Tiger 3 Review: Tiger & Zoya's Mission Pakistan For India's Safety

Tiger 3 Review Movie Talkies

Tiger 3 Review: YRF's Spy-Universe has a new chapter with a new director, Tiger 3, helmed by Maneesh Sharma. Tiger and Zoya's story is the only established chapter in the universe, and with Tiger 3, we go back to the time before they met each other for the first time. Ek Tha Tiger started all this unrealistic stuff of RAW & ISI agents working together and falling in love, and then Pathaan also followed the same formula after over a decade. War (2019) was far from this irrelevant stuff, but it went messy in the second half with so many plastic theories. Now, Tiger 3 again deals with Tiger and Zoya's conflicts and also brings the patriotic theme back after a while. In all those 5 films of Spy-Universe (including T3), the writing has been the only problem, while the screenplay, mass appeal, action, and scale have only gone higher and higher. It's just that we are in post-pandemic times now, which demands a lot of smart writing pieces, and all SU films, right from the beginning, have failed to do it, be it ETT, TZH, War, Pathaan, and now Tiger 3. And like I said, the action and scale keep getting bigger, and Tiger 3 does that.Tiger 3 begins with the twist we have all been hoping for since the beginning. Yes, there is a connection between Zoya (Katrina Kaif) and Aatish (Emraan Hashmi). The story goes back in time to explain why, and somehow Tiger (Salman Khan) is involved too. In the present time, Tiger enters with a long action sequence to save Gopi (Ranvir Shorey), who murmurs about a double agent in his last moment. Tiger suspects Zoya and even catches her red-handed, but there is a kick to it. Aatish knows that Junior (Sartaaj Kakkar) is their common weakness, and he uses him to put Tiger and Zoya down. With family conflicts getting worse and Tiger's patriotism at stake, he and Zoya must find a way to prove his worth and also save his and her country's name. Will they be able to do it?The writing of Tiger 3 is a mix-bunch of highs and lows. This spy world is so for an intelligent audience who understands RAW, ISI, secret missions, codes, hacking, plans, and what not, which is usually seen in Mission Impossible and the James Bond series. Tiger 3 takes too long to set the plot for the masses. It takes time to differentiate whether it's personal this time or a national issue. During that process, it loses the audience's interest, and then it has to work too hard to gain it back. Some predictable twists, nationality conflicts, and revenge theories continue driving you even after a decade. It feels repetitive and lengthy sometimes. On the positive side, we have Tiger and Zoya teaming up with a bunch of officers for something that's really interesting and new. I mean, Saving Pak's PM is not a regular conflict for a Bollywood movie. Thrashing is, but saving, No. Somehow we reach a safe point by the end, as the stakes are high and action is overloaded.Salman Khan carries on with his ultimate swag as Tiger, and this time the persona is even bigger. The entry scene is bang on for a known character, and he has several other scenes that seem like an entry scene because he has those heroic moments, pauses, and dialogues. "Choti screen dekhna chodo Bhai saahab, mein aapko bade parde par live action dikhata hai," he tells a Pakistani soldier before beating him. "Hamare yaha Diwali 3 din hoti hai. Aatishbazi tumne shuru ki thi, khatam mein karunga." That's what Tiger is. Katrina, as Zoya, has different shades, and she shines in all except her accent. That towel fight scene with Michelle Lee is going to have a water drop silence in cinemas, followed by chaos by male audiences. She has another good action set in the climax at Pakistan's PM's bunker, and these two are sort of like two Hollywood-kind action segments for Bollywood audiences. Emraan plays an ex-ISI agent, and he is brutal, smart, and sorted. Hashmi adds some of his own accent to Aatish's character, which makes him pretty dark and raw. However, some more physical skills and violence could have been added here. Kumud Mishra, Revathy, Ranvir Shorey, Vishal Jethwa, Simran, Ridhi Dogra (cameo), Gavie Chahal, Aamir Bashir, and others have done well in supporting roles. Shah Rukh Khan's special appearance is massy, but I think YRF needs to look at it seriously now. In Pathaan, we saw Tiger and Pathaan taking situations so lightly. In Tiger 3, the special role is a little more extended, only to see them having some childish conversation and doing Krrish-level flying in the air, which is not at all suitable for "Indian Spy Agents". It's not just about bringing two superstars together and creating some temporary mass hysteria, but about presenting them in glorious manners. Pathaan lacked it, and now Tiger 3 does the same. However, we have Hrithik Roshan's elevated cameo in the post-credit scene to cover some lost ground.Tiger 3 has some great action set pieces—actually, the most for any film in the spy universe so far. Tiger's entry sequence, PAL Codes robbery in Russia, Pathaan's entry in Pakistan, and three scenes at the Pakistan PM's office in the ending—these are the major highlights of the film. The cinematography is good, and the background score is fantastic—especially that Tiger's theme music. Tiger 3 has two songs: Leke Prabhu Ka Naam, which appears as the end credit song, and it's a typical celebration song. Ruaan is about love and pain, but you better experience it in theatres to avoid spoilers. The first half of Tiger 3 is slow, but the second half is longer and yet faster. That's a good trick, I must say. The editing deserves credit for taking a risk in the beginning and then finding a success code by the end. Maneesh Sharma has taken the scale to a new level, while the storytelling still seems to be on a mid-level. All Spy-Universe films suffer from the same issue, but I hope they find a cure soon and we will get a memorable action film instead of one-time and run-of-the-mill action movies. While we have Tara Singh smashing Pakistanis in Gadar 2, let's enjoy Tiger doing the same, but this time the message of communal harmony is much louder. Hardly any film has Pakistanis singing India's national anthem. Tiger 3 is likely to set cinemas on fire with that scene. Sorry, but this one spoiler needed to be shared.