Tiger Zinda Hai
Year: 2017
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sajjad Delafrooz

As 2017 was drawing to a close, Salman Khan’s star power was under question. The Tubelight debacle earlier in the year was a serious setback but Sallu still had one more card up his sleeve, a reprise of his 2012 spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger.

Now Tiger Zinda Hai is running to packed houses, earning millions and all is well again in Salman Khan’s kingdom!

What’s the plot?

A dreaded terrorist outfit takes control of a hospital in Iraqi town Ikrit. There are many Indian and Pakistani nurses working in the captured hospital, who now need to be rescued. The rescue mission is further complicated by the looming threat of US bombing as the terrorists have challenged the US might by killing off an American hostage.

The Indian secret service RAW- chief wants his best agent to take up this mission. But that man, nicknamed Tiger, was apparently killed off in a mission with his girl-friend Zoya, who was a Pakistani spy! Will the ‘presumed dead’ spies spring back into action?

What’s hot?

·       An entertaining first half of the film, which brings back the old characters Tiger and Zoya to life, with a Junior kid in tow!

·       Salman Khan plays ‘Rambo-cum-Mr. Smith’ secret agent with his customary cool charm and Katrina Kaif is a perfect foil as his gorgeous kickass missus!

·       Iranian actor Sajjad Delafrooz delivers a convincing portrayal of a hard-core terrorist chief.

·       Yashraj films have not spared any expenses to turn this film into a Hollywoodish glossy spy thriller. The cinematography, sound, foreign locales and stunts are top notch.

·       The songs are well-placed and catchy.

·       The supporting cast (that includes veterans like Paresh Raval and Girish Karnad) does a good job.

What’s not?

·       Ali Abbas Zafar, the co-writer and director, comes up with a far-fetched plot that decides quite early to throw logic into the bin and shoddily crams up every important contemporary world issue (US hegemony, ISIS terrorism, Indo-Pak relations, Oil politics) into the storyline!

·       The second half is a rather boring series of lengthy, implausible and often insipid action sequences.

Verdict

Tiger Zinda Hai starts off well as an entertaining action thriller with great production values. An unconvincing wishy-washy plot is further let down by too many insignificant characters and far too much action. Thankfully Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif carry this patchy Masala film on their shoulders to make it a one-time watch.

Rating

2.5 stars