Tiger Zinda Hai Movie Review: Salman and Katrina make up for every bad film with this mind-blowing actioner
Tiger Zinda Hai Movie Review: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif give you a bonanza worth bang for the buck.
It’s that one release of the year which can do pretty well without a review. But this film has more significance in a dud-ly year that we’ve gone through. So watch this one in the right ambience, where Bhai fans are whistling at the screens and throwing money in scenes. There are fewer songs to dance on though but Tiger Zinda Hai makes up for everything that’s gone wrong at the movies this year. No, it’s not a wonderfully carved script or the best movie ever made but this is one movie that will bring the audiences back to the theatres, something that’s no longer a thing one can take for granted. Not even the superstars.
So we take on from Tiger and Zoya’s last stint in 2012. A bunch of Indian and Pakistani nurses are trapped in Iraq, a suicide mission for starters but these two extraordinary spies are given the task of rescuing them. There’s so much to admire in how Ali Abbas Zafar alters the real-life narrative on which the film is based. He blends in a jingoistic vein in the right measures as he goes on to make crucial observations about world peace and terrorism taking over at large.
It’s exquisitely shot with thumping action sequences that could be visuals straight from a Hollywood actioner. Salman is in a million bucks more as he growls and pummels people. It’s done with precision and slickness though it’s everything that Bhai fans seek, it’s not unbelievable action. There is a fantastic scene where he fights a pack of wolves. Once the plot moves to Make believe Syria (shot in Abu Dhabi), the political plotlines breathe heavy on the film. It’s interesting how Ali recreates havoc stricken Iraq. There are blatant references to multiple American movies but for Indian screens, it’s all too novel. Ali steers clear of IMG major political statements, probably his inadequacy but what he does beautifully is make a nail-biting entertainer. We all know how this is going to pan out but Ali knows how to surprise still.
While we celebrate Salman, a lot of the brilliant moments here come from Katrina. She is bombastic, matching his energy, prowess for action and yet peppering it with an inherent chemistry with Salman. A thoroughly thrilling scene had her rescue women, all blazing guns.
Salman, however, is himself every bit glorious. He is eons better than last time and maturity has only done both performers well. Iranian actor Sajjad Delfrooz is fabulous.
The beauty of the film is that Ali creates a magnum opus and yet he connects with an essentially human chord inside us. His film is a visual extravaganza and his characters are real. There is an ache in their eyes and the supporting cast is infallible. Angad Bedi, Paresh Rawal, Kumud Mishra are brilliant. It is truly the triumph of storytelling that the film despite being so plot-heavy and action heavy and character heavy, stretching to almost 2 hours 45 minutes never lets you lose interest.
We have seen a bunch of bad films, some horrible ones and a lot of unsatisfactory ones but Salman and Katrina give you a bonanza worth bang for the buck.
We rate it 75% of the Pinkvilla Movie Meter.