Speaking to Film Companion, “Pathaan” director Siddharth Anand talked about how actors are often “very bad dialogue writers,” but SRK has a gift for improvising one-liners that end up being adored by audiences, and the same was the case with the “Boobles” joke in the film (a play on the Russian currency, Rubles). Anand explained that SRK’s ability to be “tongue-in-cheek” was reflected in some of the improvisations he came up with on set:
“Shah Rukh Khan is great at one-liners; he’s very tongue in cheek, as you know. So, I must say, the ‘boobles’ line is his. […] So he came and said, ‘Can I do this?’ I laughed, I said, ‘Now that I’ve laughed, let’s do it. But, let’s do an alternative also’ […] A line like ‘boobles’ I cringe and die at because it’s so not me [laughs] but people seem to find it funny.”
Apart from improvised lines, one of SRK’s many appeals lies in the way he chooses to deliver certain dialogue, immediately making them memorable enough to be quoted incessantly by casual moviegoers. “Pathaan” screenwriter Abbas Tyrewala spoke to Hindustan Times about SRK’s ability to ground even the most outlandish of scenarios with his screen presence and dialogue delivery, allowing blockbuster superstars like him to “get away with a degree of over-the-top flamboyance because they have the personalities that can carry it off.”
This is also the case when it comes to the larger-than-life character he plays in “Pathaan,” whom SRK helps to make feel believable with just the right amount of nuance. After all, any Shah Rukh Khan film that allows the actor to demonstrate the incredible range he’s capable of is bound to be a memorable one.
