Pathaan director Siddharth Anand has opened up about actor Shah Rukh Khan’s character in the film not having a religion. In a new interview, Siddharth also revealed that there is a deleted scene about the character, that might be included in the OTT release. Siddharth said that he, Aditya Chopra, and Pathaan writers Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyerewala have 'the same belief system'.
In Pathaan, Deepika Padukone’s character asks Shah Rukh's character Pathaan if he is a Muslim. He told her that he was given the name Pathaan after he helped rescue children in an Afghan village.
In an interview with Galatta Plus, Siddharth spoke about the religion of Pathaan, "It's the synergy that Abbas, Sridhar, Adi and me, it's the four of us, not the three of us. The four of us having the same belief system, and the same films we’ve adorned, grown up on, and believed in and the cinema that we believe in. We share that, we share the same sentiment. So, the fact that he doesn’t have a name, and he’s found in a theatre that was actually called Navrang, which got edited out, which you might see in the OTT version."
He also added, "None of us looks down upon it, none of us says this is cheesy. We all come in with, 'Oh that's a great idea and then he became Pathaan because of this reason and now he has no religion, he has only his country that matters to him'. It's the synergy of like-minded people who give confidence to each other."
Last month, Siddharth spoke about Pathaan. As quoted by news agency PTI, “I know we have pushed the envelope to deliver a film that has connected with audiences worldwide. So, now I have to go the distance in every film that I make henceforth. This moment is for the entire team of Pathaan to savour, for the entire Hindi film industry to savour because it is a rare, rare accomplishment.”
Pathaan, a Yash Raj Films (YRF) project, released in theatres on January 25. A globetrotting espionage thriller, Pathaan follows the titular spy (Shah Rukh Khan) who comes out of exile to stop terrorist group Outfit X from launching a debilitating attack on India. The movie also stars John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Dimple Kapadia, and Ashutosh Rana.