Pathaan’s introduction scene serves as a perfect comeback for Shah Rukh. Unlike a conventional action hero, Pathaan is introduced as a bruised and vulnerable man. With his head bowed down and his hands tied to a chair, he is being hit left, right and centre. Instead of showing us his full face, director Siddharth Anand begins with the eyes and then the lips, all of which are covered in blood and then slowly his voice saying that iconic phrase – “zinda hai”. It is a classic meta moment because Shah Rukh himself had been missing from the big screen after a string of failures. Raafe saying “Pathaan miyaan ka dil zakhami hai, Ishq aur mushq chupaye nae chupte” is symbolic of Pathaan’s emotional pain besides the physical one he is being subjected to. When Pathaan finally gets up and starts hitting back with equal force, one sees the grit behind the battered body. Like his character, Khan too has returned on the big screen as an action hero, at the age of 57, looking all lean and mean.