Here are the six films so far part of the YRF Spy Universe:
Ek Tha Tiger (2012, Kabir Khan)
Tiger Zinda Hai (2017, Ali Abbas Zafar)
War (2019, Siddharth Anand)
Pathaan (2023, Siddharth Anand)
Tiger 3 (2023, Maneesh Sharma)
War 2 (2025, Ayan Mukerji)
Blame it on the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Once MCU
showed everyone the financial benefits of having a multi-film, multi-year plan,
others naturally followed with their own cinematic universe tie-ins. The thinking
was multiple films with crossover characters/storylines, bigger stars, bigger
budgets would lead to larger revenues. Ultimately, revenue is the long-term
goal of these cinematic universes, which ensure a longer duration for characters thereby building or maintaining fanbase loyalty in turn leading to long-term
financial growth. Of course, not all these cinematic universes have faired as
well as Marvel. DCU (DC Universe) hasn’t worked out and is now in the process
of a reboot. Indian Cinema alone has multiple such cinematic universes on the
go, with Rohit Shetty Cop Universe, Lokesh Cinematic Universe, Maddock Horror
Comedy Universe, Astraverse (unsure of its future status) and YRF Spy Universe.
YRF Spy Universe, like majority of the Indian Cinematic Universes,
was conceived only after the first initial films were released. YRF Spy Universe
only started with the 4th of the 6 films thus far. The first three
films, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, War,
were standalone films. The idea to create this YRF Spy Universe was likely
conceived after the huge success of War. Pathaan then
was the first out of these 6 films to reap the benefits of the Cinematic
Universe framework.
Action, Dance and Romance
All the six films involve Indian agents part of the RAW (Research
and Analysis Wing) agency trying to save the nation and/or its citizens from both
internal-external threats, which not surprisingly involves Pakistani ISI agents.
The main RAW agents are: Tiger (Salman Khan, all 3 Tiger films), Kabir
(Hrithik Roshan, War, War 2), Khalid (Tiger Shroff,
War), Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan), Vikram (N.T. Rama Rao Jr. , War
2), Kavya (Kiara Advani, War 2). The main ISI female
agents are Zoya (Katrina Kaif, Tiger films), Rubai (Deepika
Padukone, Pathaan).
The films are set in global locations. Even though India is
under threat, the Indian agents hop across countries faster than it would take
to be beamed via Star Trek’s teleportation device. Tiger Zinda Hai is one exception
in that the film is set exclusively outside of India (in Iraq) and involves
Tiger saving Indian nurses from a terrorist organization (plot based on a real-life
2014 incident).
In order to ensure the films have a global appeal and don’t
alienate Muslim viewers, ISI isn’t the main villain anymore but has provided a
bit of romance in the form of double agents. A hilarious line from Pathaan
has a character musing if ISI is running a dating service with Tiger, Pathaan
falling for ISI agents Zoya, Rubai respectively. With ISI no longer the main
villain, the last few films have featured rogue ex-RAW agents or mercenaries
for hire working for a global crime syndicate as the main foes. The stakes for
saving the nation have grown with each film with the nation on the verge of destruction
with each passing minute. However, it doesn’t matter how dire the situation is,
all the agents find time to dance for a few songs, show off their six-pack abs
and even have a romantic fling with female agents that look like swimsuit
models (casting criteria for female actors clearly requires looking good in a bikini).
Ranking the films in order of preference:
It feels unfair to rank or even rate these films. That is
because half the films can be disregarded as having any cinematic merit because
the three Tiger films feature Salman Khan who cannot act, despite
being one of the largest box-office stars in the country.
1. War (2019)
Easily the best film in the franchise. The action scenes are
nicely done with good acting, direction and story.
2. Pathaan (2023)
The film marked the long return of Shah Rukh Khan and was a
huge box-office success. SRK is good in his role but the film is bloated with needless
plot twists and action sequences. The film was also the first in the franchise
to feature a crossover character from the YRF Spy Universe (Tiger making an
appearance).
3. Tiger 3 (2023)
The only real merit in the film is the appearance of
Pathaan.
4. War 2 (2025)
This awful film undoes any of the good work of the first War
film. The first segment of the film feels like the director trying to
channel John Wick with a splash of Tarantino but that isn’t anything compared
to the absurd middle segment which rehashes the worst aspect of 1980s Hindi
cinema plot (long lost childhood friends). That awful middle segment introduces
melodrama which isn’t as commonplace in Bollywood as it once used to be and destroys
any narrative momentum before a final third which feels like it will never end
as the characters keep fighting and fighting.
5. Tiger Zinda Hai (2017)
This is mostly watchable in scenes when the camera doesn’t
feature Tiger (Salman Khan) but instead focus on Zoya (Katrina Kaif).
6. Ek Tha Tiger (2012)
Unwatchable. The movie features the worst masala aspects of
Indian cinema, where comedy, action, drama and songs are all mixed and thereby weaken
the overall content.
Next Steps
The run rate of this YRF Spy Universe isn’t that great. I would only qualify one of these six films as good (War), with another one as decent (Pathaan) and 0 points for the others (in fairness, I should have negative points for the others). That leaves 1.5/6 which is 25%. Of course, my personal rating has no bearing on anything and the financial returns of the films ensure this franchise will continue.
The 7th film in this franchise arrives on Dec 25, 2025 with Alpha and the post-credits of War 2 depicted the main antagonist (Bobby Doel, who seems to be every where now, be it Cinema or Streaming TV). Pathaan 2 is in the works and a future Tiger-Pathaan film as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment