'Pathaan' trailer: SRK's feeble attempt to prove his patriotism in an overtly jingoistic narrative

Indian intelligence trusts only one man can save their country from the upcoming attack, an exiled soldier, Pathaan

The much-awaited trailer of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's Pathaan has finally been unveiled. As the three-minute clip begins, the camera pans toward Dubai's Burj Khalifa and focuses on John Abraham's Jim, who is all set to fire - you guessed it - a Bazooka right in the middle of the city's deserted boulevard.

Dimple Kapadia, who's assumingly essaying the role of a woman in power, goes on to decode Outfit X, a private terror group that apparently works not for ideological reasons but on contracts. And their next mission is to attack India in a manner the country has never witnessed before.

"An attack that India could never even imagine," Abraham says in the trailer. "This isn't a negotiation but an ultimatum. And your time starts now."

Pretty soon, the Indian intelligence trusts that only one man can save their country from the upcoming attack - an exiled soldier, Pathaan. We are then introduced to Khan flying punches left, right, and centre.

"If you are having a party at Pathaan's house, then he'll be present to greet you," the Dilwale star says. He then adds, "with fireworks." He then manages to escape in a chopper.

The audiences then see the first look of Padukone in her quintessential sultry look. While she gets ample screen time in the trailer, Padukone's unnecessary objectification in the clip doesn't exactly fall in her favor.

She then informs Khan that she is a soldier, just like him and invites him to join forces to fight the mission. The next scenes see Khan and Padukone engage in some top-notch fight sequences.

In the second half of the trailer, Pathaan and Jim come face to face as the latter mocks being hunted as the good and evil battle it out in combat with helicopters, trains, fighter jets, tanks, grenades, AK-47s - basically anything under the sun.

The trailer concludes with Khan saying, "A soldier does not ask what his country can do for him; he asks what he can do for this country."

Khan's feeble attempt at playing a war hero falls short in what felt like a forced narrative. Pathaan trailer feels like a poor effort to liberate the superstar's vilification in his home country by showing him a staunch patriot in his comeback film.

Helmed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra, Pathaan also includes a star cameo by Salman Khan. However, the Dabangg actor was missing from the recently released trailer.

However, according to ETimes, he will be a part of a second trailer. “Two trailers have been prepared by Adi. One of them with Salman, the other without. Adi has not yet decided if he would like to reveal Salman’s cameo in Pathaan in the first trailer. He may decide to withhold the Salman card closer to the release," a source close to Chopra revealed to the publication.

"On the other hand, Adi may decide not to reveal Salman’s cameo in the trailers at all,” the source added. The Sultan star will play the character of the RAW agent Tiger from Yash Raj’s Ek Tha Tiger series in Khan’s Pathaan.