“Ek Tha Tiger”: Salman-Kat’s comeback movie

Director: Kabir Khan

Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Girish Karnad, Ranvir Shorey

Rating: *** 1/2 ( 3.5 out of 5)

There is a buzz on internet that the movie “Ek Tha Tiger” is a smartly scripted, crisply edited and stylishly mounted love story cloaked in the garb of an espionage thriller, it makes enough sense for the most part to blow away the air of skepticism.

In the movie Tiger (Salman Khan) is an Indian intelligence officer who’s sent by RAW to Dublin to keep an eye on a science professor. There he comes across Zoya ( Katrina Kaif) and expectedly falls for her. Until it turns out that even Zoya is on an undercover mission. Now Tiger has to choose between duty and love.

At first instance, it seems like the love story is barging in the spy-drama. Until you realize that Ek Tha Tiger, largely, is a love story on the backdrop of an espionage thriller and not the other way round. Once we realize that, the romance track is never a hindrance. Rather the Indo-Pak spy couple lends the love story its uniqueness. Nevertheless there is no compromise on the spy setup of the film either. Director Kabir Khan commendably balances the love story and the spy drama, with each element taking precedence at different junctures in the film as per the requirement.

Post interval, ETT goes on to focus on the Tiger-Zoya romance. Since they have unfinished business, the plot allows them to lock eyes at a peace summit in Istanbul. Passions are rekindled. This time they let their own feelings rule and elope. Chased by their own people and the enemy, the couple traipse in Cuba and other foreign locales, riding bikes and cuddling up while some lack-lustre songs play in the backdrop. One must say there is nothing raw about the Kat-Sallu romance in ETT; it’s synthetic – Add source.

However, the film does have superbly directed action sequences, foot-tapping songs by Sohail Sen and Sajid-Wajid.

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