Tiger Zinda Hai is not just for Salman Khan fans
Bollywood is known for churning out masala blockbusters and keeping the audiences enraptured with delightful fight sequences and spur-of-the moment twists in the tail. The Hindi film industry has experimented with different genres, but action has been one of the most sought after categories used to entertain the masses. What better than a few punches, a few shots off the bullet and some believable and some not so believable physical duals between the hero and the anti-hero.
Some action films have, however, gone beyond the depiction of mindless violence and have attempted to encapsulate a larger theme within the established narrative. The latest addition to the list of Bollywood blockbusters, Tiger Zinda Hai, is one such film. It is a perfect dose of "deshbhakti" combined with a strong message of peace and love. Some of the scenes are so thought-provoking that they warrant a critical analysis.
A sequel to Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai is mounted on an enormous scale, like all other Salman Khan movies. From the look of it, it seems to be a typical action film - cars flying in the air, guns rolling, and innumerable shots fired by Salman (Avinash Rathore aka Tiger) and his brigade to neutralise the chief antagonist and his army. Tiger Zinda Hai is, however, more much than a run-of-the-mill action drama. It has its fair share of masala and it has an enviable star cast, but what sets it apart from other films of the same genre is that it reinforces the significance of peace and harmony without too much pontification and use of hyperbole. One of the most remarkable dialogues of the film is the one in which the most popular lesson of morality, the victory of good over evil, which is taught to every Indian child is so impressively put forth - "Jab se duniya bani hai tab se har kone mein sirf ek hi jung hui hai... Sahi or galat ki, roshni aur andheray ki. (Since the inception of the world, there has been a continuing battle between right and wrong.)" This cogently outlines the very purpose of making such a film.
The success of Tiger Zinda Hai is totally well-deserved because it is not only a film with mighty stars and impressive locales but a film which in many ways is a trendsetter as far as dealing with the sensitive theme of international terrorism is concerned. We've seen films like Roja, Mission Kashmir, Black Friday, Fanaa and the like, which dealt with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. We've also been witness to films such as Baby and Agent Vinod, and a couple of others, which took the lead in portraying the heroism of Indian intelligence officers in an international context, but Tiger Zinda Hai is definitely different, and what sets it apart is the fact that it doesn't claim to be a work of cinematic genius yet makes a strong statement. It is simple, it is easy to comprehend, it is not unnecessarily preachy, and that is why the Tiger is still roaring.
One major takeaway from the film is the scene in which Tiger saves a young Syrian boy who is sent off on a suicide mission by Abu Usman, the head of ISC and the chief antagonist in the film. "Yeh hi toh humara kaam hai," retorts Tiger when his counterpart tries to convince him to leave the boy and save his own life. The entire narrative of world peace, which is being worked upon by United Nations peace missions and other peace-making organisations around the world, is projected so beautifully in that one scene, and that too without any overt effort of profundity.
The other impactful scene is the one in which Abu Usman, played splendidly by newcomer Sajjad Delafrooz, shares his woeful tale with Poorna, the nurse who agrees to treat him under life-threatening circumstances. Decoding Abu Usman isn't easy. He is the bad guy, and who cares what made him bad, but his story is also one that needs to be told. The vengeful chief of the most dangerous terror outfit of the world, threatens to hunt and kill people mercilessly as an essential prerequisite to cleanse his land and take control of it. From a Syrian diplomat's son to a professor at the New York School of Languages to a blood-thirsty Islamic fundamentalist, the journey of Abu Usman makes for an interesting sociological study.
"Aadmi uss din nahi marta jab uski saansein dum tor de…aadmi uss din marta hai jis din uss se uski izzat cheen li jaati hai (A man dies the day his honour is snatched from him, not when he stops breathing)," summarises the angst of the dreaded most-wanted. There can be no justification for terror, and there can certainly be no rationale behind a well-educated individual taking to arms and massacring people in the name of faith, but the fact that the film also provides a definitive context for the ferocious Amir speaks volumes about the film-maker's in-depth knowledge of geopolitics.
The climax is no less intense. The anti-hero challenging the hero and boastfully claiming his victory again shows the perfection of director's craft. More importantly, the way Abu Usman claims to seek revenge by releasing a video of mass execution after his supposed triumph, brings back memories of the dreadful Osama bin Laden, who was adept at using similar techniques to scare the world.
Tiger Zinda Hai is definitely going to stay with us for a while, and whether or not one is a Salman fan, it is going to be remembered for its message, for its simplicity and for its accurate portrayal of an international terrorist.
Also read: Tiger Zinda Hai: The real 'story' behind another epic Salman Khan movie