Tiger 3

About the film

Tiger 3 is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. Based on a script written by Shridhar Raghavan and Anckur Chaudhry, from an original story by Chopra, the film serves as the fifth installment in the YRF Spy Universe; a circumquel to Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), it is set after the events of War (2019) and Pathaan, and stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles, with Revathi, Simran, Kumud Mishra, Ranvir Shorey, Vishal Jethwa, Riddhi Dogra, and Aamir Bashir in pivotal roles. Exploring the origins of a mutual connection between Tiger and Zoya, it explores their attempts to prevent rogue ISI agent Aatish Rehman, Zoya's former mentor, from implementing a dangerous plot against India and Pakistan.

Principal photography began in March 2021 with filming taking place in Delhi, Mumbai, Istanbul, Saint Petersburg, and Vienna. Pritam composed the soundtrack, having been originally considered for Ek Tha Tiger, while the background score was composed by Tanuj Tiku, who took over duties from Julius Packiam from the 2012 original and the 2017 sequel. Made on an estimated budget of ₹280 crore, it is one of the most expensive Indian films and the second most expensive film produced by Yash Raj Films.

Plot

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

In the present day, Avinash "Tiger" Singh Rathore is assigned by his late former boss Shenoy's successor, RAW chief Maithili Menon, to rescue Tiger's former aid, Gopi Arya, who was captured during a mission 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 a double agent working for the Pakistanis, and is involved in the mission, before succumbing to his injuries. Tiger begins to spy on Zoya and is later assigned by Menon 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.

In 2011, Aatish sought to derail a peace treaty between India and Pakistan in Vienna by assassinating the Indian Army Chief, General Ribeiro. Aatish tasked Zoya with the job, but she refused to cooperate and uses the telephone to covertly make the Indian consulate eavesdrop, where, unknown to her, the call was received by Tiger, who didn't know her back then. Aatish's pregnant wife Shaheen Baig decided to assassinate the general herself, but was shot and killed by Tiger. Aatish denied that his agents knew about the plan, leading to his imprisonment and ousting from the ISI.

Production

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 installment. On 4 March 2022, the film was announced by YRF through an announcement video.

Shanoo Sharma was the film's casting director. Khan and Kaif were confirmed to reprise their roles as Tiger and Zoya respectively, with Emraan Hashmi cast as the antagonist, in February 2021. Ranvir Shorey was announced to return to the franchise, following his absence from Tiger Zinda Hai. Vishal Jethwa joined the cast in October 2021, while Revathi and Riddhi Dogra were cast a month later. Revathi was cast in the role of a new RAW chief who would succeed Girish Karnad's character Shenoy; Karnad's demise in 2019 led to Sharma and Chopra deciding on the character leap. Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan reprised their roles as Pathaan and Major Kabir Dhaliwal, in cameo appearances respectively. Aside from the recurring characters in the universe, Kumud Mishra and Anand Vidhaat Sharma reprised their roles from the prequel. Character actor Chandrachoor Rai, who had appeared in Sharma's production debut, Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), was cast in a new role.

Principal photography began in the third week of March 2021, in Delhi and Mumbai. A customary puja was held on 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 at 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. Roshan's cameo was directed by Ayan Mukerji, the director of War 2. The entire filming was wrapped by May 2023.

Music

The film's soundtrack was composed by Pritam, with lyrics written by Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya. The background score was composed by Tanuj Tiku. The album was preceded by two singles—"Leke Prabhu Ka Naam" and "Ruaan"—and was released under the YRF Music label on 28 October 2023.

Key details