John Abraham (L) and Hrithik Roshan (R) in the Dhoom films
Pathaan has steered the box office into turbulence and the weather report from Twitter is thunderstorms with a chance of Dhoom 4. Fans have been manifesting, to use a trendy word, a fourth instalment of Yash Raj Film's original action franchise after the success of Pathaan, which is YRF's newest entry into their Spy Universe, also containing the Tiger films and War. Two actors from the spy-verse have previously appeared in the Dhoom trilogy. John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan played the antagonists in the first two Dhoom films; John plays the villain opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Pathaan and Hrithik Roshan starred in War.
Fans would like to see Dhoom 4 made with all or any of the above actors. Top of their wish list is a binary of John Abraham's Kabir and Hrithik Roshan's Aryan:
Just Hrithik Roshan is fine too – his character in War was named Kabir, prompting this suggestion of a Dhoom-War/spy-verse crossover:
Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't watched Pathaan – an enthusiastic fan spotted what they think is an Easter egg:
Dhoom 4 with only John Abraham's Kabir? Also good:
Fans would also like a Dhoom film with Shah Rukh Khan - thank you very much, Aditya Chopra, please make it happen. SRK has not been part of the Dhoom series so far, with the antagonist role in the third film being taken by another Khan – Aamir in a double role.
We'd be happy with any of the above options. The Dhoom trilogy is anchored by actors Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra as police officers ACP Jai Dixit and Ali Khan.
Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, has re-invented Shah Rukh Khan as an action star, shifting away from his romantic hero image. He plays the titular Pathaan, a RAW agent cast in the mould of both super spy James Bond and Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible franchise. Deepika Padukone plays an ISI agent who looks and is absolutely lethal. The big bad of the film is John Abraham's Jim, a former RAW agent who is now a terrorist for hire. Salman Khan makes a special appearance as Tiger, an agent from a separate set of films in the spy-verse.
Pathaan has shattered several Bollywood box office records ever since it released on January 24 and the crores continue to stack up – over Rs 600 crore worldwide (gross) at the end of its first week in cinemas.