Locations in Europe: Greece, Austria
Storyline
Director/Producer: Ali Abbas Zafar (Director) Aditya Chopra (Producer)
Line Producer/Executive Producer/Associate Producer: Line Producers: Sudhanshu Kuma, Hind Nabulsi, Navmeet Singh, Andreas Payer (Austria), Associate Producer: Aashish Singh
Star(s): Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif
Songs/Dance: Located in Greece and Austria.
Indian/ International Crew: Tom Struthers (action director on Inception and Dark Knight) was the stunt director for this film. Zoltan Horkai (Budapest-based animal trainer) was hired for the scene staging Tiger’s fight with the wolves.
Language: Hindi
Film Location Analysis
By Veena Hariharan
THE WOLF FIGHT SEQUENCE
Praxmar, Austria
[The wolf-fighting scene marks the entry of Tiger and his son Junior in the forests of Praxmar, Austria.]
[Praxmar is located in the Tyrol region of Austria—some 254 mi (or 409 km) West of Vienna, the country's capital. This is a place where mountains are still climbed in the traditional way: without lifts, cable cars or other climbing aids.]
As the camera opens with a monumental score and a dynamic long shot of a mountainous expanse of snow, the title card reads that the location is “somewhere in the Austrian Alps, Innsbruck, Tyrol”. We see a pair of feet in thickly padded snow boots trudging through the snow. Cut to a close-up of a snow-covered gloved hand, into which another smaller one interlocks as what will be the signature tune of the film, plays in the background. As the camera zooms out, we see the pair of an older man and younger boy walking uphill in the snow—they are Tiger and his son Junior (Sartaaj Kakkar). The next shot reveals a signboard that says, “Beware of wild animals” and Junior reading out from his tablet: “Nature gave every animal an instinct to run so it can survive.” We see the half-covered face of Tiger, his profile to the camera, busy chopping wood. He listens indulgently to his son as he asks, “Don’t human beings also need to run to survive?” Some good-humoured banter on the love for the English language by father and son ensue. “A man’s identity is in his zabaan” – Junior repeats a moral lesson that he has been taught by both his parents. Zabaan is a double play on the word tongue as in language as well as the Urdu word for promise—or word—a man is as good as his word.
All of a sudden, we hear first the roar of a wolf followed by a close-up of a salivating wolf facing Junior looking at him in shock. Salman’s back is still turned to his son and the wolf, while he is in profile to the camera. He asks how far away the wolf is from Junior to which he gets a precise “50 ft”. Tiger instructs: “Look straight into his eyes and don’t break eye contact.” Cut to close-ups of the snarling wolf and a frightened Junior. As the wolf advances, Salman utters the film’s famous line: “Everyone hunts but none better than Tiger.”—referring both to himself and the namesake animal—the tiger. He now turns his face to the camera, lets go of his face cover and advances in slow motion, as we get a first full close-up to the camera and a full-frontal view of Salman Khan—the superstar. He has got his axes ready to confront the wolf. As they approach each other, the wolf jumps on him and both of them grapple with each other as they are thrown on the ground, while Junior stands by as witness. As the wolf lies on the snow temporarily unconscious, Junior screams, “Let us run from here while we can”. To this, Tiger says, “Wait!” revealing his wisdom of the ways of the nature: “Wolves never hunt alone, only in packs…there are more coming.” Sure enough, we first hear the howls and then see the wolves as four more arrive on the scene. As the threat gets more dangerous, Tiger tells Junior that on the count of three he should run to safety to the car parked downhill. Junior is concerned that his father is going to kill all of them singlehandedly. Tiger quips that if he doesn’t hunt them, it would be Junior served on the dinner table instead. Junior throws him the gauntlet: “If you can save me from here without killing the wolves, then I accept that you are indeed the real Tiger.” Tiger accepts the challenge and throws away his weapons as Junior runs. Tiger picks up a branch and pokes around the wolves as one of them bites on it. He sees that two of the wolves are now chasing Junior, who, after his sledge breaks, takes shelter inside a hollow tree with only a branch stick as his weapon to ward off one of the wolves who has got really close. Now, Tiger mounts his ski board and skis down the snowy slope with the wolves in pursuit. A masterly chase scene and brilliant camerawork ensues. As Tiger rolls down the snow, in a high-octane chase comprising a series of mid-air summersaults captured in slow motion helicam shots, he displaces tree trunks and logs that throw the wolves off their trail. With the edge of his ski board, Tiger succeeds in carrying downhill, the hollow tree trunk where Junior is hiding while barehandedly fighting one of the wolves—a ferocious-looking black one—who now has him on the ground. As Junior escapes towards the car, and is barely a few steps away from safety, there is one more final encounter to be won—the wolf and Junior are face to face. Tiger, who has now managed to pacify the wolf, calls out “1, 2..” and to the count of 3, Junior independently, unaided by any cue from Tiger, anticipates the next move and opens the door of the SUV. The wolf leaps directly into the car, whose door then Junior shuts on it. The last of the wolves are now either unconscious or safely trapped in the car. The sequence ends with Junior doing a friendly wave to the wolf behind the glass window and a high five between father and son.
Additional Information & Links
Promos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePO5M5DE01I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oIhjBq1DKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3g71ewdPew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dSxRSbEZd4
Tourism
https://www.manjulikapramod.com/travel/tiger-zinda-hai-was-shot-in-innsbruck-austria/
Screengrab from Bajaj Allianz’s travel insurance website:
https://nriol.com/bajaj-allianz/austria-schengen-visa-travel-insurance.asp
