Opinion Action hero, patriot, ‘Pathaan’: The recasting of Shah Rukh Khan

His new screen persona is more in sync with the mood of the nation

Shah Rukh Khan fans celebrate during a show of 'Pathaan', in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

Alaka Sahani

January 28, 2023 11:12 AM IST First published on: Jan 26, 2023 at 12:09 PM IST

In one key scene in the just-released Pathaan, Deepika Padukone asks her co-star Shah Rukh Khan if he really is a Muslim. Khan, who plays the titular Pathaan in the spy thriller, gives a long-winded answer about growing up in an orphanage after his parents left him at a cinema hall. He goes on to say: “Mere desh ne meri parvarish ki hai (My country brought me up). That’s why I chose to serve my country and joined the army.”

In recent years, the 57-year-old superstar, notwithstanding his enduring appeal and stardom, has been questioned, on several occasions, about his religious identity. Off-screen, Khan has always maintained that his wife (Gauri) is a Hindu and he himself is a Muslim, while their children are Indians. In Pathaan, Khan recasts himself as a patriot and action hero, over three decades after he entered showbiz and gained widespread popularity for his charming, dimpled, heart-throb image.

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The reinvention of his screen persona, with a touch of patriotism, is in sync with the prevalent mood of the nation. A number of recent movies have tried to capitalise on this by celebrating the heroic exploits of our armed forces and soldiers. In fact, earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 21 islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be named after 21 Param Vir Chakra recipients.

Pathaan is Khan’s way of not just reclaiming his box-office pull — with phenomenal opening week advance booking — but also his religious and ethnic identity. A flashback sequence set in a village in Afghanistan shows its residents treating him as a member of the Pathaan clan, after he saves the lives of their children. Does this sub-plot allude to Khan’s earlier speaking about being part Pathaan as his father’s family were originally Pashtun (Pathaan) from Afghanistan? Possible.

The movie’s title track even extols the virtues of being a Pathaan. That’s, in fact, something several Hindi movies such as Kabuliwala (1961) and Khuda Gawah (1992) have done too. When the song ‘Jhoome jo Pathaan’ plays along with the end credits, the feeling is almost surreal. It’s a reminder that the movie’s title remains unchanged despite pre-release protests and boycott calls.

Over the course of the two-and-a-half-hour movie, Khan gets enough opportunities to express his love for India. As a spy and soldier, he takes plenty of risks for his country’s security. He is referred to as “Bharat ka beta (a son of India)”. He gets to glorify the role of a soldier and valour. Paraphrasing former US president John F Kennedy’s famous speech, Khan says: “Don’t ask what the country has done for you. Ask what you have done for the country.” Yet, his character does not take the easy path of banking on jingoism to get audience applause. Instead, Pathaan lets his wit and humanity shine through.

This pop patriotism works. Combined with rousing action set-pieces and dialoguebaazi, this brings back the thrill of watching a typical Hindi entertainer on the big screen. The idea of patriotism creates a framework for the spectacle that Khan headlines, ably aided by Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The film, which is garnering a positive audience response, sends out the resounding message to those writing Hindi cinema’s obituary that it’s ready to make up lost ground. It’s only apt that Khan, who has long held the title “Badshah of Bollywood” and is considered to be one of India’s biggest cultural ambassadors, conveys this message in style.

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The audience validation for Pathaan reiterates Khan’s position as a bankable actor, who cuts across different sections and generations of viewers. As he returns to the theatres in a leading role after a four-year hiatus, he puts a trying phase in his personal life behind himself (in 2021, his son Aryan Khan was arrested on charges of possessing drugs and was later found not guilty) along with professional setbacks. With two more films featuring Khan — Jawan and Dunki — scheduled to release this year, he has his task cut out.

In the movie, Khan talks about ‘kintsugi’, the Japanese art of joining broken pottery pieces with gold. In real life, will the principles of this unique art guide him as he reconnects with the masses and steps into a new phase of his career with a renewed screen image and energy?

Write to the author at alaka.sahani@expressindia.com