Tiger Zinda Hai Director Ali: Recovering YRF's Enormous Budget Is My Biggest Pressure Over This Film

In an exclusive chat, Tiger Zinda Hai director Ali Abbas Zafar opens up about the various pressures on him while directing thr Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer. Read on to know what he considers as his biggest pressure...

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Tiger Zinda Hai Director Ali: Recovering YRF's Enormous Budget Is My Biggest Pressure Over This Film

Director Ali Abbas Zafar is collaborating with Salman Khan for the second time after Sultan (2016) in Tiger Zinda Hai, and there is enormous pressure on him to deliver a blockbuster.

tiger zinda hai shoot location
tiger zinda hai shoot location 

The film, which is a sequel to Kabir Khan's  Ek Tha Tiger, will be a Christmas release and is hyped to be one of the costliest made in Bollywood till date. There is also the pressure of repeating Sultan's success. Plus there is the added responsibility of giving Salman a blockbuster after the dud Tubelight (2017).

With so much on his mind, does Ali feel the pressure?

"Definitely, there is pressure," says the ever-so-calm director.


But, what has been the biggest pressure of all?

"As a director,  you are answerable to the producer, YRF in this case. So every penny that has been spent by them is my responsibility. I have to make sure that my producers get it back. This is actually my biggest pressure on the film more than anything else.

Sets Of Tiger Zinda Hai
Sets Of Tiger Zinda Hai

The good thing is when you see the film, every penny spent will be seen. But let me tell you that the big budget was required by the story because when you mount a film of such a scale like TZH, you need to make the audience believe that you were in a war zone country and this is how it functions in this scenario. Every detail in  camera gets registered. This gives you extra pressure and pushes you to make a film that people would notice the hard work you have put in, identify the efforts and then like the film," adds Ali.


a still from the sets
On The Sets Of Tiger Zinda Hai

Does the pressure of YRF not having had a blockbuster since many months bother him?

"Well obviously, it’s a part of your job. Definitely when things don’t work well you are under pressure. But I think we know how to be a part of this game. It’s not new to us. We are fighting back," Ali adds.

YRF definitely has given Ali a freehand on the budget and not tried to pull him down. We shall know what happens on December 22.

We will come back tomorrow with the FULL interview of Ali where he reveals a lot of more details about Tiger Zinda Hai, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, YRF and of course, Ek Tha Tiger's director Kabir Khan. Stay glued to SpotboyE.com.