Culture Representation: Taking in various countries in Asia and Europe, the action film “Tiger 3” features an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A husband and wife, who are government spies for competing agencies, get into various problematic entanglements involving betrayals and conspiracies.
Culture Audience: “Tiger 3” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Tiger” movie franchise/YRF Spy Universe and movie’s headliners, but the movie is overly convoluted with almost nothing original to offer.
Katrina Kaif in “Tiger 3” (Photo courtesy of Yash Raj Films)
“Tiger 3” is the continuation of 2012’s “Ek Tha Tiger” and 2017’s “Tiger Zinda Hai,” a movie series about love partners who are also spies for the Indian government. All three movies are part of the larger YRF (Yash Raj Films) Spy Universe, which includes 2019’s “War” and 2023’s “Pathaan.” “Tiger 3” certainly has the production budget to be a big movie spectacle, with all the expected explosions and over-the-top fight scenes. It could have been a much better action film, but too much silly dialogue and too many formulaic scenarios lower the quality of the movie. It’s a globetrotting spy flick that frequently changes locations but tells the same type of revenge story.
Directed by Maneesh Sharma and written by Shridhar Raghavan, “Tiger 3” has a convoluted story that often gets unfocused. It’s not necessary to “Ek Tha Tiger” and “Tiger Zinda Hai” before seeing “Tiger 3,” but it helps if you want more information about the main characters. Seeing these previous two movies will just show that “Ek Tha Tiger” and “Tiger Zinda Hai” are better than “Tiger 3.”
The two spy spouses who are at the center of the “Tiger” movie series are Avinash “Tiger” Singh Rathore (played by Salman Khan) and Zoya (played by Katrina Kaif), who each work for different government agencies. Tiger works for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which is the foreign intelligence agency for India. Zoya works for The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is the largest intelligence agency for Pakistan.
“Tiger 3” begins in London, with a flashback to October 1999, when Zoya (played Gurket Kaur) is in her late teens or early 20s. She is shown doing kickboxing exercises with her father Rehan Nazar (played by Aamir Bashir), who works for ISI. Rehan is soon killed in an explosion. Rehan’s ISI colleague Aatish Rehman (played by Emraan Hashmi) asks Zoya if she wants to lead a normal life or follow in her father’s footsteps. Of course, viewers know what decision she makes.
“Tiger 3” then jumps to the present day to show an elaborate rescue mission sequence where Tiger is supposed to save his former handler Gopi Arya (played by Ranvir Shorey), who has been trying to get information about a planned assassination of a RAW agent named Jibran Sheikh (played by Neeraj Purohit) in Pakistan. And what a coincidence: Zoya is somehow involved in this assassination plot. (Her reason won’t be revealed in this review.)
The movie then zig zags between betrayals, kidnappings, framing for crimes and imprisonments, while the story jumps around from place to place in various countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and Austria. Somehow, with all this mayhem going on, and Tiger and Zoya spending very little time at home, viewers are supposed to believe that they are also attentive parents to their son Junior (played by Sartaaj Kakkar), who’s about 11 or 12 years old.
But surprise! There’s another member of the family who is introduced in “Tiger 3.” This long-lost family member is named Hassan Ali (played by Vishal Jethwa), who meets Tiger for the first time in the movie. Hassan’s relationship to Tiger is explained in the story, which just seemed to throw in the Hassan character just to add to the overstuffed plot.
One of the worst scenes in the movie is a fight between Zoya and a mysterious operative named General Zimou (played by Michelle Lee), who attack each other inside a luxury spa in Istanbul. Zoya and General Zimou are wearing nothing but towels in this fight scene. And during the most brutal parts of the fight, the towels unrealistically stay intact.
General Zimou is an unnecessary character, so this fight scene looks like it was put in the movie as an exploitative gimmick to show two women fighting while barely clothed. The male stars of “Tiger 3” would never have been asked to do this type of scene that tries to tease the audience into thinking that there will be some nudity from the brawlers during the fight. It’s all just so blatantly sexist filmmaking that treats women as sex objects.
Tiger’s supervisor is RAW chief Maithili Menon (played by Revathi), who seems to be in the movie as a useless boss, since she doesn’t know a lot of what Tiger is up to and doesn’t really help when Tiger needs her the most. The movie also does a terrible job of convincing any viewer with common sense that Zoya and Tiger, who openly live together as spouses, can continue to fool their competing government agencies that this marriage is not a conflict of interest to their jobs. Because of the movie’s ridiculous action scenes, the mediocre-to-bad acting, and flimsy plot twists, “Tiger 3” becomes mind-numbing after a while and does not earn its long-winded 156-minute total running time.
Yash Raj Films released “Tiger 3” in select U.S. cinemas on November 11, 2023, and in India on November 12, 2023.
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed cities in India, the romantic comedy/drama film “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” features an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A wealthy heir and a TV news/talk show host, who have very different personalities from each other, begin dating each other and have ups and downs in their relationship, especially each one agrees to live with the other’s family for three months before getting married.
Culture Audience: “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching romantic comedy/dramas that are sometimes over-the-top but have overall good stories with capable acting.
Aamir Bashir, Anjali Anand, Ranveer Singh and Kshitee Jog in “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” (Photo courtesy of Viacom18 Studios)
At first glance, “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” (which is Hindi for “the love story of Rocky and Rani”) seems like a formulaic Bollywood romantic comedy/drama, with elaborate musical numbers and the expected conflicts and reconciliations in a movie that goes on for more than 150 minutes. (The total running time of “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” is 168 minutes.) “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” has elements of a stereotypical romantic comedy/drama, but there’s also some clever satire, as well as plenty of interesting commentary about society’s gender role restrictions. The movie’s production design and cinematography are visual treats.
Directed by Karan Johar, “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” takes place in unnamed cities in India and is an “opposites attract” love story. Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan and Sumit Roy co-wrote the “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” screenplay. It’s not the best romantic movie you could see in a year, but “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” has enough appealing qualities to be entertaining for people who want to see a love story on a grand scale. It’s a very glamorous-looking movie with a lot of down-to-earth issues that are often difficult for people to discuss.
In “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” Rocky Randhawa (played by Ranveer Singh) is a wealthy heir to a successful confection company called Dhanlakshmi Sweets. He is from a Punjabi family whom he describes in the beginning of the movie as “Crazy Rich Indians.” Rocky, who is in his 30s, isn’t what anyone would call an “intellectual.” He also doesn’t do much with his life. He’s not considered smart enough to run the family business.
Rocky lives in a household with three generations of people. His family is very conservative and believes in traditional Indian ways, such as they expect Rocky to have an arranged marriage, not a marriage where he chooses his own spouse out of love. Rocky’s snobby grandmother Dhanalakshmi Randhawa (played by Jaya Bachchan) founded the business that made the family’s fortune. She takes pride in the fact that the recipe for the company’s most popular sweet is a well-kept secret.
Dhanalakshmi is married to Kanwal Lund (played by Dharmendra), who uses a wheelchair and has a brain injury, which are the results of an accident where he fell down some stairs. Kanwal has lost a lot of his memory and motor skills because of his brain injury. It’s later revealed that Dhanalakshmi and Kanwal’s marriage has been loveless for quite some time, even before his accident, but they’ve stayed together out of tradition.
Rocky’s parents have very different personalities and a fairly unhappy marriage. Rocky’s father, who is the son of Kanwal and Dhanalakshmi, is Tijori Randhawa (played by Aamir Bashir), a domineering and stern businessman who is currently the leader of Dhanlakshmi Sweets. Tijori’s wife is the passive and timid Punam Randhawa (played by Kshitee Jog), who has had a long-suppressed desire to become a singer.
Rocky has a younger sister in her 20s named Gayatri “Golu” Randhawa (played by Anjali Anand), an insecure bachelorette who has a talent for being a financial manager, but Tijori discourages Golu and Punam from having careers. Tijori believes that a woman’s only roles in life should be as a wife and a mother. Punam and Golu are plus-sized women, so Tijori sometimes insults his wife and daughter about their weight and body sizes.
Meanwhile, independent-minded career woman Rani Chatterjee (played by Alia Bhatt) has a completely different family from Rocky’s family. Rani grew up in a liberal and progessive Bengali family, and her parents are happily married. Rani, who is an only child and in her late 20s, is a famous TV news/talk show host. She’s very intelligent, opinionated, and assertive. When she interviews people, Rani is a fearless truth seeker who has a low tolerance for dishonesty.
An early scene in the movie shows Rani in a combative interview with a sexist politician named Minister Alok Pradhan (played by Akashdeep Sabir), who is very dismissive of a high-profile rape case that has recently been in the news. He has a victim-blaming attitude toward the female victim. Rani berates him about his misogyny during this live TV interview.
After the interview, Rani’s best friend/co-worker Somen Mitra (played by Namit Das) nervously scolds her about how she talked to this high-ranking politician: “You’ll get us taken off the air,” Somen frets. Rani doesn’t care, and she doesn’t doubt her abilities as a journalist. She wears her outspoken, truth-seeking style like a badge of honor.
Just like Rocky’s living situation, Rani also lives in a three-generation household. Her widowed grandmother Jamini Chatterjee (played by Shabana Azmi) is very opinionated and is a romantic at heart. Jamini’s son Chandon Chatterjee (played by Rota Roy Chowdhury), who is Rani’s laid-back father, is a professional Kathak dancer who teaches Kathak dance classes, mostly to children and women. Rani’s mother/Chandon’s wife Anjali Chatterjee (played by Churni Ganguly) is an English professor who is a stickler for people having the correct grammar and spelling.
Near the beginning of “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” Randhawa family is attending a prestigious business ceremony where Tijori is getting an award. During this ceremony, Rocky’s grandfather Kanwal mistakes a female stranger named Mona Sen (played by Sheeba) for being a woman named Jamini. It’s an embarrassing incident because Kanwal approaches Mona by calling her Jamini and starts kissing her as if he’s her lover. Kanwal’s family offers a profuse apology to the surprised Mona, who accepts the apology when it’s explained that Kanwal has a brain injury.
However, Rocky is very curious to know who Jamini is and why his grandfather acted in this amorous way to someone whom Kanwal thought was Jamini. Rocky and his goofy best friend/trainer Vicky (played by Abhinav Sharma) do some research on the Internet. The only clues they have are Jamini’s name and Kanwal’s ramblings about Shimla Coffee House in the year 1978. Kanwal has also been repeating this sentence out loud: “When will the red color leave me?” Viewers will later find out what he means by that statement.
Rocky and Vicky find out through their Internet research tha Jamini is a retired woman who happens to be the grandmother of famous TV host Rani. Rocky and Vicky show up unannounced at the TV network where Rani works. Rocky and Vicky introduce themselves to her and tell them that they think Rocky’s grandfather Kanwal and Rani’s grandmother Jamini had some kind of connection from the past.
Rani is skeptical, but Rocky gives her his contact information, just in case. Rocky, who knows that Kanwal is ailing and unhappy, thinks it would be a good idea if Kanwal could see Jamini again to cheer Kanwa up. Rani doesn’t take this request seriously at all. She thinks that Rocky and Vicky are just two clownish fans who barged into her workplace because they wanted to meet her. When Rocky and Vicky leave, Rani starts laughing.
But later, when Vicky is having dinner with her family, she tells the story of what happened to her at work that day. As soon as she mentions the name Kanwal, Rani’s grandmother Jamini looks like she just saw a ghost. Privately, Jamini takes Rani aside and tells her a secret that Jamini has had for years: In 1978, Jamini and Kanwal had a brief but passionate love affair while they were married to other people.
Kanwal and Jamini decided to end their secret affair so as not to ruin their respective marriages. The former lovers have not seen or spoken to each other since then. Jamini says that Kanwal was the love of her life. Rani knows that Jamini has been sad and lonely lately, so she decides she’s going to help Rocky to arrange a reunion for Jamini and Kanwal.
Some viewers might have a problem with this part of the movie, because Kanwal (even though he’s in an unhappy marriage) is still married. Are these two grandkids trying to encourage infidelity? “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” makes it look like the intentions of Rocky and Rani are to give Kanwal (who is unlikely to be sexually active) one last chance at happiness. In the process of reuniting their grandparents Kanwal and Jamini (who are thrilled to see each other again), a romance develops between Rocky and Rani.
But as expected in a romantic drama, things don’t go smoothly for the main couple. Rocky and Roni have sizzling chemistry together, but the differences in their intelligence causes some conflicts. Rani is the type of person who is well-read and very knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects. Rocky doesn’t like to read, he’s clueless about current events, and he wouldn’t be able to identify major historical figures if he tried.
There’s a comical scene in the movie where Rocky meets Rani’s parents at the Chatterjee home, and he mistakes a portrait painting of poet/artist Rabindranath Tagorean for being a grandfather of Rani’s family. Rocky often has poor grammar, which doesn’t impress Rani’s English professor mother at all. Rani’s parents are also concerned that even though Rocky is wealthy and doesn’t need to work, he doesn’t seem to be doing much with his life.
Rocky’s father Tijori and Rocky’s grandmother Dhanalakshmi disapprove of Rani because she’s an outspoken feminist. They think she’s a terrible match for Rocky, who is still being pressured to have an arranged marriage. Rocky’s mother Punam and Rocky’s sister Golu approve of Rani but are too afraid to really admit it out loud to Tijori and Dhanalakshmi. Rani encourages Punam and Golu to have more self-confidence.
Rocky and Rani are very much in love. Rocky wants to marry Rani as soon as possible, but she doesn’t want that type of commitment. Rani also has concerns about the differences between their respective families. A long stretch of the movie is about Rani not even wanting to admit that her relationship with Rocky is more than a fling.
When Rocky keeps pushing the issue of marriage, Rani comes up with this idea: For three months, Rocky should live with her family, while she lives with Rocky’s family. Rani says that at the end of this three-month period, if they can tolerate each other’s families, then Rocky and Rani should get married. This is the part of the movie that has some predictability, but there are also a few surprises.
It’s easy to see that Rani’s feminism is hard to accept by certain members of Rocky’s family. Rani isn’t the only person in her family who expierences sexism. Her father Chandon is ridiculed by certain members of Rocky’s family because they think Chandon’s Kathak dance job is too “effeminate” for a man. Rani also inherited some of her intellectual elitism from her mother. Rani has some trouble getting past the fact that Rocky will never be knowledgeable about many things that Rani cares about.
Of course, there are breakups and makeups in “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.” The long-lost romance of Kanwal and Jamini serves as a reminder to Rocky and Rani about what can happen when the “love of your life” gets away. The music-video-styled song-and-dance numbers range from highly energetic for the fast and midtempo songs to competely mushy and soap opera-like for the ballads. However, after the movie is over, it’ll be hard to get the movie’s ballad theme song “Tum Kya Mile” (sung by Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal) out of your head. “Tum Kya Mile” means “what did you get” in Hindi.
“Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” also has the benefit of a talented cast giving mostly believable performances. Bhatt as Rani and Azmi as Jamini are the two standouts because they are compelling in the range of emotions that they express in this movie. Rani is someone who is very commitment-phobic and seems to want to run away from romantic love when it’s right in front of her. Jamini wants nothing more than to have romantic love and commitment in her life, but it’s elusive because her soul mate is married to someone else and has a faulty memory.
“Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” doesn’t pretend to have all the answers about love. It’s debatable if Rocky and Rani ultimately would be a good match in a long-term marriage. But what will resonate with many viewers is the movie’s message of true love being a precious gift that should be cherished, and true love is about accepting loved ones for who they are. It’s a message wrapped up in a very familiar Bollywood movie package, but the story and performances have enough unique charm to make “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” a memorable viewing experience.
Viacom18 Studios released “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on July 28, 2023.
