Tiger 3
Starring Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif , Emraan Hashmi, Revathi, Riddhi Dogra
Directed by Maneesh Sharma
The good news first. Tiger 3 is infinitely better than all his recent films which reeked of self indulgence. As Avinash Singh Rathore, alias Tiger, Salman is more in-character than you will see him being in any film since Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
Now the bad news: Tiger 3 is not half as engaging as the first two instalments of the Franchise. The tactile tension of the first two parts is conspicuously absent this time, as if the heart has gone missing from the action. The overwrought narrative is carpeted with stylish stunts. But they all seem… stunted! There is a lack of spontaneity and, dare I say, vivacity in Salman’s action moves. In contrast, Shah Rukh was discernibly more agile on his feet while decimating his enemies in Pathaan and Jawaan.
Most problematic among the salient characters is Emraan Hashmi’s terrorist villain act. He is so uni-dimensional in his in-your-face extremism , I wished he would have tried a little nuancing in the villainy. Emraan is capable of it.
Interesting actors like Revathi, Riddhi Dogra, Kumud Mishra, Ashutosh Rana, Ashutosh Rana have little to do. You can’t even call them cubs in this tigerish tale.
Katrina Kaif has a surprisingly lot to do in the bustling (but sadly centreless) screenplay for a Salman starrer. Or maybe she has so much to do BECAUSE it is a Salman starrer. Be as it might, the lady delivers quite a wack, although the “towel trounce” seems way too manufactured. Why fights in a towel if not to cover up for the lack of freshness and novelty which plagues the perky but shallow presentation.
Worse of all, the ‘fun’ element is whittled down to negligible in Tiger 3. Shah Rukh Khan’s two back-to-back actioners Jawaan and Pathaan were a whole lot of fun, as were Salman’s two previous Tiger films, specially Part 2.
Part 3 for all its ambitious action pieces and a ‘serious’ statement on terrorism (Tiger and his buffer-half Zoya have to prove their nationalism) takes itself too seriously. Director Maneesh Sharma ticks all the box-office boxes. But there is no sense of a comicbook caper caprice in the consciously kickass presentation.
There is a line in the recent Michael Fassbinder action film The Killer that the leading man Michael Fassbinder keeps repeating while expelling his adversaries : “Anticipate, don’t improvise”.
Tiger 3 is guilty of the opposite: it is too busy anticipating audience’s response to improvise. But yes, it is a well-shot technically sound visually flash action drama—a pat on the back for Anay Goswamy spectral lensing—with much more to offer to the Salmaniacs than his Eid release. Na kisi ka bhai na kisi ki jaan, this time Salman Khan fights for country and family .And it is not quite the ultimate actioner his fans expect. But it serves its purpose.
