one during its closing credits. Music-composer duo Vishal and Shekhar compose both singles. While they’re not immediately catchy, one spin on speakers or headphones with the proper fidelity is all it will take to get the ball rolling, turning them into infectious earworms. (TL;DR: they’re absolute bangers; if you’ve been sleeping on them, get on them right now and on a sound system deserving of the music).

Cinematographer Satchith Paulose, who makes his feature debut with “Pathaan,” takes over from Benjamin Jasper, whom Anand collaborated with for “Bang Bang!” (2014) and “War.” Paulose seamlessly retains Anand’s vision of Bayhem-esque bombast and dynamic visual kineticism. The VFX is good, if sometimes spotty, especially once you compare this with the spectacular effects work of Khan’s previous productions, including “Ra.One” (2011), “Fan,” and “Zero” (2018). However, depending on whether you’re having a blast and are wholly invested in the larger-than-life chaos of the film’s universe and its people, you’re bound to be more forgiving of the technical speedbumps in the overall journey.

Anand—who kickstarted his career in the mid-2000s making glitzy picture-perfect romantic comedies for the pan-Indian diaspora—has come a long way from his bumpy transition to action thrillers in “Bang Bang!,” an official remake of Tom Cruise starrer “Knight and Day” (2011). Balancing the sexy with the spectacular, the director frontloads “Pathaan” with some of the most wildly entertaining action on the big screen. (Watch out for its biggest cheer-worthy moment—mostly one-take choreographed combat in a running train that’s followed by a roaring payoff to die for).

For everyone else, there’s Shah Rukh Khan, who—after three decades as an actor—still has the kind of on-screen magnetism that made him a global sensation in films like “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (Eng. Transl.: “The Braveheart Will Take the Bride,” 1995), “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” (1998), “Kal Ho Naa Ho” (Eng. Transl.: “There May Be No Tomorrow,” 2003), “Veer-Zaara” (2004), and “Don” (2006). His presence alone is worth the price of all the tickets. Hyperbole? Sure, but it is what it is at this point.

Thanks to an action-packed narrative, stylish direction, and excellent turns from its leads, “Pathaan” is Bollywood Bayhem at its finest and a must-watch in IMAX (if only because it’s the largest screen the film presents on).

A previous edition of this review was written in collaboration with—and published in—The Black CAPE Magazine.