After a well-received teaser that played in front of Avatar: The Way of Water, and a music video that fueled a massive controversy, Yash Raj Films has debuted the first trailer for Bollywood’s first major release of 2023, Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand. Starring Shah Rukh Khan as the titular super-spy, the big-budget spectacle also features Deepika Padukone and John Abraham.
With large-scale action inspired by the Mission: Impossible movies and the Fast and Furious series, the trailer teases a handful of set-pieces that push the envelope for Bollywood filmmaking, as budgets increase along with audience expectations. Take Pathaan’s introductory scene as an example; it escalates from hand-to-hand combat to a gunfight, followed by him hopping into a chopper and using a Gatling gun against his captors.
Other scenes tease a sky-dive, a bare-knuckle brawl on the roof of a truck, and chase sequences on both an icy plain and in the air. We’re also introduced to Padukone’s fellow spy, who proposes that she and Pathaan join hands in their fight against the mysterious villain, played by Abraham. The villain, we’re told, is a mercenary who has vowed to launch an attack against India. His “ultimatum” is what forces Pathaan’s handlers to pull him out of “exile.”
