Here’s why Maneesh Sharma and not Ali Abbas Zafar will helm Tiger 3

After the humongous success of Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), Yash Raj Films is gearing up to take the superhit franchise forward with a third installment, titled Tiger 3.

Buzz has it that YRF head honcho Aditya Chopra will officially announce the high-profile project on the 50^th anniversary of the banner, which coincides with the 88^th birthday of his late father and legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra on 27^th September. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, who played the lead pair in the first two installments of the franchise, will return to headline the next part as well.

Since Tiger Zinda Hai, the second installment of the franchise, was a monstrous hit at the box-office, it was thought that filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar would return to helm the next part as well. However, if reports are to be believed, now director Maneesh Sharma will call the shots for Tiger 3.

“Ali Abbas Zafar is one of the biggest directors in today’s time but obviously, after delivering a blockbuster in Tiger Zinda Hai, Adi and Salman were both keen to have him back on board as the director. In fact, Ali had even started working on the script of Tiger 3, taking forward an idea that Aditya Chopra had presented to him. Adi believes Ali is among the most promising directors of Hindi cinema in today's time,” a source informs an entertainment portal.

However, when Chopra came to know that Zafar was busy developing multiple scripts for his own production house, he decided to go ahead with Maneesh Sharma. “Adi was clear on the fact that Tiger 3 will not just be the biggest film of his production house, but also the biggest that Bollywood has seen to date. He had a particular vision for the franchise and to translate that to a spectacle, he wanted Ali to give 100% dedication to Tiger 3 for a period of 2 to 3 years, which included scripting, pre-production, post-production, and finally the release. Adi does not believe in the idea of multiple films at the same point of time.”

Meanwhile, Ali Abbas Zafar is gearing up for the release of his maiden home production Khaali Peeli, starring Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday in principal roles. The film will reportedly premiere on an OTT platform.