A still from Pathaanteaser. (courtesy: YRF)
Team Pathaan is promoting the film only through trailer and songs. On Wednesday, however, the makers took a different route. They did a chat session with the film's lead actor Shah Rukh Khan and shared the video on Yash Raj Film's official Twitter handle. Last week, there were reports about John Abraham being upset about the final cut of the film. There have also been reports of a troubled dynamic with Shah Rukh Khan. A video of John Abraham dodging a question on SRK's Pathaan look also went viral amid the rumours, after which John posted a note stating what the film means to him. Coming back to the latest video posted by YRF, Shah Rukh Khan can be seen extensively talking about his co-star John Abraham (all good things). "I hope when Pathaan comes out, one of the most liked characters, genuinely is John's," Shah Rukh Khan says in a segment of the video.
Shah Rukh Khan was asked during the course of the session: "This is your first collaboration with John. Your thoughts on him playing a negative lead?" The actor replied, "I have known John since I've come to Mumbai. He is one of my first friends or first acquaintances to start with and then turned into friendship. I have known him for years. He is very shy, very quiet, very reclusive."
SRK added that he was very "keen" on John Abraham playing the antagonist in Pathaan. In his words: "I met him many times when he was doing a film or we wanting to do a film together and this happened per chance. I was very keen he does it and he was kind enough to do a role where he is really a bad guy. He is a top star. He has his own franchises happening and he has got these really cool action films happening and to decide to take on a film where he is a bad guy, you know, so takes a lot of guts."
Shah Rukh Khan spoke about how most actors refrain from playing antagonists in the Hindi film industry but John is an exception. "Takes a lot of confidence in your own self, especially when I see in the Hindi film scenario. Heroes don't play bad guys. I'd love to play a bad guy. I gained deep respect for him," said SRK.
When asked about his "experience of working with John," Shah Rukh Khan added, "It was nice working with him and all so I realised he is a gentle giant. You know when we were doing action and everything. He says...he called me a national treasure and said, 'I will not hurt you.' I said you can, its ok. He is very shy and I had to do a lot of convincing to tell him its ok, you can punch me and I won't get hurt."
"I think he is so proficient in action. He really helped me look nice you know, in body language. It was very kind of him. I think when you are doing a film with a co-star like John, there is a lot to learn from him. Being the star that he is and the respect that he has for me," said the superstar. He signed off with these words: "I hope when Pathaan comes out, one of the most likes characters, genuinely is John's. I really wish it because it takes a lot of guts to do what he has done as an actor and as a star."
Check out the video here:
Pathaan, also starring Deepika Padukone, will release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on January 25, 2023. The film has been directed by Siddharth Anand and it has been produced by Yash Raj Films.