Wanted to present John Abraham in a super slick avatar, says director Siddharth Anand on Pathaan first look poster

John Abraham will go up against Shah Rukh Khan in the upcoming action thriller Pathaan (2023). The two stars are acting opposite each other for the first time.

The first look of his character reveals the actor standing out amidst the ruins of a burnt out structure, emerging relatively unscathed.

Directed by Siddharth Anand, the film also stars Deepika Padukone. The film’s story is yet to be unveiled but that hasn’t kept fans from guessing what it could be about.

Anand shared, “Every announcement of Pathaan is like revealing a piece of an epic puzzle, in front of the curious eyes of the fans and audiences, leading right up to our release day. We aspire for every asset of Pathaan to be a big talking point mainly because we, fortunately, have the content to create that buzz.”

Speaking about his decision to cast John Abraham as the villain, Anand said, “John Abraham is THE antagonist, THE villain of Pathaan. And I have always believed in the fact that the villain’s projection should be as big, if not bigger than that of the hero’s. Only when the villain is massive, can the tussle between them be spectacular. And we have an extraordinary battle when Shah Rukh Khan takes on John! We wanted to present John in a super slick avatar.”

He continued, “The first looks of SRK, Deepika Padukone and now John, truly represent the zone we want the audiences to view the film in. People have now just got a taste of the world of Pathaan. This truly is just the tip of the iceberg and I can assure you that nothing can prepare you for the action spectacle that is coming your way.”

Pathaan, produced by Aditya Chopra, is due to be released on 25 January 2023 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.