So, Tiger and Cat-rina are hiding from their respective agencies and living happily with their Cub. After Tiger fights off a bunch of wolves (actual wolves) without killing them ( ofcourse, they are wolves, not black bucks), he is pulled back into action when a bunch of terror breeding hyenas (actually, men) kidnap some Americans and hold some Indian/Pak Nurses hostage at a hospital. The American administrators bark like rabid dogs and threaten to bomb the hospital. The only way to save the lambs from becoming biryani is to set the Tiger loose on the hyenas.
Ofcourse, Cat needs to Purr as well. And so starts a menagerie of sequences that defy gravity and logic. While Cat displays her cat-alogue of Martial Art Moves, Tiger displays his pecks. They infiltrate the pack of hyenas without raising a stink, even though every move they make is fishy and manage to remain bullish even when the chips are down. Afterall, Tiger Zinda hai. And after an elephantine period of time (2 hours and 50 mins), loads of horseplay and 15 utterances of the phrase ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’, Tiger blasts the living daylights out of the Hyenas with a machine gun and saves the Lambs urf Nurses. Then he goes back to living his Henpecked life!
While Abbas Ali Zafar has the capacity to write good stuff, it is apparent that he wants to make a hardworking Sallu film. So we have Slow Motion entries, whistle-inducing action sequences and a paper thin plot. Everything just falls into place for the protagonist. And ofcourse, Abbas has to add the crowd pleasing elements like – woman empowerment (a character actually points it out so that no one misses it – this is woman empowerment, she says!). Add in a bit of India-Pakistan bhai chaara, and you have a message as well ( Aman ki Asha).
Yep, Abbas embraces Sallu’s animal instinct of being human with aplomb and creates a movie fit for monkeys! And because he does that, you have a film with extra long action sequences, useless jokes involving tu tu tu tu tu tara ( don’t even ask) and a running time that is an hour too long! While the screenplay is slick, the editing delightful, action choreography sound and background score purposeful, it just has too many ebbs and flows - specially ebbs.
So, get ready for Sallu the Santa to reindeer in the Box Office Christmas Cheer. But then do not expect a nuanced action film with a dash of logic. Yes, there are some decent performances, but the usual action film tropes come in as thick and fast as animal references in this review ( can you count how many?). Go with a lot of patience and no brains at all. Coz, Tiger Zinda hai… but logic kuttey ki maut marr gaya!
Rating: 1.5 / 5 - Technically it is well made film... but please no 3quel, let Bhai-gones be Bhai-gones....
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