Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai Quick Recap Before Watching Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif In Tiger 3

New Delhi: As 'Tiger 3' releases in cinemas on Sunday, Nov 12 on the occasion of Diwali 2023, every fan seems to be waiting with baited breath for what the third installment of the Tiger films will bring. Salman Khan will return as R&AW agent Avinash Rathore while Katrina Kaif will reprise her role as Zoya, former Pakistani intelligence agent, who also plays Salman's love interest in the film.

As 'Tiger 3' releases, here is a quick recap for those who may have forgotten or for newcomers to the franchise about 'Ek Tha Tiger' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai'.

'Ek Tha Tiger'

'Ek Tha Tiger' directed by Kabir Khan, marked one of many associations of the filmmaker with the megastar Salman Khan. The film was written by Kabir Khan with screenwriter-journalist Neelesh Misra.

'Ek Tha Tiger' released in 2012 and can safely be called the first spy film from the Yash Raj banner that marked a niche and set the prototype of the Yash Raj spyverse.

The film starred Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, late actor Girish Karnad, Ranvir Shorey, Roshan Seth and Gavie Chahal.

'Ek Tha Tiger' revolved around an Indian spy, played by Salman Khan( Avinash Singh Rathore also known with the code name Tiger) who has to recover some information before the same is done by Pakistan.

However, during the secret mission, Avinash falls in love with Zoya Humaimi( Katrina Kaif), a secret agent from Pakistan's ISI.

Ek Tha Tiger Plot

Avinash's violent missions lead his boss Shenoy( Girish Karnad) to deploy Tiger on a relatively peaceful mission of observing Indian scientist Anwar Kidwai at Trinity College in Dublin. The scientist is suspected of making novel anti-missile technology.

Avinash or Tiger poses as Manish Chanda, a non-fiction author trying to write a book on Kidwai and other Indian academics. To have access to Kidwai's house, Avinash befriends Kidwai's caretaker, who happens to be Zoya, a British-Indian Trinity college dance student.

As sparks fly between the two, Salman and Katrina's characters fall in love. Later, Tiger/Avinash is attacked by a mysterious assassin and soon Avinash finds out that Zoya is in fact and ISI agent on a mission to steal Kidwai's research.

After Zoya refuses to hand over information on Kidwai to Tiger and returns to India with him, he lets her go after an attack by Feroz, the ISI agent who attacked Tiger earlier. Back in India, Tiger is removed from field duty and receives an  intercepted Pakistani secret message. Tiger then deduced from the message that it was planted by Zoya, who had planned her arrival at an upcoming UN meeting in Istanbul.

Tiger and Zoya, then elope to Havana. However, after R&AW and ISI's intervention, ZOya is captured by the Cuban police. Tiger then makes a bargain with R&AW. He agrees to cooperate with the agency in exchange of Zoya's escape. 

Towards the end of the film, Tiger and Zoya seem to be on a run as they are spotted in various cities across the world but happily living together.

'Ek Tha Tiger' was a box office success and was largely received positively by critics as well.

'Tiger Zinda Hai'

'Tiger Zinda Hai' released in 2017. The film was written and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. It was also co-written with Neelesh Misra. As a sequel to 'Ek Tha Tiger', Zoya and Avinash come out of hiding to save nurses held hostage by a terror organisation called ISC in Iraq.

The story of 'Tiger Zinda Hai' was inspired by the 2014 abduction of Indian nurses by ISIL. 

Director Kabir Khan refused to return for a sequel and thus Ali Abbas Zafar was hired as the writer and director for the sequel, and thus, the film underwent several delays.

As one of the most expensive Hindi films made, 'Tiger Zinda Hai' also broke several box office records and largely received positive reviews from all.

'Tiger Zinda Hai' plot

The film opened in November 2017, eight years after the events of 'Ek Tha Tiger'. ISC is a terrorist organization functioning in Iraq. A leader of ISC, Abu Usman, is shot by the Iraqi Army during a rally and taken to a local hospital which also serves a s training centre for Indian and Pakistani nurses.

Usman then orders ISC's increased security measures in the hospital and this makes CIA awry. During this, Maria, an Indian nurse, calls in the Indian Ambassador in Iraq and informs him about Indian and Pakistani nurses being held hostage.

The CIA then informs Tiger's boss Shenoy about the proposed airstrike and gives him seven days to rescue the nurses. 

In the meanwhile, Avinash Singh Rathor and Zoya , who are now married and have a son Junior, are living in Innsbruck. The two are located by Shenoy and Karan Rao, and the two inform the agents about the hostages.

Despite initial reluctance, Tiger accepts after Zoya's insistence as an illegal migrant worker in Iraq. As Tiger struggles there after initial setbacks, Zoya also arrives at the opportune moment to save Avinash.

Later, the two decide that ISI and R&AW should work together to rescue hostages. 

The two create a plan and after much struggle, they manage to free all nurses and Tiger assures Shenoy that he will always be there for his country when the need arises.

'Tiger 3'

Now, 'Tiger 3' directed by Maneesh Sharma starring Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, and Emraan Hashmi will be releasing this year after a gap of 6 years. 

As a third installment of the film, 'Tiger 3' will also see possible crossovers with 'Pathaan' and 'WAR' as Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan make cameos in the action-thriller.

This time, the battle feels personal and the revenge is on a more intimate level as Katrina and Salman fight to save their family as opposed  to loyalties for their home countries. Let us know what are your thwories about the possible story line of 'Tiger 3'.

Watch the Tiger 3 trailer here.