Tiger 3

Tiger 3 is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film, which is the fifth instalment in YRF Spy Universe, stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi. A sequel to Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai, the film is set after the events of War & Pathaan. In the film, Tiger and Zoya set out to stop a rogue ISI agent Aatish Rehman, who uses them to stage a coup against the Pakistani government in pursuit of a destructive agenda against India.

Principal photography began in March 2021 with filming taking place in Delhi, Mumbai, Istanbul, Saint Petersburg and Vienna. Pritam composed the soundtrack, having been potentially considered for Ek Tha Tiger, while the background score was composed by Tanuj Tiku, who took over duties from Julius Packiam for the 2012 original film and the 2017 sequel. Made on an estimated budget of ₹300 crore, it is one of the most expensive Indian films and the most expensive film produced by Yash Raj Films.

Tiger 3 was released on 12 November 2023 in standard, IMAX, 4DX and other premium formats, coinciding with Diwali. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with praise for its action sequences, music, score, technical aspects and cast performances (particularly Khan, Kaif and Hashmi), but criticism for its plot and pace. The film grossed ₹466.63 crore worldwide, emerging as the sixth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023 and the ninth highest-grossing Indian film of 2023.

Plot
In 1999, a teenage Zoya witnesses her father ISI agent Rehan Nazar's death in a bomb blast. After his funeral, Zoya is visited by Nazar's protege Aatish Rehman, who convinces her to join the ISI.

In the present, Avinash "Tiger" Singh Rathore is called for a mission by the new RAW chief and Shenoy's successor Maithili Menon, to rescue Tiger's former teammate Gopi Arya, who was captured in Afghanistan while trying to extract information from the Taliban about a mission being planned in Pakistan. Following his rescue, Gopi reveals to Tiger that Zoya is involved in the mission and succumbs to his injuries. Tiger begins to spy on Zoya and is later assigned to safeguard an arms supplier Jibran Sheikh in St. Petersburg, Russia, who worked with Gopi and escaped to the country after being discovered in Pakistan. Tiger witnesses Zoya's attempt to assassinate Sheikh; after saving him, Tiger is captured by Aatish, who reveals that he forced Zoya to assassinate Sheikh by near-fatally drugging and kidnapping her and Tiger's son Junior.

Past: Twelve years prior, it is revealed that Aatish sought to derail a peace treaty between India and Pakistan in Vienna by assassinating the Indian Army Chief. Zoya refuses to cooperate with the plan and ends up covertly informing the Indian consulate through Tiger. Aatish's pregnant wife Shaheen Baig attempts to assassinate the Indian Army Chief, but she gets shot and killed by Tiger. Aatish denies that his agents knew about the plan, where he was subsequently imprisoned and ousted from the ISI.

Present: Tiger and Zoya recruits their team of RAW agents, comprising Rakesh, Shenoy's trusted aide Karan and new member Nikhil, to steal a briefcase for Aatish, containing missile launch codes in Istanbul in exchange for Junior. Later, Aatish has Tiger and Zoya framed as traitors by their respective countries, despite releasing Junior, leading to Tiger's imprisonment at a military prison in Northern Pakistan. Tiger is sentenced to death, but manages to escape with the help of Pathaan.

Tiger travels to Islamabad and meets his adopted son Hassan. Tiger's team, Zoya and ISI agents Abrar and Javed return to Islamabad, where they learn that Aatish and General Imtiaz Haq, the Army Chief of Pakistan, are planning to assassinate the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nasreen Irani in order for Aatish to replace her. Seeking to save Irani, Tiger, Zoya and their team secretly enter Pakistan's PMO and reveal the plan to Irani. Tiger and Zoya take Irani to an underground bunker of Pakistan's PMO and Tiger forces General Haq to publicly reveal the plan.

However, Aatish secretly kills General Haq with the help of Javed, who shockingly betrays Karan and Abrar, killing them. Aatish frames Tiger for killing General Haq. They finally locate Irani. Hassan sacrifices himself, allowing Tiger and Zoya to help Irani escape in the process, Tiger reveals to Aatish he knew about Javed's defection, having discovered his identity as Shaheen's brother. Zoya avenges Abrar and Karan's deaths by killing Javed. A fight ensues between Tiger and Aatish, ending with Tiger killing Aatish. Irani exposes Aatish's plot to the public. Tiger, Zoya and their team are proven innocent. Tiger contacts Menon and assures her that he will always be there to serve his country.

During a post-credits scene, Colonel Sunil Luthra contacts Kabir Dhaliwal, who is in Japan and assigns him to assassinate an unidentified enemy, setting the stage for a new war.

Development
In early 2020, it was reported that a sequel to Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) was in development, with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprising their roles. In late 2020, Maneesh Sharma was roped in to direct the film, taking over from Ali Abbas Zafar who directed the previous instalment. On 4 March 2022, the project was announced by Yash Raj Films.

Casting
Shanoo Sharma was the film's casting director. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif were confirmed to be reprising their roles as Tiger and Zoya, with Emraan Hashmi cast as the antagonist, in February 2021. Ranvir Shorey was announced to return to the franchise, following his absence in Tiger Zinda Hai. Vishal Jethwa joined the cast in October 2021, while Revathi and Riddhi Dogra were cast a month later. Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan reprised their roles as Pathaan and Major Kabir Dhaliwal, in cameo appearances respectively.

Filming
Principal photography began in the third week of March 2021, in Delhi and Mumbai. A customary puja was held in 26 February 2021 at YRF Studios in Mumbai. Filming then took place in Turkey, including Cappadocia, Antalya and Istanbul, while a car chase sequence was shot in Saint Petersburg in August 2021. Additional scenes were filmed in Austria (Vienna, Salzburg and Altaussee) in September 2021. Filming resumed in India by February 2022, in New Delhi, and further action sequences were filmed in Mumbai in April 2023. Shah Rukh Khan's cameo was filmed within a 10-day schedule in Madh Island, where a large set was constructed for an action sequence. Hrithik Roshan's cameo was directed by Ayan Mukerji, the director of War 2. Filming was concluded in May 2023.

Music
The film's soundtrack was composed by Pritam, while Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya wrote the lyrics. The background score was composed by Tanuj Tiku. The first single titled "Leke Prabhu Ka Naam" was released on 23 October 2023. The second single titled "Ruaan" was released on 6 November 2023.

Marketing
A teaser titled "Tiger Ka Message" was released on 27 September 2023. The official trailer was released on 16 October 2023.

Theatrical
Tiger 3 was initially scheduled to be released on 21 April 2023 to coincide with Eid. It was then postponed to 12 November 2023 and was released across 8900 screens worldwide in Hindi with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu, coinciding with Diwali. The film was banned in Oman, Kuwait and Qatar due to its negative depiction of Islamic countries.

Home media
The film was premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 7 January 2024 and had its television premiere on Star Gold on 16 March 2024 at 8:00pm and was re-telecasted on 17 March 2024 at 12:00 pm.

Box office
, Tiger 3 grossed over inr 3457799999.9999995 in India and inr 1205500000 in overseas markets for a worldwide total of over inr 4666300000.

The film set the record for the highest opening day on Diwali for a Hindi language film grossing inr 940000000, including inr 77600000 from paid previews in North America. The film's Hindi version netted a record-breaking inr 430000000 in India, with a further inr 15000000 from its dubbed Tamil and Telugu versions, for a net total of inr 445000000. It had the biggest global opening weekend for both Khan and Kaif.

Critical response
Tiger 3 received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with praise for its action sequences, technical aspects and cast performances (particularly Khan, Kaif and Hashmi), but criticised its plot and pace.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Tiger 3 is the biggest dhamaka you can expect this Diwali" praised the second half and performances of Khan, Kaif and Hashmi and appreciated the cameo of Shahrukh Khan. Himesh Mankad of Pinkvilla gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Tiger 3 rides hugely mounted action sequences backed with power performances by Khan, Kaif and Hashmi. While pacing is an issue at some places, the core plot has enough of an emotional connect to keep you glued on the big screen. The film is an action-packed entertainer that has all the ingredients to emerge as Khan’s highest grosser till date." Sonil Dedhia of News18 gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Tiger 3 has some excellent action sequences featuring Khan and Kaif. Hashmi does justice to his role as an antagonist. There are many sweet-worthy moments in Tiger 3 including the cameos (which is known by everyone). Khan fans are in for a treat this Diwali." Vinamra Mathur of Firstpost gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Khan and Kaif submit themselves to the action of Tiger 3 with full gusto. The film looks stylish, slick, but little overlong. Only if it had more thrills and tension and less talking."

Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Tiger 3 qualifies as a good addition to the franchise with enough ammo for mass entertainment." Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Despite an overcrowded spy universe, Tiger 3 manages to hold his own ground. Khan fans won’t be disappointed, but someone give Kaif a Zoya series pronto!" Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "All the technical razzmatazz would have come to naught without the presence of a star or two who can add lustre, if only of a superficial kind, to the exercise." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Khan is looking his age, but the good thing is that he isn’t hiding it. And of course, the best part of the film is when Pathaan a.k.a. Shah Rukh Khan comes flying into the horizon with his hair still in that sexy man-bun and shooting smart one-liners." Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Too bad the one time it is friendly to the environment, Tiger chooses to celebrate his Diwali with 'meetha' and not 'pathaaka'."

Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote "Tiger 3 is massy, masala and a must-watch not because it's a masterpiece, but because it's not everyday you see two superstars sharing screen space even if that's for a little while. Sharma as director packs all the elements in a manner that it makes for an intriguing watch. While the story and broad plot is quite intricate and complex with a new twist and turn waiting to unfold every few minutes, what remains problematic is the inconsistent pace." Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint wrote "Tiger 3 is one of those films that didn’t need to have relied on pure action – the love story between Tiger and Zoya is the Tiger franchise’s main attraction. Instead, Tiger 3 focuses on a heady mix of a saviour complex and exposition. Despite new additions to the roster and older, familiar faces returning to the mix, Tiger 3 just doesn’t have the thrill and chutzpah required to make the story work.