Team FC
Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan has an Indian agent Pathaan (Khan) and a Pakistani agent Rubai (Padukone) flirting with each other, saving each other, and spouting humanistic values that transcend geopolitics.
In the song ‘Aankhon Mein Teri’, Shanti Priya gets out of her car to walk the red carpet, and in slo-mo, we see Om (Khan) look at her with deep reverence.
And who can forget that sequence where Rahul (Khan) climbs 300 steps with her in his arms. They are pretending to be a newly-wed couple as they are on the run from Meenamma’s father.
This is number four on the list because Padukone’s is actually an extended cameo and Atlee can’t be bothered to let Aishwarya have any identity beyond being Vikram’s wife and his son’s mother.
Charlie (Khan) embodies the kind of masculinity that doesn’t particularly lend itself to Khan, or at least, doesn’t charm to the same effect. Padukone is luminous as Mohini, a Marathi bar dancer who becomes the crew’s dance instructor to help them with a heist.