Ho il sospetto che se avessi visto Pathaan nel periodo di distribuzione in sala lo avrei apprezzato di più. Ora, quasi un anno e mezzo dopo - sfiorite le galvanizzanti aspettative, spenti i riflettori sulle prevendite da record, sugli incassi da capogiro, sulle recensioni sorprendentemente concilianti -, confesso che Pathaan non mi ha entusiasmato.
Ma.
Ma Shah Rukh Khan è sempre divorabile, pur con qualche chilo di muscolo di troppo. Anche se leggesse le istruzioni della friggitrice, il suo carisma elettrizzante, mescolato ad un talento mostruoso nel coccolare e viziare i personaggi - personaggi che, nelle sue espressioni e nel suo corpo, diventano vivi, fragranti, croccanti, dal profumo appetitoso e dal sapore paradisiaco (che la sceneggiatura lo preveda o no) -, il suo carisma e il suo talento, dicevo, mi farebbero comunque rimescolare il sangue (e scardinare la sintassi) e gridare al capolavoro. Mi farò curare.
John Abraham è godibile - troppo leccato? Non importa, rimane delizioso, interpreta il suo ruolo con eleganza e senso dell'umorismo, e si accaparra quasi tutte le battute migliori.
Poi certo, considerando l'aria che tira, alcuni dettagli di Pathaan che anni fa sarebbero passati inosservati ora ne accrescono il significato: l'eroe musulmano, l'eroina pachistana, l'eroe negativo non musulmano. Un applauso alla casa di produzione Yash Raj Films.
E poi l'aspetto principale: l'attore protagonista musulmano (SRK), sempre defilato nella cacofonia progovernativa e per questo, nel recente passato, colpito negli affetti. Alla distribuzione di Pathaan è accaduto l'incredibile e il bizzarro: un certo tipo di opposizione trasversale al partito al potere centrale si è coagulata intorno alla figura di una superstar hindi, soavemente laica, poco o niente interessata alla politica (almeno in pubblico). L'importanza di Pathaan esula quindi dai suoi - limitati - meriti artistici. Hai osato colpire un amatissimo divo bollywoodiano solo per dimostrare di averlo più lungo? Hai misurato male. Perché precipitarsi in massa nelle sale e recensire con favore la pellicola - anche da parte di critici di solito spietati - è diventato un fatto personale e un atto politico. Una forma di resistenza. Una rivincita. E un plebiscito. Perché certo, la patria, la religione, la tradizione, eccetera eccetera, ma per gli indiani solo tre cose contano davvero: il cinema, il cricket e i matrimoni. Colpisci (duro) qui? La paghi.
Un assaggio di ciò a cui Pathaan poteva aspirare, con una sana dose di leggerezza, ci è concesso grazie al folgorante cameo di Salman Khan. Il film si impenna e prende quota, le interazioni fra i due attori sono esilaranti. Si mescolano divertimento puro, eccesso, ironia e metacinema. Evidenziando così uno dei due problemi principali di Pathaan: il prendersi un po' troppo sul serio a discapito della vena umoristica. L'altro problema? Le scenografie e la scelta cromatica: ambientazioni buie, dalle tonalità cupe. Avrei preferito set più patinati e scintillanti, che giustificassero gli ingenti investimenti finanziari profusi nel progetto. Sorvolo sulla sceneggiatura: è primavera, gli alberi sono in fiore, non so se siano già tornate le rondini, ma la panna sulle fragole mi induce alla bonomia.
In estrema sintesi: sono fe-li-ce per il Re. Quanto al film, passiamo al prossimo.
TRAMA
Pathaan è un agente dei servizi segreti indiani (RAW) a capo di un corpo speciale denominato JOCR. Abbandonato alla nascita dai genitori, Pathaan, ormai adulto, nel corso di una missione in Afghanistan viene adottato da un intero villaggio di etnia pathan. A Pathaan è affidato il compito di catturare Jim, un ex collega ora pericoloso mercenario, e di sventare un attentato commissionato all'Outfit X - l'organizzazione criminale creata da Jim - da una scheggia impazzita dei servizi segreti pachistani (ISI). L'obiettivo dell'attentato è indurre il governo indiano a demilitarizzare la contesa regione del Kashmir. Pathaan si sforza di indovinare i piani di Jim e di anticiparne le mosse, ma il terrorista è sempre un passo avanti. L'enigmatica Rubai, pachistana, agente/ex agente ISI, affianca Pathaan nell'impresa.
ASSOLUTAMENTE DA NON PERDERE
* La conversazione finale fra Salman e Shah Rukh. Impagabile scambio di battute.
RECENSIONI
Mid-Day: ***
'There really is no space in this picture for anything, but a series of stunt and chase sequences, starring the super-hero the film is named after. That is, Pathaan, making grand entries on every conceivable vehicle. (...) Also, these superhero-heroine-villain fly to every corner of the world to bring you this action, live. (...) Basically, if it’s the big-screen scale you were looking for? Eat this. Which is also a reason the film becomes hard to swallow, sometimes. It’s so frickin’ cut-to-cut. The filmmakers appear so inherently insecure about somehow securing the audience’s attention. (...) Surely the climaxes (...) loses meaning, if an entire movie is a climax? Let’s just say, by the end of it, I forgot where we’d started from. But you’re okay, so long as you stick to Shah Rukh Khan in long locks, muscles ripped, setting freakish fitness goals. This is possibly the best he’s looked onscreen, in his entire career. And he’s frickin’ 57. SRK is the spectacle! (...) It's as if someone - and that’d be the producer, Aditya Chopra, who else - sat down with pen, paper, listing how many assets to add to SRK in the pic. Reasons to watch Pathaan: action, locations, plot twists, upping stakes, crazy weapons, chemical warfare, SFX (cheque, cheque, cheque). In all of this, it’s almost a miracle that the movie eventually comes together at least somewhat coherently enough (most don’t). (...) It’s merely a comment on the times that even watching a simplistic mass-entertainer such as Pathaan has seemed like a political act, leading up to its theatrical opening. A lot of it has probably to do with SRK. (...) It’s his return to the big screen, in a lead role, in four years - having delivered a bunch of duds before that. You can tell how hard he’s worked for this comeback. What one did not account for, in the interim, is how important this picture would become - to get Hindi film audiences itself to return to theatres, post-pandemic. Pathaan has felt like a massive event, alright'.
Mayank Shekhar, 25.01.23
Mint:
'Any actor can make a good film work. It takes a whole other caliber of megastar to turn an utterly nothing film into Hindi cinema’s largest blockbuster, and Pathaan is, therefore, Shah Rukh Khan’s biggest flex. Flexing, in the literal sense, is also what Khan is mostly doing in the film, which is less a movie and more an Instagram thirst-trap prompting women and men of all stripes to salivate in movie theatres and - abnormally - to take photographs of the sculpted 57-year-old for their own social media feeds. This is low-key piracy, but serious journalists, authors and cultural commentators have all fallen, rather lasciviously, for Khan’s arms and charms. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The thirst is real. This is Khan’s first release in over four years, after he has been hounded and vilified by a central government that dislikes the idea of secularism - something Khan, a Muslim who has mostly played Hindu characters, could be said to embody. He is the self-made superstar who personifies the great Indian dream of stardom, a swarthy youngster from television who, rewriting the Hindi film hero rulebook, made himself the shiniest of leading men. Times darkened. (...) In 2021, Khan’s son was arrested - and jailed - for drug-possession (while not possessing drugs). Right-wing trolls began clamouring against films featuring Muslim heroes. (...) Shah Rukh Khan stayed quiet, kept his head down, and - going by how he looks in Pathaan - hit the gym. (...) It is a film so inane that it can only work if half the dialogues are drowned out in applause, a film that is working because India wants - even needs - for it to work. This is not a review, and no review can stand in the path of this box-office juggernaut setting the country ablaze with celebratory heat. To me, Pathaan is a harebrained action movie, one without memorable action sequences or clever set-pieces. (...) It’s cheesy, desperate and politically wishy-washy, and the first half is damn near intolerable. The other entries in this “spy universe,” War and Ek Tha Tiger, are significantly better. (To those defending Pathaan, I have but one word in reply: “Boobles.”) Yet India is partying with incredible, infectious gusto. Audiences are thronging to theatres, reviews have been bafflingly kind, and the nation is swooning under Shah Rukh Khan’s spell. The actor has distorted our reality and instead of seeing this mediocre film, we are cheering the film we wish it was. We are watching, in fact, 35 years of Shah Rukh Khan spreading his arms wide open, (...) we are seeing our favourite hits reflected in Pathaan, in Khan’s half-smiles and his winks, his luscious hair and - most importantly - his secularism. As a line, “Pathaan zinda hai [è vivo]” means little. As a manifesto, coming from an embattled superstar when minorities are under threat, it may mean everything. (...) Pathaan may be one of his silliest films, but it has brought back Khan’s crown. The film comes to life, briefly, when Shah Rukh’s comrade shows up. Salman Khan (...) is electrifying in a cameo. (...) It is undeniably thrilling to watch these two agree that the job ahead of them - and I don’t mean any Pathaan-Tiger objective - is too big for the new kids. These guys need to see it through. This made me wonder whether Shah Rukh (...) could do more than save theatres from closing down or even rescue Hindi cinema itself at an uncertain time. (...) Can Shah Rukh Khan be our Prime Minister? Based on the current dispensation, it is clear a Reality Distortion Field would come in quite handy, and people may indeed vote for Khan. Perhaps that is what they’re doing right now'.
Raja Sen, 31.01.23
Film Companion:
'The true triumph of Pathaan is that, unlike most other titles, its nostalgia extends beyond the physical (...) into the realms of the ideological. Ensconced within all the ditzy spectacle is not your usual battle between good and bad. It's the one between New Patriot and Old Patriot that slowly emerges. (...) [Il protagonista] is the manifestation of a gentler age that mounted patriotism as more of a personal feeling than a political statement. (...) He isn't always the dominant force in the story. There are several moments in which Pathaan is part of the backdrop. (...) The most disarming aspect of Pathaan: Shah Rukh Khan's portrayal of the conventional action hero. The way Khan plays the role - with a sense of imperfection and humour - subliminally chips away at our perception of how patriotism must look on the big screen. (...) He's merely doing what he has always done in his India-centric cinema, but it's the widespread hate rhetoric today that refashions this identity as an elegant act of love and rebellion. (...) It's this rousing marriage of man and moment that transforms Pathaan from a self-aware entertainer - which stages a deadly virus as a campy metaphor for religion - into both cultural anecdote and political antidote. The easy way is to attribute the film's impact to Khan's four-and-a-half-year absence and this distance making our hearts grow fonder. Or his systematic movie cameos over the years, which have teased us into explosive submission. Or even the old-school publicity campaign - no press interviews, no overexposure - that made us want him harder; he didn't need a hero-entry shot because the release of Pathaan itself was the entry shot. But the better way is to acknowledge that the story of Pathaan is inextricably linked to the Pathaan story - one that has openly been unfolding in the language of breaking news and boycott hashtags. There are millions of takers for the former because it's the latter that people are subconsciously consuming; we celebrate the former because it's the latter that we feel obligated to root for. It would not only be naive but also unfair to read the success of this film as a marker of its artistic merit. Pathaan is honest enough to cement this reel-real bridge. It in fact strives to be a measure of how far a needle can be pushed for it to snap back with a calming click. A country has renewed its romance with a superstar because his action transcends the performative dimensions of the screen. Pathaan doesn't need to flaunt it, because Shah Rukh Khan has lived it'.
Rahul Desai, 21.03.23
Cinema Hindi: *** (ho arrotondato per eccesso)
Punto di forza: il Re. Qualche rischiosa sfumatura. Il fantasmagorico cameo di Salman Khan. John Abraham è una sorpresa. Ruoli femminili non solo di mero contorno.
Punto debole: sceneggiatura e regia smagliate, retorica nazionalista, estetica mortificante, coreografie deludenti. Sequenze d'azione un po' confuse e poco fluide - con la lodevole eccezione di quella del cameo di Sallu. Deepika Padukone, pur con i suoi occhi parlanti, non mi è sembrata adatta per il ruolo. Nel complesso un po' noioso, insulso.
SCHEDA DEL FILM
Cast:
* Shah Rukh Khan - Pathaan
* Deepika Padukone - Rubai
* John Abraham - Jim
* Dimple Kapadia - Nandini, superiore di Pathaan
* Ashutosh Rana - Luthra, superiore di Nandini
* Salman Khan (cameo) - Tiger, collega di Pathaan
Regia e soggetto: Siddharth Anand
Sceneggiatura: Shridhar Raghavan
Dialoghi: Abbas Tyrewala
Colonna sonora: Vishal-Shekhar, commento musicale di Sanchit Balhara e Ankit Balhara. Segnalo i brani Pathaan's Theme e Jim's Theme, entrambi composti da Sanchit-Ankit, e Pathaan x Tiger Theme (Sanchit-Ankit e, per il tema di Tiger, Julius Packiam).
Fotografia: Satchith Paulose
Montaggio: Aarif Sheikh
Anno: 2023
RASSEGNA STAMPA
* Bollywood Film ‘Pathaan’ Pushes Back Against Modi Regime’s Hate Agenda, Kavita Chowdhury, The Diplomat, 14 febbraio 2023:
'In the eyes of the public, [Shah Rukh] Khan was seen as a victim of vendetta politics, especially after his son was cleared of all charges within a year. It is no secret that the Narendra Modi-led government has not been happy with Khan for not kowtowing to the regime and for being vocal about the growing religious intolerance in the country. This is quite unlike some of his peers, who have become mouthpieces for the Modi government. Even when his family was targeted, Khan did not lash out at the BJP government but took the legal route through the courts. That he chose to answer his critics through his work and not by playing the victim or ingratiating himself to the Modi regime was silently acknowledged by the Indian public'.
Vedi anche:
CURIOSITÀ
* Pathaan ha conquistato la seconda posizione nella classifica degli incassi (India ed estero) dei titoli hindi del 2023. In prima posizione un'altra pellicola interpretata dal Re: Jawan. Fonte Wikipedia.
* I Pathan o Pashtun sono una comunità etnica stanziata in Afghanistan e nel Pakistan nordoccidentale, di religione musulmana.
* Nel 2019 il governo indiano revocò l'articolo 370 della Costituzione che conferiva lo statuto speciale e condizioni di autonomia alla martoriata, contesa regione del Jammu/Kashmir.
* Persino nel nostro Paese, grazie al circuito UCI, Pathaan si è guadagnato numerose proiezioni, molte delle quali aggiunte all'ultimo minuto, a testimonianza di un successo non previsto ma reale.
* Il personaggio di Pathaan regala uno stupendissimo cameo in Tiger 3.
* Riferimenti al cinema indiano: War, la saga di Tiger, Darr.
* Riferimenti all'Italia: secondo i titoli di coda, alcune sequenze sono state girate sulle Dolomiti.
GOSSIP & VELENI
* [Spoiler]:
- Jim poteva benissimo rubarselo lui il virus a Mosca e risparmiarci così tutta l'inutile manfrina;
- il tizio russo non si accorge di palpare del Domopak?? Ma sul serio??
- avrei preferito che Rubai fosse davvero un'agente ISI sotto copertura, e che tradisse Pathaan su ordine del suo superiore.
