Bollywood actor-producer John Abraham is playing the arch-enemy to Shah Rukh Khan's titular character in 'Pathaan'. The film's director Siddharth Anand has said that John was the first and only choice for the makers as the character was written keeping John in mind.

The director was thrilled when John said yes to 'Pathaan'. Elaborating on the same, the director said, "For 'Pathaan' to be larger than life, we needed to have a towering villain who is equally larger than life. We wanted someone who is ruthless and suave and commands an electric presence on screen. So the villain in 'Pathaan' was written keeping John Abraham in mind."