WELCOME TO THE MULTIVERSE

INDIAN PRODUCTION HOUSES ARE GOING THE MARVEL AND DISNEY WAY AND CREATING PARALLEL UNIVERSES POPULATED BY DIVERSE CHARACTERS AND THEMES. INDIAN AUDIENCES CANNOT HAVE ENOUGH

- SUHANI SINGH

WOULD BE HARD TO TOP A MORE RAPTUROUS moment in Indian cinema than when Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan meets Salman Khan’s Tiger in Pathaan (2023) for some good-natured banter. Salman’s delightful cameo brought some lighthearted humour into some pretty serious proceedings, but it was not exactly an unexpected appearance in the light of producers Yash Raj Films’ announcement of building a whole Spy Universe. Setting it up was also a sound business move for the studio, given that its biggest hits in the past decade have all been spy-led action spectacles, be it Ek Tha Tiger in 2012, Tiger Zinda Hai in 2017, War in 2019 and Pathaan now.

“With Pathaan, War and Tiger, we now have three of the biggest IPs [intellectual properties] in Indian cinema in the same cinematic spy universe!” Akshaye Widhani, the CEO of YRF Studios, said after Pathaan’s success. “The YRF Spy Universe is expanding at an unimaginable rate and all its productions are now the biggest event films for audiences to enjoy in theatres. It’s an incredible track record for YRF, which also shows audiences are invested in seeing how we are shaping and scaling this up.” Betting big on this universe, YRF is reportedly developing a sequel to War with RRR’s (2022) Jr NTR joining Hrithik Roshan and planning to bring Pathaan and Tiger together to produce what is expected to be the most expensive Hindi film. But before that, Pathaan may return Tiger’s favour with what will likely be a whistle-worthy appearance in the Diwali release, Tiger 3.