I met a couple who spoke reverse French. For example, they would say “aime te je” instead of “je t’aime”, meaning “I love you.” I thought it must be some unique way of expressing love — assuming everything about French is lovely. But, no, this was some kind of defense mechanism. Undoubtedly, love is the most powerful and the cleanest form of politics, so anything is achievable through love — if not in reality, then in romance. “Ek tha Tiger” celebrates the power of love.
If Salman Khan’s stupid movies like “Dabang” and “Bodyguard” did such roaring business, I wonder what “Ek Tha Tiger” will do to the box office. By far, it is the best movie of Salman Khan in the recent times. Another unexpected charm of the movie is Katrina Kaif, who has for the first time shown how beautiful she can be if given a chance — I think now she should put up a notice board outside her home declaring, “Katrina has stopped doing ‘Chikni Chameli’ and ‘Sheela ki Jawaani’ because she can do much better, so f-off.”
Like all spy movies, this movie also has lots of action, but the real action lies in the treatment given to love. The formula is time tested: the love-couple wining against the world, fighting all odds. But, in this movie, the “world” was represented by the forces of the world, so it was indeed some fight — if the fight for love can be so adventurous, who needs spy thrillers. I have to admit I enjoyed Cuba more than Ireland — fighting for love, it seems, is more interesting than falling in love, and no place can be better than Cuba for an outright rebellion. I missed the songs — I think they were not extraordinary, else I would have noticed them — this movie could have done without songs.
The movie is definitely worth watching, if nothing else then for the new avatar of Katrina Kaif. ©2012-2015 Ankur Mutreja