Latest / Breakdown Besties | Bollywood Screenwriting Podcast / E21: Ek Tha Tiger Screenwriting Breakdown
Transcript
- Ananya: everyone and welcome back to the Breakdown Besties Podcast. I'm Ananya. Akshay: I'm a sir. Ananya: And together we have 40 years of experience starting with shows like Mismatch, Wedding.com, Rana and I Do, Ishq Idliyay, Grahan and a host of others that have gotten stuck in development hell but will hopefully see the light of day one day. With the Breakdown Besties podcast, our goal is to give you a film school experience where what we believe they do is essentially watch a bunch of movies, see how the scenes, story, dialogues, everything about it is constructed deconstructed, see what works, what doesn't work, what makes all the gears turn and then use all that information and put it in their own writings so that our scripts can be as iconic as those of our phenomenal Bollywood films. And today the film that we are going to be breaking down as you know is a Bhai Keef Ka film because we thought we haven't done one ever so why not and they are fairly commercially successful. Fairly being an understatement. Akshay: Yeah. Haha. Ananya: And that is Ek Tha Tiger written by Aditya Chopra, Kabir Khan and Neelesh Mishra. So Akshay, do think we're going to do another Bhayika film after this? Akshay: We don't know. like, we might do Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Like, you know, like we can do, we can do a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which has hip, which she has in the Cambio. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. But that's not a Bhai ka film. A Bhai ka film is like this, Ek tha Tiger wanted bodyguard types. Akshay: Yeah, but this was a massive, massive upgrade to wanted. Like, we can't like. Ananya: God, yeah. Yeah, like guys, if you all don't know, obviously you all don't know, we watched Wanted thinking that we could do something with it. We could not. There is no nothing to study there. I'm sorry. Great commercial success, whatever, but nothing to break down there. Akshay: Ha We could not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we couldn't break down that film. But let's see, let's see. Bhai might do another great film or something. We don't know that. So then we can break that down. Ananya: Mm-hmm. No. Cool. So let's get into it the way we always do by going into the log line. Now to talk about the log line, I think it's important we get on one, like the same page about something. This is not a spy film where they happen to fall in love. This is a love story where they happen to be spies, right? Akshay: Okay. It's a love story with a backdrop of spies. So like I want to come I want to call this movie here like an action rom-com like you know back in the day we used to have those Tom Cruise movies like night and day like that is the genre of this film. I'd huh date night exactly that yeah like I don't want to put this in a spy thriller as a genre yeah Ananya: You're a spy, yeah. Yeah. Exactly date night things like that. Yeah Yeah, yeah is your logline? Your logline is your film's guiding light. When you are lost in the weeds of your script and you can't see the forest or the trees and you're lost and you're like, what's point Why am I writing the scene? What is this dialogue supposed to do? What's really the point of this? That's when you go back to your logline because it will give you all those answers. Why? Because it reduces your film to a helpful four elements which essentially tell you why you're writing this film and what needs to be incorporated. Those four elements are 1. Your flaw, block, limitation, won't need. Essentially, this is what is within you as a protagonist. What is stopping you? from achieving number two, goal. Your goal is the reason you're watching the film. The characters are going on this journey. You're following them on this journey to achieve this goal. Then you have number three, which is your conflict. Your conflict is an outer obstacle which challenges your inner need. It is a manifestation of it. If you are a coward, you will face a tiger as your conflict. And that is essentially what keeps the story running. It is your story engine. One conflict after another is why people are always at the edge of their seat, wanting to see what happens next. How will you overcome it? And then finally, you have stakes. Stakes are what your character will lose should they not achieve their goal. It is simply not not achieving the goal. It is going one level lower. Right? So with that being said, I'll read out the logline of Ixha Tiger that I have. When a raw agent falls in love with an ISI agent, they must figure out how to escape the two agencies lest they lose their lives. Akshay: Yeah, great. Simple. Ananya: Yeah, there's you have your limitation over here, which is that he's a raw agent. So the very it's not very internal at this point, but it's also a bike of him. So don't expect that. And it is the fact that he's a raw agent, he's very patriotic duty comes first. So there is that, you know, sort of sense of patriotism and service to the country, right? Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, and that's something to establish in the film that love will never be a priority. So that essentially becomes a part of his raw agent personality, right? That comes with the territory of the job. So hence, that becomes the block for him to not be able to achieve his goal. Ananya: Yeah, I have the top. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, exactly. The goal is figure out how to escape because once they fall in love they have to figure out how to escape the two agencies and the conflict is the two agencies because they are a representation of the patriotism, the nationalism, service, all of that and these guys by falling in love, an Indian and a Pakistani, especially spies, they are going against what these agencies represent. So the agencies become the conflict that's on in their sides. And less they lose their lives, less the stakes because they could, both of them have a lot of sensitive information about both countries, which they could exchange. You don't know who's on whose side. So the agencies will kill them for being together. Akshay: Yeah, and the other embedded stake in this is that I feel they will if they choose to not die, like if they choose themselves over their life, they will lose the love of their life, which rarely happens in this case. So they lose each other and if not that then they lose their life. Yeah, yeah. Ananya: Yeah, they lose each other. Yeah. Yeah, perfect. Great. Okay, so that is your logline. Let's go into the hero's journey next, right? So your hero's journey is your structural spine of your film. It tells you the journey that every hero goes on when they set out to achieve their goal that is out of their comfort zone and do something new. Akshay: Let's do that. Ananya: In this journey, which every protagonist and even us in our lives go through when we set out to do something new, there are these inevitable turning points that we meet in our journey. And those turning points give us emotional boosts to the films and help the audiences stay in their seats while providing them with a cohesive emotional journey of what happens after the other. So let's start with the hero's journey of Ektha Tiger. First you have the ordinary world. The ordinary world you see that Salman Khan is a spy, he is very patriotic, has all the skills a good spy would need. He's quick, he's sharp, he's smart. He will never let go of his role as a spy, he never wants a desk job. We also see that he is considering the idea of love, he's toying around with it. But he is told that love and being a spy don't really coexist, like it's a hard life. And then he gets posted to a new mission in Ireland where apparently a professor is giving all his research information to the ISI. Over there, you have your call to action. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Your call to action is where your hero is called and said come come time to go after your goal time to achieve what you want and over here because his goal is actually falling in love the call to action is meeting Katrina Kaif's character. She is a dancer caretaker in the professor's house and she sees him and the moment she sees him you have the refusal of the call where she says that get out of here. Your refusal of the call is essentially when you are trying to go after your goal or you're being called to action and either you or someone outside of you hesitates and says, no, you can't go after this goal. This is not for you. Bye. Then you have meeting the mentor. Meeting the mentor is when you meet a character who has been on the journey that you are going to go on and tells you that if your goal is to slay the dragon, here I am giving you the sword. Akshay: Yeah. No, we don't have a mentor. No. Yeah. Ananya: We don't have a mentor, right, in this case. Salman Khan needs no mentor, you. and then you have crossing the threshold crossing the threshold is when you take one definitive action into your new world and Akshay: Huh. Ananya: essentially say that I am here, this is the point of no return and I am not going back into the old world, I will be chasing my goal. Over here, this sequence is the one where Salman Khan is still waiting for Katrina Kaif on the bench outside the house. He goes with her, he says I'm looking for a hotel, can you help me? He fakes that all the hotels are full. Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: until he drops her off to her hostel. Then he goes and he sleeps on a bench outside her hostel. She obviously spots him because he has strategically positioned himself to be found. And then he climbs up the pipes and after a little bit of banter, as is normal for a rom-com, she allows him into her friend's room. And he also cooks for them. And that is when... he is integrated into her life. So they have crossed the threshold into her life. Then you have test allies and enemies. Test allies and enemies is this phase of a hero's journey where now that they're in the new world and they're not willing to go back, they are going to discover the lay of the land, who the people are, who their friends are, who their enemies are, etc. Over here, Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: We have Katrina Kaif as an ally who later reveals that she's an enemy. We have Ranbir Shaury's character who is also an ally. And then we have the Pakistani spies who are coming after, or some Pakistani people who are coming after Salman Khan's character. Akshay: Yeah Ananya: And in this, Salman Khan wins over Katrina's trust. He hates that he has to lie to her and say that, you know, I'm not a spy, but I am someone called Manish Chandra, who's a writer. slowly they begin to fall in love and they almost kiss. That almost kiss is your approach to the innermost cave. Because if your goal is chasing the is to slay the dragon and steal the bag of gold from under them. Akshay: Yes. Yeah. Ananya: You approach the cave where the dragon is at this point and try to get that bag of gold. Over here they almost kiss but something stops Katrina from going all in. But it is evident that she has feelings for him that they are both on the same page when it comes to how they feel about each other. Then your next stage is the ordeal. Your ordeal is when you have now retrieved the bag of gold from the dragon but the dragons coming after you, you've not managed to slay them or the dragons keepers, everyone is chasing you and you are trying to escape and get get away unscathed. Now the ordeal here is a very long sequence, I think. Right. So the ordeal begins with Salman Khan's character finding out that Patrina Kaif is a Pakistani spy. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: He manages to get away from her to steal the material he'd come to steal but he has to leave her and go back to India. And of course they realize that they can't be together because they are both spies and they would never allow it. They both have duties to their desh slash mulk. then Salman Khan goes back to India. He's a hollow husk of his former self. He asked for a desk job this time around. So he's like, okay, I can't do this. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Then a mission comes up in Turkey and because of a set up and payoff, a check off is gone there. We find out that even Katrina is going to be there. So he goes, they both confess their love to each other and they decide to run away together. But even in that running away together as they're making that plan, Salman Khan learns that Katrina might be double crossing him and is doing this only to give information to the Pakistani agency, to ISI. And then you finally have the reward. The reward is when you're able to get away with, leave everyone behind in your wake, escape them, and have a moment of peace with you and your bag of gold. Over here, it is the fact that Katrina was in fact not double-crossing Salman Khan, but double-crossing the agency or betraying the agency, which is when they go to Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: Cuba instead of going to Kazakhstan as they had lied to the agencies. And they have a great time in Cuba and that is their reward. Yeah, I also like the Cuba bit was so beautiful, dude. Like it was actually very well shot. Like I actually paused the film and looked at like flights to Cuba. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. to art. Yeah. I do think the whole film is quite slick shot you know like the fact that it's 2012 and you know it's still very hard to pull off this kind of quality like I thought the act nothing looked tacky obviously a lot of it had to be CGI and VFX but it nothing looked that way Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. No, no, not at all. No, it was actually very well done. After Hamtum, it felt like a big upgrade where they actually went to all the locations Anyway, then you have the way back. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: The way back is now that you've got your prize, you are headed back to your old world, but there are still enemies in your wake and you have to fight them off and them off to be able to make your way back. Over here, is that both the agencies are coming after them and after a robbery gets reported, the agencies find out that they are in Cuba and both come after them. As they're trying to escape their agencies, Katrina gets caught by the Pakistani agency. Then you have your resurrection. The resurrection is your characters coming back to their lives, the phoenix rising from the ashes after they have been taken out completely on the way back by the forces that are against them. In this case, resurrection is a big sequence. It starts when Salman Khan tries to Get Katrina's character released from the ISI all the way to the two of them escaping in a plane and flying into paradise So that is she he is at his lowest when the love of his life gets kidnapped by the ISI and they resurrect through this entire sequence where Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: Salman Khan promises the Indian agencies that I will make her turn and she'll give us all sensitive information and then turns out that they them a ride and they actually escape. And that is them having resurrected. And finally you have the return with the elixir. The return with the elixir is when you go back into your old world but now you're a new person. This is a phone call between Salman Khan and his old Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: handler slash boss when he goes back to safety and his boss calls him and he's like, what in the world are you doing? And he's like, I want to live my life the way I want to live my life, Akshay: Yeah, without any regrets Ananya: Cool. Next shall we go into the theme of the film? Akshay: Let's do that. Ananya: Yeah. So what is your theme? As an artist, we all have points of views and opinions on the world, and our art is simply a medium of conveying that to the world. So your theme is how you do that. In films, it is posed as a dramatic question, where you ask a question, and by the time you get to the resolution of the film, by the actions the characters take, you answer that question In this film, the theme is what's more important, the love of your country or the love of your people or your love of your life. So it's almost like Razi, kind of in that sense. It's like a less emotionally complex version of Razi. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, correct, simple, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Correct. Ananya: Where? Hmm. I wonder if this is the second spy film that we're doing which is, which also has the same theme. I wonder if all spy films have the same theme. Akshay: It generally did do that, you know, like that's the most obvious one where especially in a country like ours where patriotism is considered so important as a parameter, right? To judge that whether you're going to go on this journey or not. Like everything sort of balances on that. The moment you say you're not, like you can't be in this job for say like, you know what? I'm not that patriotic, but Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: I'll do the spy job like you know that's not gonna happen right yeah it's not that right like you can't be a working for the government without having passion for the government so I think this will always be one of the themes in such Ananya: It's cool. Bond is I'll Yeah Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. So and it's always like a good conflict is like many versus one, right? It's like kind of like the trolley problem. So what is the thematic answer there? So, yeah, and over here, the theme is not subtle at all. It is established right from the get go when Salman Khan is having a conversation with his boss, and they talk about love and it's very Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: openly said that okay love and being a spy cannot coexist your patriotism comes first this kind of lifestyle where you're always on the go where you're always doing something that is risky doesn't isn't conducive to having a partner in your life and one thing I will say about the theme here is how they've taken it one level ahead so one or pushed it because Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: They're obviously not talking about falling in love with a Pakistani agent, right? They're just talking about falling in love in general. But how do you push that? Because in your films, you exist on extremes, right? You don't exist as, okay, in middle grounds. That, okay, he's going to fall in love with a normie and what trouble is going to come to him then. Then that they've already kind of done in one scene where he comes back from his job. Akshay: Yeah. Mmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And everyone is just like, is this? Where did from? He keeps disappearing for months. All the women are like, he's so handsome. But the men are like, he's some kind Look at him, he's got all these marks on his face. So it would just be that on steroids, right? Like if he had to keep the secret from his normal partner. They're like, how can we push this theme? Falling in love is not just falling in love. It is falling in love with Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hey. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Ananya: the person you should never fall in love with and that is the Pakistani spy. So there is something to be said and I've said this in many episodes about range that you have to always have things exist on the extremes in order for them to land emotionally. So how can you make it so bad for your character that the theme is really amplified? You know where they really have to pick between country and person and love and Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: In case they were dating a civilian, it would still be like, okay, they can make that work. There's not such a big ask. But when you're falling in love with a Pakistani spy or mortal enemy, the choice is really amplified. The choice exists, it's real. Do you want your country or do you want this person who represents everything your country is fighting against? Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: So I think that was well pushed thematically. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. And I think like they've also answered this very easily like the phone call in the end which Salman, which Avinash slash Tiger slash Salman has with his boss and he says that I choose love over this, you know, like and I don't want to live with regrets. Ananya: Hmm. Absolutely, it is very clean in that sense. There's no grey over here. In fact, one scene I really liked which also portrays the theme which is, you know, how your characters are evolving across the journey. Which is when Katrine, he gets on the plane with Katrina and Katrina says that, okay, we're going to Havana and I wasn't actually double crossing you. Akshay: Yeah. Very clean. Yeah, yeah. Ugh. Ananya: And Salman says, yeah, you know, I saw you the other night with your people. And she's like, OK, so how did you still choose to join me when you thought that I was going to betray you? And he's like, I've always listened to my head, but now I thought I should listen to my heart. And I thought that is a very nice way of showing character change thematically, where he is someone who put the country first, and now he's putting himself first, and he's trying that. Akshay: Huh. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: So he's like, even though it might be a little risky, unless I take the risk and see what it leads to, I will never be sure. So I think that was a good moment of showing progression. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, for sure, for sure, yeah. Ananya: Okay, let's go into scenes and sequences next. Akshay: Yeah, I want to mainly talk about the opening scene of the film because I feel like there are multiple things they try to do with the opening scene and multiple techniques because it's a long sequence, right? So many things I've tried to employ here. First, I want to talk about delivering the audience expectation from a genre film. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: The fact that somebody has purchased a ticket for a particular genre, they're expecting certain kind of emotional beats to be hit. So like, let's say if you're going for a horror film, whether you're going for a musical or in this case an action film, they would immediately want to experience the thrill of that genre. So if you're watching a musical film, you would want to watch a musical number immediately. So that's what La La Land does. Like immediately the movie starts with a song. In a horror sequence or a mystery film, you know, like you want to get into that beat immediately. So they'll show like a murder happening or they'll show some sort of the horror coming through. This is an action film. This is what people want to watch and especially an action film which has Salman Khan in it. So people want to watch Salman Khan doing action and stunts. So they immediately after establishing that this is Tiger, they immediately get into get into an action sequence. So I think that establishes genre very well. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: and there you have already given you already built the trust of the audience that what you wanted you're going to get in this movie. So that is first thing you did with the action sequence. The second one is that how much variety in this particular sequence you can give to your audience. So they try to do that a lot because it's a long sequence like people are really like just settling in so you want to give them as much space and time and Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: variety of things that they can do in the sequence. So in this sequence it starts with a chase, then they proceed to guns, they proceed to like hand combats when Salman Khan is on the terrace he uses the drawstrings to like sort of like capture the agency, capture the whatever the people who are looking behind him. So then it becomes a hand combat scene. Then at one point again chase comes, then it becomes like a fighting with a knife slash dagger thing so it becomes another escalation there. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: And then you like they have a moment moment where like he goes on stairs like a slide and then like he's shooting with guns. So I think that this sort of variety to give into an opening sequence is like not just I would say a directorial thing, but it's something you have to script it in an action movie because how can you up the anteens like in such a short amount of time? Like again, delivering the audience trust immediately, but how can you do it? Well, so Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Oops. Akshay: I thought that was the second technique in this opening sequence. Now the third one is using intercut to create tension. This one you establish that Salman Tiger is after like some guy and he immediately like captures him in his room. Now if this was just one on one, you know like it's Bhai, he's gonna win it and he's also like a spy so he's gonna win it. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: So you establish tension by showing that other people are also coming behind him. So you have this moment where he is chatting with this fellow sort of almost negotiating with other guys like, you can come with us, know, we can give you money, this and that. And you simultaneously intercut that with people coming through. And you're just building tension that like, what's gonna happen? he like, are they gonna come from behind him? Are they gonna shoot him from behind him? But, and only to like, Ananya: Mmm. Hmm. Akshay: put your action sequence in the first get there. So this sort of intercutting was important. Otherwise it just falls flat. The sequence falls flat. He would have just immediately killed your guy he was after and he would ran away and he would have run away. like that doesn't make sense. And another small technique in this one in one sequence they've used is a setup and pay off. So when he is negotiating with the person he was after and who was he? Was he an ISI guy? I don't know. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. He was an Indian agent who had turned, who was selling information. Akshay: Okay. Right. Right. So when he's negotiating with him, the Indian agent offers him money. So, and immediately, Tiger keeps the money in his pocket. So we're like, okay, you know, that he's gonna keep this him for himself. We, we, we know that he's not gonna spare him. But we think, hello, the money is like a side thing he's taken for him. Like, that's a, like, that's like a mischievousness of his character. But later on, Ananya: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Akshay: this money is being used to end this action sequence and is used as a distraction. So when he sees that people are all around him and he's been cornered from four ends, he throws the money in the air. People want money, so they go after the money. It creates like a pandemonium of sorts and he is able to escape through that. So I thought that was a good setup and payoff in this very same sequence. So that's my breakdown of the very first sequence of Ekta Taika. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. indefinitely. I'm sure they always give these movies like a great opening sequence right to invest to have you invested in Akshay: Yeah, yeah, it is the way you will get your audience buying. Otherwise, they're going to immediately like be like, what the hell is this event? Like, we didn't sign up for this. Yeah. Hence, like when they say genre bending stuff, like the bending happens halfway or midway through the film. Like, you can't do the... Ananya: Hmm. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they literally... Akshay: It can't happen right now in the opening sequence of the film. Ananya: It can, but not in this film. I in fact think, I think this was, if you're really getting into that, betrayal of the audience of sort. Because you're telling them that you're getting into this spy film, but there is nothing spy-like about the film. It is fully, it's through and through a romance, where there happen to be action sequences. Akshay: So. Huh. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So when they open without the romance as part of it, which is in fact what the movie is all about, you are phoning it in. You are setting up expectations which you're not going to meet. Because that happened to me. Because I actually, I hadn't seen Ekta Tiger before and I was excited about it, especially once the movie started and opens with YRF Spy Universe as the thing. So I'm just like, okay, like this must be a good sp- Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. Ananya: whatever good for a Bhaiyika film. Spy film is done commercially, it must be cheesy and all of that but there's something in here about a spy film. And then I was disappointed that it's set up as a spy film but this is actually a romance through and through. There are no spy elements there. Like, the elements are there but they're very, they're in the background. They're not actually, you know, doing anything with the spy angle over here. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm... Hmm... Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: Like once they've gotten the information from that guy in Dublin or whatever they need to, there's nothing there. That's done. know, it's just about the love story. Yeah. So, and he's not even actively going after it. He just happens to find that one day where he can break in and get the hard disk and then he finds Katrina. But as a spy. Akshay: Yeah, that's done. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: But otherwise there is no plan to go after him. The plan is I will befriend Katrina because she is a caretaker and somehow I will get the information. But you're not focused on it. in... So in fact I think such an opening is good for a spy film. A really good spy film. Like they've got a very good spy film opening. But does it contribute or set up the expectations of this film realistically? My answer is no. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's very weak. Yeah, I agree. Yeah Hmm. Sure, yeah. But I don't, it's a very, I think this is a very astute observation because it's Salman Khan film. You know, like it's like you wouldn't want to disappoint Salman Khan fans. So like you can't have like a romance beat in this opening sequence. Ideally, like it should happen, so like while he's on this chase, like he sees like this one couple's really enjoying their life. Ananya: Yeah. Mmm. Akshay: And like he has this one pause where it's like, I where like, I can't get this. So, you know, that would sort of like blend it in immediately. But I guess they just don't want to do that, you know, like. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, moment exactly. Yeah. They just don't want her. No, Yeah. Akshay: Okay, I'm gonna go into the next scene which I have. In this scene they have employed the technique of foreshadowing. Which is the scene I'm talking about Tiger and his boss. Where he's come over to have Tiger's daal and they're all having like a fun time and this and that. And they end up talking about love and relationships. Where the boss asks Ananya: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Akshay: Do you love anyone? Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: I want to talk about something which is the breaking the narrative for the Indian films, which is for the interval sake. generally like films all over the world, they don't have interval, but Bollywood films, do have interval. And one thing can be easily done, which is like you write it as a three act structure and then you decide that this will become the interval point. But I feel like more and more going into it that you need to plan for your interval moment also because you're giving the audience an opportunity to go out of their seats they're like they might not want to come back so how do you build this moment up now in this case which has happened so far that tiger has come to know that uh zoia is also a spy now again this could have been a good enough moment for them to like leave the story here Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: and the interval could have happened, people would have come back. They slightly push it one step ahead in this case, where he shoots the bullet at her and you think like, okay, what's going to happen now? Now, and when the film starts after the interval, you sort of re-begin the film in some way that, you know, he's gone back to the opening image of the film, what was in the beginning of the film, like he's gone back home, the things you were talking about, like people in his colony are looking at it. He's like, nicely doing the getting the milk in the morning and then you get he see him give the debrief blah blah blah and then you look back and cut back and say that he had actually let her go when he sees her in the Istanbul conference. Ideally this could all have been saved where it could have been continued from that scene he's like you go and or she could have just said that I also love you but I can't be with you. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Like it could have been either that moment. But because we are in this narrative where we have to break it for the interval sake, at least they've tried to do it in a nonlinear way here. And I think it was done well, like because I was curious to know what happened. Like it's almost like writing series, like how to like end on a cliffhanger so that your audience wants to come back for episode two. And sometimes for cliffhanger, you have to almost cheat, which was the case here. But Ananya: Hmm. Moon Daniel. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, cliffhangers are one of those things which, I mean, in a film it's okay like this because it's got a very specific purpose to serve. But Jesus Christ, when Netflix tells you that every episode needs to end on a cliffhanger, I'm like, people after, you can do that for your first two episodes, but after that people are not coming back because of cliffhanger. Akshay: Yeah, works. Sorry, talent devices. What can we do? Yeah. Ananya: They are coming back because they like your characters and they want to watch them. Like understand the fundamental difference between a movie and a series. Your series are character driven and people are coming back to watch them. That's why even in season four when your school kids go to space, like everyone is like, sure, I'll go to space with you because they like them enough. Not because you've created a cliffhanger case, the rocket going to make it back from the moon or not. it's just... Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, cares. Correct, yeah. Ananya: so frustrating. Akshay: I want to talk about it's a technique but it's only used in one, it's a character technique but it's used particularly for one sequence and the character technique is the character of a trickster. The character of a trickster, you don't know what side he's gonna go on. Like is he with your main protagonist or is he against your main protagonist? You are not aware of that. and you sort of like keeping that thrill on like is he with you? Is he not with you? Is he with you? Is he not with you? So there's a constant push and pull. They've tried to do that with whether Zoya is on his side or not. So after he has gone to her and said that I love you and they have that scene on the I don't know like next to the river side where she's like I also like you but I can't be with you. So now this is when this trickster character technique comes into play going from here. So he goes to her, let's get a dance. Can I have a dance with you? And she says, no. So in that moment, she's like, I can't do with you. He forces her, like he uses like the confidence of the others and she finally goes. And here he says that I can, I'm choosing to be with you. I can compromise on everything. Now it's up to you to decide whether you want to be with me or not. After this dance, you have to call. After the dance, Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: she does she's not with him she runs she like just walks away so in this moment again there's the pull of that like she's not interested or she cannot do that next thing you know they are running away they are on a boat and so you think you're thinking she's with him Cut to when they're on the go, he sees that she's still meeting her ISI fellow agents. So you think that, okay, and he realizes that no, she's not with him. Like she was double crossing him. Now again, but so there's the airport. So you're building on the thrill that is she with him? Is she going to get him caught or not? Finally, she does escape from there and she takes him on the side and says that, okay, we're not going here, but we're going something somewhere else. And Ananya: Mmm. Akshay: That's the moment you realize, okay, she is with him no matter what. So this constant push and pull of this trickster character, I think they did quite well for that one sequence. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: It's not just that whether she's on his side or not, whether is whether she will fight for their love or not. So when they're on the terrace in Havana and they're being chased from both the ends, he is sort of like nabbed and she is free. And in this one moment, he looks at her and like is trying to assess her that does she give up or not? And in this moment, he also lets the other people beat him like he is like fully like Ananya: Hmmmm you Akshay: held from both the hands and he's like okay to take with people's kicks and punches because he's trying to assess her. And she also has this look that where we think that she might just actually surrender and leave him. But no, she doesn't, she continues to run and that's when he gets his mojo back and he continues to hit. So I thought this moment they have played out nicely in like tandem with her character. So I thought that was done well. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. talk about is in terms of how to create comedy and we've spoken about this technique in Bhool Bhulaiya where you give the audience information but you don't give it to the characters and because of the information gap Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: you create comedy, right? So over here, you have it with Salman Khan's character when he's a civilian and you've just seen him come like in this action sequence, he's a spy, he's like killing people and whatever, he's got great technique and then you come back and everyone is like, arey what does he do? Such a gali ka gunda and the reason it produces laughs is not because they say he's a gali ka gunda, it's because the audience knows what he was actually doing. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And this is the opposite of that. Because it's the opposite of that, it creates humour. So giving the audience information which the character doesn't have, almost like Alfred Hitchcock's ticking time bomb, but here in the sense of creating comedy. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Good. Ananya: And then there was another set up and payoff which is very typical of spy films which is where they have this dialogue where Zoya says, I'm Zoya, you can call me Zee. And then Salman Khan says, I'm Manish Chandra, you can call me Doordarshan. then later when the codes come in, like what are the messages being sent from Pakistan, there is Zee and Doordarshan in there. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: And that's how Salman puts it together that Zoya is actually going to be at this conference and she's calling him there. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Good setup and payoff for Chekhov's gun. Akshay: Yeah, I was thinking that moment is such a risky moment, right? Like, everybody would be asking, what are you typing, bro? Like, you know, what are you sending? Not... Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, like there was no senior overseeing Zoya's book. Another one want to talk about is the action sequence where they're the one big action sequence in the film where they're using a tram as the setup. And Salman Khan is essentially fighting a Pakistani agent spy, whoever's coming after him, and they use like a tram. Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: And what I really like and this has to be written into your script too is using the elements of the world to create action. And obviously your action director is going to come and refine everything you've written. Things are going to change based on location, production design, everything. But even in your script, it is essential that when you are writing your action sequence, you are using all the elements around you. It's kind of like when in Kartik Calling Kartik, we said it for the office romance where they're using the printer and you know, all Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: of that to create things, to create conflict and moments in the world. Over here too, within the action sequence, it's like, okay, the driver is being unseated. So what's going on there? Then you have the hammer for breaking the glass, how that is used in the action sequence to almost hit someone. Then there's the railing, how Salman Khan bashes him against the railing. And then the... Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: a tram goes off the tracks, it's almost going to run into some cars and how he saves that. So they've used all the elements of the tram to blend to each moment of conflict. So it's not like, okay, the came the fire came from no. It's very contained within the world and I think that's super important to do when you're writing any scene is be true to even the micro world in which you're setting. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Because we're talking about the sequence, I want to talk about tropes, genre tropes. And there's a very one important spy film trope, are like almost like a superhero trope or like an action movie trope, which is that while your main hero is on a mission, there will come a time where he will have to compromise the mission for the safety of Ananya: Hmm. Mmm. Akshay: other civilians involved where the action is taking place. when whether let me give you an example of Spider-Man like Spider-Man is about to fight Green Goblin but the Green Goblin has put this bus in like danger and there are like kids on the bus like other people are on the bus and so now Spider-Man has to make this decision where does he continue chasing Green Goblins or does he let these people die. So here also where Salman or Tiger was fighting Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: the agent or like agent right somebody huh the ISI agent yeah he could have had the option to like get off the tram with him and like follow him but in this moment he chooses that no he will have to save the lives of so many people involved so it's a very true trope to these kind of movies like an action film because that's where you also establish character that our character is above Ananya: someone. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: the villain, right? Like the villain was okay leaving so many people in like danger, but our hero is above that. Ananya: Villain, yeah. Danger, yeah. Okay, for action, mean for spy movies, another genre trope is the double crossing, which you mentioned in terms of Katrina's character, where whose side is she on? Is she on Salman's side? Is she on the side of, you know, the ISI? So that is again also a very common genre trope, which is done in order to create tension and mystery and you know, what's going to happen next? Can we trust this character? Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And it's also really useful when you have a character like Salman Khan here who is very doodh ka dhoolao and that sense in terms of his intentions that I am here for you Katrina, I will never let you go. This character almost creates, because she's a little bit of a trickster like you said, creates more empathy for Salman Khan's character, more empathy for your spy. Which is why it works so well in your film because then you are caring more and you're more invested in your spy. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I wish I feel, I feel if this movie was more nuanced, they would continue using this trope in a when the moment where he goes and says that, you know, I'm running because I need to be like, I need to get her to India to such she can reveal information to Ranveer's character in the end when he's actually trying to save her. If it was written that way, that it's almost like Ananya: And another one. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: he was double-crossing her. You know, the big reveal is that it would have landed so much more, right? but, but you know, like you said, his brother's film, he will always like want to be like the straight jacket. But I feel like they could have, there was a missed opportunity. Ananya: The bigger wheel. Yeah. Yeah. No. Exactly. Definitely, definitely, yeah. Akshay: Yeah. Now, the one trope I want to talk about is giving nicknames to each other. It's like almost like coining a term of endearment for the other person so that just it creates like a moment of how you can tease them. It like gives you a constant push and pull and like it's just like brings chemistry to that moment. So I'll give you some examples like in Kal Ho Na Ho, Shah Rukh Khan calls her chashmish. Ananya: you Hmm. No. Akshay: In Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani, he calls her like Scholar Naina. And like, know, in Heater Diverty, they call each other boring and asshole. That's established. And here she calls him Kaddu. You know, like everything is like, tum kaddu jaise ho, tumhara dressing kaddu jaise hai, tum kaddu jaise mat banke aana. And like, it almost sort of becomes like a blushing moment for him. Like, like, you know. So that's one genre trope of these romance movies which they've used here. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. We are. No. Akshay: The other genre trope I want to point out is the grand gesture. Grand gesture is a genre trope where one of the characters either at the beginning of their courtship will do something or while professing their love that, I love you, this is a big proposal for you, in a very big grand way so that the other person will sort of immediately met. And we do this because we like grand gestures like Ananya: Mmm. Akshay: in real life and like you like people like do make an effort for somebody else. In this case he takes her to the park and he shows her this meteor shower and says this happens like once in every 20-25 years and it was like a big moment for them because that was the moment they almost had their first kiss. So I thought this was a gajana trope they used in this one. Ananya: you Yeah. for sure, of course. And then, of course, you have the meet-cute, which is where characters meet and they get off on the wrong foot. The reason you do this is because with the fall in love, you need to give them a journey. And for that journey, you need to essentially have conflict and that conflict to get dissolved and eventually fall in love with each other. So here it is where Salman Khan kind of goes into the house where Katrina is caretaking and he's not supposed to be there and she shoes him away. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And the whole sequence that follows is a bit of a meat-cute in that sense. Akshay: Yeah, Ananya: Then we have another genre trope which I call the transgressive touch which is where you have two characters touch each other before it has been earned within the film. They find another excuse to because that is a genre of your film. You need to start giving it to both the characters and the audience because that's why they're watching it. So this is where Katrina is looking at Salman Khan's hands and she says our hands look like a wrestler, and she touches them. So that is like a moment of electricity, which you also want to give to your audience and you want to kind of tease that this is coming, stay with it, stay with it. And then they also do it with the dancing sequence where Katrina Kaif needs to give direction to the spotlight and she says, dance with me so the spotlight can follow us. Again, the reason for them to touch, even though it hasn't been. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Don sequence yeah Yeah. Ananya: like the painting sequence in Lutera. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Okay, let's go into character next. Yeah, so I want to talk about Tiger's introduction in this character. In terms of how he's created and how all his traits are established within the first opening sequence itself. So first, what I really like is how the first shot of Salman Khan is seen, should this have been a spy film. in a mirror and it's a fleeting this like comes goes and the guy's like god my god Salman Khan's here because he is a spy and spies are always existing in the shadows they're existing in stealth mode I thought it's a great introduction of the spy-like quality of Salman Khan where you see in a little snippet in the mirror and taken away the next thing is the reaction of the guy Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: which is where he's like, my god, Salman Khan is here. Extract me, extract me. He's running. They should have taken me out of here long. So immediately this character is scared of Salman Khan. And it is kind of like the technique of building admiration where if other characters are speaking well about you, you know that this character is someone you admire and like. You should admire and like. So here, because this character is scared of Salman Khan, you're already establishing him as someone formidable. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: without even having seen him properly yet. And then he is introduced through action, through his kick, which is because it's a spy film and it's a Salman Khan film that has to be done. So they've done that. And also, he doesn't attack first whenever he's fighting. It's only when he's attacked or does he, he attacks offensively, but in defense. So you show that he's not needlessly violent. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Mmm. Yeah Hmm. Ananya: which is another trait you like about your characters that they're not stupidly violent. And also, he knows how to negotiate because he has that conversation with the guy, with giving him the dollars, all of that. So he also knows how to have a conversation. He's mild-mannered in that sense. So they've, in one sequence, they've used a lot of techniques to establish much empathy for your Akshay: Hmm. Huh. Hmm. Yeah, very well noted. And to build more on his character, like I want to talk about the scenes which follow after that, especially the one debrief scene where he has with his boss. And there are a lot of information which is like given here and they sort of build on his character that A, he takes no breaks. He's constantly on his mission. So even when the boss offers that, why don't you take a break? Why don't you go on a holiday? He's like, no, I can't. Like I need to be... Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: out there for my country. So you establish like his, his really like he's passionate about his job here. Then you also establish he has a great equation with his boss. So you also know that like it's not like he's a likable guy, like he can make friends and you always like watching such characters. He also says that, I'm waiting for your dal. So you know, like he's a great cook again, like these ads layers to his character, which also comes in later when he sees Ananya: Mmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmmmm Akshay: when he cooks for first time for Katrina's character, like it comes in handy there. And is that he's also carrying the secret that he can't tell anybody that he's a spy. Because that is sort of what will put his love life in jeopardy. And you show that in cutaway sequences where he's like, and people, there are these talking heads of people like, so, so it again, like adds layers to his likability. And it sort of bags him, you know that Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm... Yeah... Akshay: or he is the main character you have to root for. But one interesting thing which they have done here is that all the spy films, what they do is that they establish this character is a really suave guy who has a lot of charisma and like he can get along with the ladies very smoothly. But here he is not one of those guys. So when he does come meet Katrina's character Zoya, Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: He is sort of like fumbling, he's on a back foot, like she calls him that, like your dressing style is like horrible. And like, you know, he's nervous about like touching her. He's not a smooth spy. So I thought that subversion was sort of like, lended you into this romance story because again, like you said, it's not a spy film, it's a romance film. that is how they subverted this trope for this particular movie. So that like, it just feels fresh. Ananya: Hmm. Mmm... Nice. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Yeah, yeah, very well noted. Nice. Akshay: That is all I have on Ektar Tiger. Ananya: That is all I have on Eitha Tiger 2. So thank you so much everyone for coming on this journey with us. We thought it was time we broke down a Bhayaka film because of the commercial success that they are and you know we otherwise only do films that we really enjoy and I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy watching this. It was actually a fun no-brainer which I didn't mind watching. So it's not like we've done this I think to just break down a Akshay: Yeah. Kind of. Ananya: Yeah, Panda. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, no one's paying us to do anything. So we only do films that we like, that we want to watch or that we think may have some merit. So similarly, but the only people we do Panda to are you guys. So if you all have any suggestions, any films you want us to break down, drop them down in the comments. Shoot us a DM, shoot us an email. We will have a look along with any questions or anything else that you may have. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: and we will see you next Thursday on another episode of the Breakdown Vestis podcast. Bye. Akshay: Bye guys. Ananya: Hi again, everyone. Just letting you know, the next episode we will be airing next week will be the breakdown of Booth, starring Ajayateev Khan and Ulmila Matonkar. So if that classic horror film is something you've been meaning to rewatch in a while or treat yourself to for the first time, do have a watch so that you can enjoy our breakdown having seen it beforehand. And we'll see you next Thursday. Bye.