Shahrukh Khan (SRK) in Pathaan Movie - 2023
Cast and Crew :-
Pathaan is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films. The fourth installment in the YRF Spy Universe, it stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham, alongside Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana. Written by Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala from a story by Anand, the film is about Pathaan, an exiled RAW agent, who must work with ISI agent Rubina to take down Jim, a former RAW agent-turned-traitor, who is planning to spread a deadly lab-generated virus across India at the behest of a Pakistani military general.
Shooting Locations :-
Principal photography for Pathaan began in November 2020 in Mumbai. The film was shot over various locations in India, Afghanistan, Spain, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Italy and France.
Music and Singer :-
Two songs were composed by the duo Vishal–Shekhar, while Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara provided the score.
Budget:-
The film was made on an estimated production budget of ₹225 crore (US$28 million) with a further ₹15 crore (US$1.9 million) spent on print and advertising.Against the norm, pre-release publicity was limited with no media interactions or public events.
Release Date :-
Pathaan was released in India on 25 January 2023, coinciding with the Republic Day weekend, in IMAX, 4DX and standard formats along with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu.
Box Office Collection:-
It received positive reviews from critics and broke several Indian box-office records, including the biggest opening day and opening weekend for a Hindi film.Further opening records were set in overseas markets.Grossing ₹1,003.02 crore (US$130 million) worldwide, Pathaan ranks as the highest-grossing Indian film of 2023, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023, the highest grossing Hindi film in original language, the second-highest-grossing Hindi film worldwide and the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time, it is currently the seventh highest grossing film of 2023 worldwide, as well as the highest-grossing of Khan's career and Yash Raj Films' releases.
Story and Plot :-
In 2019, the Indian Government revokes Article 370, which grants special status for Jammu and Kashmir. The news impacts a cancer-ridden Pakistani army general, Qadir, who decides to exact vengeance against India. He signs a contract with Jim, who leads "Outfit X", a private terrorist organization. Meanwhile, Pathaan, a former RAW agent, and his senior officer, Nandini, open a unit dubbed, "Joint Operation and Covert Research" (JOCR), to recruit former RAW agents who were forced to retire due to past trauma or injury, but want to serve the country.
With RAW joint secretary, Colonel Sunil Luthra's acceptance, Pathaan and his team head to Dubai to stop Outfit X's plans of attacking the President of India at a scientific conference. However, they realize that their actual plan was to kidnap two scientists, Dr. Farooqi and Dr. Sahani, instead, and the information they received about the imminent attack on the President, was a ruse to mislead them. Jim attacks the scientists' convoy and Pathaan tries to stop him. A fight ensues, where Jim manages to escape with Dr. Sahani. At the debrief back at the agency, Luthra reveals that Jim was a former RAW agent and Kabir's partner, who was awarded with the Vir Puraskar for his bravery, after the agency could not find his body when Somalian terrorists killed his wife and unborn child, in a negotiation gone-wrong. He had apparently faked his death in order to seek vengeance against the agency and country for not saving his family.
Meanwhile, Pathaan learns about the codeword dubbed "Raktbeej" and also that the dead people in Dubai were ex-agents and their money was transferred from the account of Rubina Mohsin, a Pakistani doctor in Spain. He travels to Spain and is captured by Jim's men, where he also learns that Rubina is an ex-ISI agent. When Jim leaves his hideout, Rubina attacks Jim's men and escapes with Pathaan. Rubina reveals that Raktbeej is in Moscow, where they travel to steal it before Jim does. However, Rubina betrays Pathaan and has him captured by the police. It is revealed that Jim used Rubina to make Pathaan steal the Raktbeej for himself. Pathaan is captured and taken to prison, by train, but is saved by Tiger.
Three years later, Pathaan travels to Africa and captures Jim's henchman, Raafe. He meets Nandini and reveals about Jim purchasing two saber missiles, while Nandini reveals Rubina's location in Paris. Pathaan meets Rubina, who reveals that the Raktbeej is a mutated smallpox virus, forcibly developed by a captive Dr. Sahani, under Jim's orders. She also expresses guilt about betraying Pathaan without knowing that her country would plan such an attack. They travel to Jim's lab in Siberia and manage to recover one orb containing the virus, with great difficulty, while Jim escapes with the other orb. Luthra and Nandini reach Jim's lab, to take the orb back to a research facility, in India, to develop a vaccine. Luthra also has Rubina arrested, for having questionable loyalties.
At the research facility in India, Dr. Farooqi demonstrates the orb to Nandini. Jim calls them and reveals that the orb has already spread the virus in the facility. The infected scientists, along with Nandini, all die in the facility by shooting themselves, to curb the spread of the virus. Later, the facility is destroyed in a controlled blast. Jim provides an ultimatum to evacuate Indian soldiers out of Kashmir, within 24 hours. Pathaan interrogates Raafe about the location of the missile, and learns that the missile is situated in Afghanistan. After rescuing Rubina, they lure Jim's associates into a trap, and attack Jim's base. Qadir is killed by Rubina before activating the missile, containing the virus. Pathaan chases after Jim with a jetpack, and they both crash land into a cabin.
Meanwhile, Rubina deactivates the missile, but finds that Raktbeej is not in the missile, but instead in a passenger-bound airplane, which is about to land in Delhi. She informs Pathaan, who finds that Jim has the detonator. Luthra calls the air traffic control to prevent the plane from landing in Delhi. In the cabin, Pathaan and Jim fight brutally, resulting in the cabin begin sliding off a cliff. Despite getting stabbed by Jim, Pathaan steals the detonator, deactivates Raktbeej, and throws him out of the cabin, as the foundation is about to break. While Jim holds onto a plank, Pathaan takes away his Vir Puraskar, deeming him unworthy of it. He stomps and breaks the plank Jim was holding onto, resulting in Jim falling to his apparent death. Afterwards, Pathaan is reinstated into RAW and made as the head of JOCR, while Nandini is posthumously awarded for her bravery.
In a mid-credits scene, Pathaan (SRK) and Tiger (Salman Khan) are seen pondering about retiring and suggesting young agents who can replace them, but eventually decide to keep fighting the threats themselves.
