Part of the YRF Spy Universe, Salman shows up as Tiger to help out Shah Rukh’s Pathaan in the Siddharth Anand-directed spy thriller
Do you have any preferences that you find difficult to explain? And for the most part, you can’t explain why you feel embarrassed to talk about most of those things.
Salman Khan films are one of those things for me. Yes, I am sorry. I have seen every single Salman Khan action film on its opening day. I used to watch Salman Khan movies at standalone theatres since I didn’t see the appeal of doing it in a multiplex’s sterile environment. I didn’t realise Salman could make even multiplexes into single-screen experiences till the day I went to INOX South City since I couldn’t obtain seats for Tiger Zinda Hai.
And whatever the magic, it is undeniably effective, as evidenced by the ear-splitting yelling and applauding from fans at a 9am showing of Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan. This is true whether he plays the lead role in a film or has a 10-minute cameo.
Every time King Khan appeared on television, the audience would applaud wildly, but the volume of the applause skyrocketed the moment the black-and-white keffiyeh appeared through the train’s roof hole. Pathaan is drinking his coffee when Salman, as Tiger, enters the train with a to-go coffee cup and some painkillers for Shah Rukh’s Pathaan. Tiger then starts beating up goons. Shah Rukh’s response to Salman’s “bahut aaram kar liya ab thoda kaam karle?” only fueled the
What happened next was something we had been anticipating for ages. Together, they take on the bad guys, leap over obstacles, and fly through the air in slow motion before crashing onto the helpless thugs perched atop the train. “Mere Karan Arjun aa gaye!” yelled someone in the crowd. (Alright, fine, I did it.) It already feels heroic by the time they jump into the air to grab the rail line as a train is about to plunge. Salman and Shah Rukh have incredible chemistry together. Without Salman, Pathaan is pure amusement; with him, it is paisa vasool and more.
The audience couldn’t hold back when the conversation about Tiger leaving on a mission and needing Pathaan’s assistance followed. When is the upcoming Tiger movie available? Everyone in the audience was probably pondering that. Undoubtedly, I was.
For the remainder of the movie, the theatre returned to its typical (by Pathaan standards) level of noise, which included applause whenever Shah Rukh even changed his attire. Up until the post-song credit scene, when Karan Arjun is back on the railroad track. They are flexing their painful muscles while thinking to themselves, “I’m too old for this,” but what can one do? They can’t just hand over the destiny of the nation to the next generation, can they? The crowd disperses
