Former RAW Chief Vikram Sood Admits Not Watching Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, Says 'They Could Do Better'

Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan shattered records at the box office. After an extended dry spell that Hindi cinema had gone through barring some films like Brahmastra and Drishyam 2, the Yash Raj spy-thriller rightly instilled hope in the entertainment industry. With the film soaring over the firmament at the box office, SRK ushered in a huge blockbuster post Covid-19 pandemic that also featured Salman Khan in a cameo. While the film is a part of an ambitious ‘spy-universe’,former RAW chief Vikram Sood refuses to watch Pathaan calling it an ‘inaccurate depiction’.

In a clip that is going viral on Reddit, Vikram Sood can be seen talking to Ranveer Allahabadia on his podcast. Sharing his thoughts on spy-movies of Bollywood like Pathaan, he said, “I think we haven’t got the art to do this. They could do better. They can be realistic, these are not realistic.”

He added, “You are trying to make a James Bond movie which is also not realistic. Then you have this story of the ISI girl and a R&AW man living happily ever after…take a break yaar (laughs). The whole atmospheric…I haven’t seen Pathaan and I won’t see it because I don’t think it is… its not an accurate depiction. Why to waste my time!”

However, Vikram Sood claimed that he loved Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger because it was ‘quaint’, ‘I laughed and I enjoyed that because it was so quaint, not because it depicted anything,” he expressed.

The RAW Chief also quoted Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan without taking the name of the film. He called it ‘exaggerated but entertaining’. He stated, “Salman Khan going under a tunnel to Pakistan to deliver a girl who got left in India. Theek hai yaar. Thoda exaggerate… You have to have entertainment which is fun and realistic.”

According to him, Tom Hanks 2015 film Bridge of Spies was a perfect template for spy-films, “That is a real movie. That is how real spy movies are made. It means dealing with actual facts, no blown around, no nothing around, living a lonely life, living all by yourself,” he concluded.

Pathaan forms an essential part of Yash Raj Films spy universe that already consists of adrenaline-pumping movies like Tiger Zinda Hai and War. Directed by Siddharth Anand, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer film also featured John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Ashutosh Rana and Deepika Padukone in pivotal roles. The film was released on January 25.