When Shah Rukh Khan returns to the big screen after over four years, the audience expects nothing less than a spectacle. This knowledge influenced director Siddharth Anand and producer Aditya Chopra’s decisions as they envisioned Pathaan with Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The director believes that two factors form the foundation of a slick espionage thriller — a script that stays one step ahead of the viewers, and action mounted on a grand scale. While Anand and Shridhar Raghavan developed a robust script about an R&AW agent who resurfaces after being captured in his last mission three years ago, the director roped in Mission: Impossible action director Casey O’Neill to fulfil the second requirement.

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