Last Updated: February 15, 2023, 09:44 IST
Pathaan dialogue writer Abbas Tyrewala decodes Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan.
Abbas Tyrewala made his debut as a dialogue writer with Shah Rukh Khan’s historical drama, Asoka, in 2001.
Shattering all box office records, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham starrer Pathaan has emerged as the biggest Hindi film having crossed the Rs 450 crore mark at the domestic box office. Globally, it is just a few digits shy of touching a staggering Rs 1000 crore. People continue to swarm theatres to watch Shah Rukh lighting up the big screen with his charisma more than four years after his last release. Not only has his action hero avatar grabbed the audience’s attention but its music, the palpable chemistry between the lead pair and the camaraderie between two of the biggest superstars of the country – Shah Rukh and Salman Khan – have created euphoria among them.
But that’s not it. In what is being billed a complete package of an entertainer, its one-liners are garnering the same amount of love from fans across the globe with Instagram reels galore being made on them. Needless to say, Abbas Tyrewala, the dialogue writer of Pathaan, is beyond elated. Interestingly, he marked his debut as a dialogue writer with Shah Rukh’s 2001 historical drama, Asoka, a film which might have had an underwhelming performance at the box office but is still remembered for being a risky proposition. For many, the choice made by King Khan, who is widely loved and revered as a romantic hero, to be back to the game with Pathaan was a risky call too.
Reacting to it, Abbas exclusively tells News18, “I would turn to his answers and take them at face value. He recently said at an event, ‘I don’t think anything I do is a risk. Unless I believe that it’s going to be the best thing ever, I won’t be able to do it. If I believe that a project I’m doing is risky, I wouldn’t be able to do it.’ He feels that he isn’t taking a risk at all.”
Not all ambitious projects starring Shah Rukh might have had a safe landing at the box office, but Abbas believes that it’s his intention and belief that inadvertently draws him towards the unconventional route. “He comes to a project because he believes that it will become the next best thing. It’s only later that he may find out that it wasn’t the best decision. He doesn’t look at films thinking it’s a dangerous project which might not be liked but still take a risk,” he explains.
Lauding the superstar, the Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008) director states, “It’s a mentality I can be intrigued by but I wish I could share it because I don’t have that kind of chutzpah or confidence. At the time when Shah Rukh decides to do any project, he believes in it so deeply. Sid (Siddharth Anand; director) also shares that trait. He has no doubt that his next films are bigger than his previous ones. That’s a kind of confidence that only some people have and that’s the only way they can function.”
But their confidence has borne fruit and a sweet one at that. Quiz Abbas if they have had the chance to celebrate the massive success and he says, “I’m no longer the person who parties to celebrate success. I would rather have a nice visit to a dargah. One grows up. But I also think YRF (Yash Raj Films) doesn’t have a party culture unlike a lot of other places. They take professional joy and there’s a lot of bonding over success but it doesn’t immediately become an excuse to become shit-faced. Everyone here is really happy and smiling from ear to ear. Debauchery, I suppose, is for other films and other production houses.”
In fact, when Pathaan hit the screens amid much excitement and fanfare among fans, Abbas was quietly tucked away at his house in Goa. With theatres running to packed houses, he failed to catch the film on its day of release. But when he visited the theatre a day later, what he saw was sheer frenzy. “I went to catch the noon show of Pathaan in Madgaon, which is close to my place in Goa but unfortunately, I didn’t get tickets. We were about three people and would have had to sit scattered in the first row. So, we decided to watch it the next day,” he remarks, adding, “In the first couple of days, everyone said that multiplexes felt like single screens. It’s such a wonderful thing to hear. I think the last time something like this happened was when Lagaan (2001) had released and had everyone go crazy.”
