Rating: 3/5
Banner: Yash Raj Films
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Girish Karnad, Ranvir Shorey, Roshan Seth and others
Music: Sajid-Wajid, Sohail
Cinematographer: Aseem Mishra
Story, screenplay, direction: Kabir Khan
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Release date: 15/08/2012
The 100 crores king Salman Khan is back and this time he has got the queen of hearts Katrina Kaif by his side for this spy tale. Whether it was worth the hype or not, let us see
Story:
Tiger (Salman) is an intelligence officer with the RAW and he goes across the world on various missions.
One such mission takes him to the UK as he is supposed to track the movements of a professor (Roshan Seth) as he is suspected of having links with Pakistan. In this process, Tiger meets Zoya (Katrina Kaif) who works with the professor and instantly falls in love with her. However, he doesn’t reveal his true identity and in no time Zoya also falls in love with Tiger.
But an incident takes place which takes Tiger by surprise and whether his love story with Zoya is successful or not forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Salman Khan was mild and didn’t show his routine histrionics. Given his character maybe that was needed but this is not something his fans would expect and that too during the Eid festival
Katrina Kaif is an angel of beauty and she wows with her natural elegance and irresistible sex appeal. Not much was expected from her in terms of performance but she made her presence felt.
Girish Karnad was sophisticated. Ranvir Shorey did his bit as required. It was good to see Roshan Seth back after a long time. The others were hardly there.
Highlights:
- Locations
- Katrina Kaif
- Storyline
Drawbacks:
- Slow pace
- Insufficient action dose
- Weak romance
- Logical loopholes
- No depth in intense scenes
Analysis:
A film of Salman Khan is always expected to have some really heavy action sequences and masala elements which strike a chord with the masses. But if you are expecting this and entering the theatres then you will be in for a great disappointment.
Salman has simply given in to the taste of director Kabir Khan who is known for his drama flicks. As such, Kabir chooses some really interesting and innovative themes but when there are heavyweights like Salman around, there has to be enough preparation done on the script which suits the image and appeases the viewers. The lack of adrenaline in the film is the major setback. Yes, there are few action sequences but then this was not what many expected from the movie.
The hype that it is an espionage thriller made everyone believe it would be like ‘The Bourne’ series or the new age James Bond flicks but that was not the case. The entire track comes from an inspiration of films like ‘Bourne Identity’ but they were leagues ahead in terms of quality and execution.
The first half of the film takes off with an interesting action sequence but from the fourth scene onwards things began to look spiral.
The interval bang was alright and the expectations rose with the second half but slowly the momentum got lost and plot went haywire. However, despite all the shortcomings, the film is already a commercial success due to the Salman and Katrina factor and moreover, the Muslim crowds will watch after eid which is another plus point.
But substance-wise and narrative-wise the film doesn’t have anything.
Bottomline: This tiger didn’t roar as expected!!
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected])
