Ek Tha Tiger
2012 · Directed by Kabir Khan
Original language: Hindi
- action
- thriller
- romance
The story
A top Indian agent is sent to observe the actions of a scientist but the mission complicates when he falls in love with the scientist's Pakistani caretaker.
What it’s like
Warm, sun-washed glamour with a restless spy-thriller edge: sweeping wide shots of Himalayan snow, Mediterranean coastlines and crowded Mumbai streets are lit in saturated golden tones, and the action sequences are shot with bright, punchy energy and fast cuts. The score swings between lush romantic strings and pounding percussion, and the songs break the tension with big, colourful dance numbers. The pace is brisk and uneven, moving from playful courtship to explosive set pieces and then to a more sombre, melancholy final stretch. The tone is earnest and sentimental, with a lovers-on-opposite-sides ache running underneath the gunfire. Violence is frequent and stylised, with gunfights and fistfights and some sequences of peril, but it stays bloodless and cartoonish rather than gory. There is a romantic thread with kissing and intimate moments, nothing explicit. This suits a long weekend watch with popcorn, or a Sunday afternoon when you want big emotion and easy spectacle. It is for viewers who enjoy melodrama, star-driven romance and genre thrills in equal measure, and who do not mind a sprawling runtime.
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