YRF Spy Universe

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 4^th 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 7^th 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. 

Best Films of 2024

This is an update to the previous Best Films of 2024 list. I finally now have 10 films!

Best Films of 2024

1. No Other Land (Palestine co-production, Yuval Abraham/Basel Adra/Hamdan Ballal/Rachel Szor)

Easily the most relevant film of 2024! It is amazing that this film exists at all. This isn’t the first time theft of Palestinian land is shown on camera. Pomegranates and Myrrh (2008) showed how the Israeli army uses a pretext of security to annex a Palestinian family’s home. That 2008 fictional film, albeit based on real-life scenarios, was ignored. No Other Land shows this very topic in a documentary format and it has gotten some attention. The Academy Award for Best Documentary also helped gain distribution but people will see the film and nothing will change. In fact, the land grab and stealing has been increasing after this film came out. At least, this film documents what happens and in the future, it will be evidence that the world did nothing and watched it all happen.

2. Santosh (UK/Germany/India/France, Sandhya Suri)

The core topic of the film isn’t new as many films have depicted how corruption and abuse of power allows crimes against girls/women to go unchecked. Yet, since this isn’t an Indian production, it lends an outsider observational perspective that is focused on tiny details often neglected by Indian films. Director Sandhya Suri’s previous work on documentaries is also another reason those details help in giving this film a realistic feel. In addition, there is a new angle to observe the events from women. The film is shown from the perspective of a female police officer who is wearing the uniform but who is still a civilian at heart, due to how she got the job in the first place. That allows her to straddle the line between the two worlds while still maintaining her humanity.

The two performances by Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar are top-notch.

3. Soundtrack for a Coup D’état (Belgium/France/Holland, Johan Grimonprez)

Another film that takes a topic covered before but adds a new entry point which allows things to be considered in a new light. The assassination of Patrice Lumumba has been shown on film before but the association with jazz music and the incorporation of Khrushchev’s words give plenty of food for thought. This film will always be relevant because the cycle of events that this assassination started is still impacting our world.

4. Dahomey (France/Senegal/Benin/Singapore, Mati Diop)

The film focuses on the specific return of 26 artifacts to Benin but opens up what should be a universal debate about the fate of looted property across Latin America, Africa and Asia. Highly relevant and essential viewing.

5. Cloud (Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Cloud is a gripping thriller that seamlessly weaves horror, dark humour, gangsters, crime and a social commentary of our contemporary world.

6. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong/China, Soi Cheang)

Perfect illustration of that brilliant Hong Cinema of old: incredible choregraphed fights, larger than life characters, socially relevant topic, a touch of supernatural and mythology.

7. Grand Tour (Portugal/Italy/France/Germany/Japan/China, Miguel Gomes)

The film lives up to the title yet being playful. A woman is abandoned by her fiancée who runs away yet she doesn’t give up. She follows him around the world, picking up on clues. A leisurely chase.

8. Misericordia (France/Spain/Portugal, Alain Guiraudie)

One of the most creative murder investigation films that plays with genre and expectations. There is a very subtle deadpan layer to the film which becomes apparent once the strangeness of the scenarios increases.

9. Sister Midnight (UK/India/Sweden, Karan Kandhari)

Like many films in this list, another one that creatively blends many genres together. Even though the different references and genres are admirable in their own right, not everything adds up to a coherent whole. Still, the film stands out for many stunning flourishes.

10. Universal Language (Canada, Matthew Rankin)

Matthew Rankin showed his creative talent with The 20^th Century. This time he raises the creativity bar a few more notches with a reimagined version of Canada where Farsi-French are the two official languages and people confuse Manitoba with Alberta (entirely believable from a Toronto perspective).

Honourable Mention: 

Caught by the Tides (China/France/Japan, Jia Zhang-ke)

The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien

Notes on all 18 Features of Hou Hsiao-hsien and a Top 10 list:

Cute Girl (1980)

Cheerful Wind (1981)

The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982)

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

A Summer at Grandpa's (1984)

A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985)

Dust in the Wind (1986)

Daughter of the Nile (1987)

A City of Sadness (1989)

The Puppetmaster (1993)

Good Men, Good Women (1995)

Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996)

Flowers of Shanghai (1998)

Millennium Mambo (2001)

Café Lumière (2003)

Three Times (2005)

Flight of the Red Balloon (2008)

The Assassin (2015)

This spotlight started with the Early films of Hou Hsiao-hsien(HHH) and then was completed by viewing the half-dozen missing films from his output. A few patterns emerged and I am going to arrange his films in the following phases.

HHH 1.0: light-hearted romantic films

The first three films of Hou Hsiao-hsien films fall in this category: Cute Girl (1980), Cheerful Wind (1981), The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982).

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983) stands apart from these three and can be considered HHH 1.5.

HHH 2.0: autobiographical, memories, coming-of-age

The three films in this phase are: A Summer at Grandpa's (1984), A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985), Dust in the Wind (1986).

Two of the three films are part of Hou’s Coming-of-age trilogy: A Summer at Grandpa's (1984), A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985), Daughter of the Nile (1987).

The style we associate with Hou Hsiao-hsien are present in these films: long takes, static camera, realistic settings. There are sprinkles of Ozu flourishes in Dust in the Wind, which features images of the village, sky and landscape.

A Summer at Grandpa's, A Time to Live, A Time to Die and Dust in the Wind have such a lived-in feel that they don’t feel like scripted cinema. The realism of the settings, the character’s behaviours are so well outlined that it feels like we watching a camera capture everyday occurrences of the town folk. In addition, Dust in the Wind nicely sets up the urban lifestyle challenges in the next phase.

HHH 2.5: contemporary / urban portrayals

The contemporary / urban portrayal can be its own phase, but I am putting it at 2.5 because stylistically it is an extension of the 2.0 coming-of-age phase except the main characters are in the next age category (young adults in early 20s) compared to the teenagers from the 2.0 phase.

The first film in this phase is Daughter of the Nile (1987) with the next few films separated by decades: Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996), Millennium Mambo (2001) plus the third segment of Three Times.

Daughter of the Nile is closely aligned with Millennium Mambo in showing the isolated alienated life of a young woman in a city. Daughter of the Nile is the first pure city set film of Hou’s career.

Goodbye South, Goodbye is the first film dealing with crime and gangsters even though earlier Hou films featured those elements on the fringes. The film is also a contemporary look at youth in Taiwan, something explored in Daughter of Nile and subsequently in Millennium Mambo.

The final segment of Three Times (2005, A Time For Youth) forms a connective thread along with Millennium Mambo in depicting the isolation and alienation of characters in urban centers.

HHH 3.0: political topics as background, remembrance of a time past

The political past serves as fodder for A City of Sadness (1989), The Puppetmaster (1993), half of Good Men, Good Women (1995) and also for two segments of Three Times (2005). In addition, A City of Sadness, The Puppetmaster form Hou’s Taiwan trilogy along with Dust in the Wind.

It is in this phase that HHH got plenty of universal acclaim and it is easy to see why. A City of Sadness and The Puppetmaster are two of his strongest films that intelligently use historical aspects to craft personal tales of everyday people.

HHH 4.0: films set outside of Taiwan

The films in this phase are Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Café Lumière (2003), Flight of the Red Balloon (2008), The Assassin (2015).

Flowers of Shanghai and The Assassin are set in earlier periods of China, which sets them apart from his other Taiwan based films. Café Lumière is set in Japan (primarily Tokyo) and is HHH’s tribute to Ozu while Flight of the Red Balloon is set in Paris and uses the 1956 French film The Red Balloon as a reference point.

Top 10 HHH films

With the exception Hou Hsiao-hsien’s first 3 features (the trio of romantic comedies), his remaining films are all excellent. It is tough to leave out many films from this 10.

1. Flowers of Shanghai (1998)

This stunning visual feast is the high-point of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s cinematic style! The story centers around brothels in 1880’s China where games are played and the losers have to drink up. Food is served and then someone leaves with a girl of their choice. Problems arise when love comes into the equation. A man wants to buy a woman’s freedom but that does not go as per plan. Jealousy and doubts set in, and in the end, heartbreak follows.

2. Three Times (2005)

This film is the perfect encapsulation of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s filmography as it deals with the director’s past and contemporary themes, as indicated by the title. The titles of the segments are a nod towards the director’s previous film A Time to Live and a Time to Die. In Three Times, the three segments are called “A Time for Love” (1966 love story), “A Time for Freedom (1911 segment nod towards his The Flower of Shanghai) while “A Time for Youth” is an extension of the urban characters Hou covered later in his career.

Each segment has a different colour palette with the first 1966 segment in simple colours (not too bright), the middle 1911 segment in bright colours while the final 2005 segment as grayish tones. One connecting element of the three stories in Three Times is the usage of text messages as a form of communication. All the characters use one form of the written word to express their feelings, be it via letters, scrolls or SMS text messages. The audience is brought in the loop as we get to read the messages itself in the 1911 via title cards.

3. A City of Sadness (1989)

An emotional powerful film that highlights the period of “White Terror” in late 1940s Taiwan (1945-49) by depicting the plight of the Lin family. This film marked a departure from Hou’s previous coming-of-age / rural portrayals by directly depicting the impact of political changes on Taiwanese lives.

4. The Puppetmaster (1993)

This is the second in Hou’s political films after A City of Sadness but the time period is earlier than A City of Sadness. The Puppetmaster covers the time period from 1909 to 1945 and depicts Taiwanese life under Japanese occupation. Based on the memoirs of Li Tian-lu, a real-life Taiwanese puppeteer, the film creatively depicts puppet performances spliced with snippets of Li Tian-lu’s life. As a result, the puppet performances fill a narrative gap by showing key historical events and also highlighting the Japanese propaganda that the puppet plays were meant to depict.

5. Dust in the Wind (1985)

An emotional yet beautiful love story that straddles the rural-urban divide that Hou Hsiao-hsien covered in his films. In that regard, this film is the precursor to the alienated urban life portrayed in HHH’s 2.5 phase.

6. The Assassin (2015)

The Assassin shows that in the hands of an auteur a wuxia genre can be transformed into a work of breath-taking art. Hou Hsiao-Hsien references his earlier films but also dives into a political landscape with a razor-sharp eye for detail.

7. The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

The Boys from Fengkuei observes the characters in their moments of mischief, fights, joy, sadness without adding any emotional musical cues. The film even features a motorcycle tracking shot, a sequence found in many subsequent Hou Hsiao-hsien films especially Goodbye South, Goodbye.

8. Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996)

Gangsters go through their complicated lives trying to etch out a better deal and a better future for themselves. At times the movie has shades of Hong Kong gangster/Japanese Yakuza movies but this one stands completely on its own. The film gives a glimpse into the lowest rungs of gangster business, a tier where negotiations are made over the kind of chickens to be traded, gambling rackets, family inheritances and other back-room deals. The camera just waits patiently and allows us to observe what the characters will do next, how they will react and how they will cope.

9. Millennium Mambo (2001)

With Millennium Mambo, Hou changes gears completely and portrays the club hopping life of Taiwanese youth. The film is basked in cool bluish visuals mixed with some bright neon lights as the main character Vicky (Shu Qi) alternates from clubs and bars while her boyfriend gets into fights. Shu Qi carries this film on her shoulders and the camera leisurely hovers over her as she changes clothes, walks around half-naked, makes love, gets into fights with her boyfriend and attempts to run away from him.

10. Café Lumière (2003)

The movie is HHH’s tribute to Ozu’s Tokyo and I hadn’t appreciated this movie when I first saw it because I hadn’t seen too many Ozu films. Café Lumière is a lovingly nod towards Ozu but also shows the tender restraint in Hou’s style. This film is a rarity now because it shows us a Tokyo that isn’t overrun with tourists like our current times. In a way, this film is a memory of the charm and beauty one could find in Tokyo decades ago.

Other Reading:

1. David Bordwell on Early Hou films.

2. Yvonne Ng on The Puppetmaster (note: this downloads a pdf).

3. Kent Jones on HHH in Film Comment.

4. J. Hoberman on The Puppetmaster.

5. Jonathan Rosenbaum on HHH.