Tiger 3: Can Salman Khan top Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan with new film of YRF Spy Universe?

The last time we saw Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan together on screen was in the mid-credits scene of Pathan earlier this year. SRK’s Pathaan and Salman’s Tiger, the two RAW super agents of the YRF Spy Universe, mulled over the idea of retirement, engaging in a cryptic chat about younger people who could possibly take over after them. The scene ended with the two heroes failing to come up with a suitable option to replace them, so they agreed to be back in action every time there was a crisis. The sequence could actually be a witty jibe at Bollywood’s state of affairs. For all the hype around the industry’s younger crop of stars, SRK with Jawan and Pathaan has proved to be the Hindi film trade’s biggest bailout in 2023 so far. Salman Khan is expected to do his bit now, when Tiger 3 opens on Diwali. The task, however, could be trickier for Salman Khan than it seems, despite the immense buzz that _Tiger 3_ has garnered in its run-up to release. Unlike SRK, who opted for a five-year sabbatical before returning with a bang in Pathaan and Jawan this year, Salman has been around with a steady flow of releases. In the six years between Tiger Zinda Hai and Tiger 3, he has churned out a flow of mega-marketed big films as is expected of a superstar. However, his box office form has at best been average during this tenure, with starrers such as Race 3, Bharat, Dabangg 3, Radhe and Antim garnering lukewarm to cold response despite aggressive pre-release promotion. Indeed, Tiger Zinda Hai, his second outing as RAW agent Avinash ‘Tiger’ Singh Rathod, has been his last blockbuster. The 2017 release raked in over Rs 339 crore as domestic nett intake and remains the actor’s biggest hit of all time in the India market. With a worldwide gross revenue of Rs 565.1 crore, Tiger Zinda Hai ranks only behind Pathaan (Rs 1050 crore) among the YRF Spy Universe films so far. The immediate challenge Salman Khan faces is obviously to better what Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan achieved upon opening in the Republic Day weekend of 2023. Clearly, SRK’s success stint as Pathaan has somewhat taken the limelight away from Tiger within the YRF Spy Universe. To bring in over Rs 1000 crores in revenues, however, will be no mean task for Tiger 3, what with the film rumoured to ride a massive budget of around Rs 300 crore. The amount is roughly double of what Yash Raj Films (YRF) invested as budget in Tiger Zinda Hai, and it reportedly makes the new Salman-starrer the most expensive film that the banner has ever produced. For Salman Khan and YRF boss Aditya Chopra, who also scripts and produces Tiger 3, things have started on a positive note. Tiger 3 witnessed big numbers on day one of advance booking, grossing around Rs 4.2 crore from over 1.42 lakh tickets sold across 7,392 shows. Like most biggies lately, the film will be released in Tamil and Telugu versions, too, apart from original Hindi language, to expand the scope of quick revenues. Prints are ready to be screened in 2D as well as IMAX 2D formats, and although Salman Khan’s name is big enough to trigger mass frenzy, the producers have ensured that the words “Following the Events of Tiger Zinda Hai, War and Pathaan” are prominently displayed on the posters, as is the introductory line “A YRF Spy Universe Film”. From Salman Khan’s perspective, there is a significant factor that differentiates the Tiger franchise from all his other hit films. When the first film of the franchise — 2012’s Ek Tha Tiger — released and became a superhit, it may have been just another Salman Khan success story. On the brink of his third outing as Tiger, however, things have changed. Post SRK’s Pathaan and Hrithik Roshan’s entry into the YRF Spy Universe as Kabir with War, the new Tiger film is much more than a Salman Khan release, or even a solo Salman Khan franchise as Dabangg. It is a world of espionage, action and melodrama loaded with the essence of patriotism that binds the individual stories of three agent protagonists — Tiger, Pathaan and Kabir — in a way that their box office fates are now intertwined in every way. It is for this reason that news of Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan and Hrithik Roshan’s Kabir appearing in highlight cameo sequences of Tiger 3 has been substantially hyped during the film’s promotional campaign. For fan interest around Salman Khan’s Tiger to grow, it is vital that the charisma of Pathaan and Kabir is also sustained.

Meanwhile, the return of Katrina Kaif as Tiger’s wife and ex-ISI agent Zoya Humaimi will likely have a popular impact on Tiger 3. The Salman-Katrina pair has shared its best chemistry in the two Tiger films so far besides sharing screen space in heavy-duty action sequences. Beyond the Tiger franchise, the duo has co-starred in four other projects till date — Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? (2005), Partner (2007), Yuvvraaj (2008) and Bharat (2019). Of these, only Partner is a clear blockbuster, but then Katrina was paired opposite Govinda in that David Dhawan directorial. Creatively, YRF seem to have taken the decision not to repeat the same director in the Tiger films. So, while Kabir Khan directed Ek Tha Tiger and Ali Abbas Zafar called the shots on Tiger Zinda Hai, franchise producer Aditya Chopra had pooled in Maneesh Sharma for Tiger 3. The choice seems interesting, for Sharma has never been billed as a director of ‘biggies’. Rather, he has been noted for his offbeat choice of content and realistic treatment of characters in films such as Band Baaja Baaraat, Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, Shuddh Desi Romance and Fan. Although an unlikely pick to direct a Salman Khan film, Sharma could prove to be ideal, given the premise of Tiger 3. Unlike its predecessor Tiger Zinda Hai, the new Tiger film isn’t strictly about Tiger and Zoya embarking on a professional rescue mission. Rather Shridhar Raghavan’s screenplay for Tiger 3 will see the spy couple being framed as traitors, and the storyline creates scope for action and suspense as they are forced to go on a dangerous mission to clear their name. The film casts Emraan Hashmi as the arch villain Atish, out to destroy Tiger, Zoya and the country. The plot and its treatment won’t be the only things unconventional for a Salman Khan release this time. Tiger 3 is the first film starring the superstar scheduled to open on a Sunday. The film’s release date of November 12 coincides with Diwali. The producers reckon Govardhan Pooja/Gujarati New Year on November 14 and Bhai Dooj on November 15 should give the film an extended run during the festive period. It may prove a smart business move, considering the Hollywood comicbook biggie The Marvels opens on Friday, November 10 — the regular movie release day of a weekend. Salman Khan could do with all the wide space he can garner, for his latest Tiger prowl at the box office. Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and journalist who loves to write on popular culture. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.