Pathaan (film)

Pathaan (pronounced [pəʈʰaːn]) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan in the titular role, alongside Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, and Ashutosh Rana. It is the fourth instalment in the YRF Spy Universe and the first instalment in the universe to establish crossovers between characters from other universe films. The film follows Pathaan, an exiled RAW agent, who works with ISI agent Rubina Mohsin, to take down Jim, a former RAW agent turned rogue, who plans to attack India with a deadly lab-generated virus.

Principal photography commenced in November 2020 in Mumbai. The film was shot in various locations in India, Afghanistan, Spain, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Italy, and France. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vishal–Shekhar, while Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara composed the background score. The film was made on an estimated production budget of ₹250 crore (US$30 million).

Pathaan was theatrically released in India on 25 January 2023, coinciding with the Republic Day weekend. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It broke several box office records for a Hindi film, including the highest opening day, highest single day, highest opening weekend and highest opening week for a Hindi film in India. It eventually emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time in India to that point and set records in all major overseas markets. Pathaan grossed ₹1,050.30 crore (US$120 million) worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2023, third highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, and eighth highest-grossing Indian film of all time. At the 69th Filmfare Awards, the film received 16 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress (Padukone), and won Best Female Playback Singer (Shilpa Rao for the song "Besharam Rang"). A sequel is in development.