Tiger-3 as the title suggests, is the 3rd in the ‘Tiger” series of Salman Khan – Yashraj Production combo. I really liked the 1st one in the series – Ek Tha Tiger; the 2nd one – Tiger Zinda Hai was o.k and not bad and therefore I looked forward to watching this one. But then, this was being marketed as part of “YRF Spy Universe” following the other Spy thrillers from the YashRaj stable namely War and Pathan. While I liked War, I found Pathan to be a huge drag and therefore hoped that Tiger-3 wouldn’t get bogged down by the “Universe virus” that seems to be afflicting filmmakers and production houses in India these days. At the outset, I must say that Tiger-3 comes out unscathed by the virus and is eminently watchable.
The Spy thriller genre has become predictable these days where typically the story is about agents becoming double agents and becoming good agents again and so on. The storyline of Tiger-3 is somewhat similar. The lead agents played by Salman and Katrina who were agents of India and Pakistan respectively from the earlier “Tiger” movies come together again – this time to avert a major politico-military crisis in Pakistan while at the same time keeping the reputation of India clean. The premise is outlandish and the way they go about achieving the objective is even more outlandish. But then this is a “Bhai’s” film. Realism and simplicity are luxuries we don’t really expect from a Salman film.
The film is made super stylish. The camera work by Anay Goswamy is outstanding which is critical for a film like this. The action sequences directed by the duo of Anbarivu who are the flavour of the day in South Indian cinema these days (Vikram, Leo…) are top-class. Overall Maneesh Sharma, the director of the film along with the technical crew comprising of the Cinematographer, Action choreographers and the Visual/SFX team has been able to do great justice to the aesthetic demands of an action flick like this. Along with this, the “Tiger” theme music that keeps coming back in important scenes adds to the mass effect of the film. Not to forget the exotic locales in which the film has been shot.
Salman is the main star around whom the film is mounted but he saunters around with his usual swag and nonchalance knowing very well that the technical crew will elevate the film to another level. He looks jaded and tired but beyond a point, it doesn’t matter as he makes up with his screen presence and seeti maar dialogue delivery (Jab tak Tiger mara Nahi, Tiger hara Nahi} on and off. Katrina Kaif who used to be just the eye candy pair to heroes early in her career, is very impressive. As a Pakistani agent, she is fit and agile and does her action sequences far more convincingly than the Bhai himself. Among the other supporting cast, I liked Revathi who takes the place of Girish Karnad as Tiger’s handler from RA&W in this film. Emraan Hashmi as the antagonist is a surprise cast. But he gives a good account of himself with a very earnest and measured performance devoid of too much theatrics.
Sridhar Raghavan who had written the screenplay for Pathaan has done the screenplay for this film as well and I must say has done a better job here. The screenplay of course wanders into unbelievable zones now and then yet, keeps you engaged. Since it has been declared as part of the YRF Spy Universe, Shahrukh makes a “return gift” appearance in the film in a well-choreographed mass action sequence again on a bridge in the middle of nowhere. I hoped to see Hritik also somewhere but was not to be. The SRK sequence though clearly force-fitted to make it part of the Universe could be written better in future films to make it more organic.
Right at the beginning of the film, Revathy tells Salman that his next operation is called – Time Pass! That was the Director telling us as well what to expect the film to be: – A full Time Pass.
Tiger-3 is now showing on the big screen and if you like easy-going, action films that are of the Time Pass variety, I would recommend watching it in theatres.
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
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