Kabir Khan speaks up on signing Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif for Ek Tha Tiger post their break-up for the first time

Kabir Khan has spoken up about signing Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif for Ek Tha Tiger. 12 years back, the movie paved way for YRF Spy Universe and became one of the most successful franchise films. The second installment – Tiger Zinda Hai – released in 2017 and was directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. Tiger 3, helmed by Maneesh Sharma was out in 2023. Back in 2012, Salman and Katrina reunited for a movie despite having broken up. Kabir Khan made it possible and he has now revealed how he did it.

Kabir Khan’s revelation

It was during one of his podcasts that Kabir Khan spoke up on bringing Salman and Katrina together in 2012, which was after they broke up. He was at the podcast with Mashable India where the filmmaker, who last helmed Ranveer Singh-starring 83, said that it wasn’t comfortable bringing his leading actors together, mainly because they were going through their break-up phase.

Kabir revealed that Katrina was already signed in for the role of Zoya. It was after that, that the team approached Salman. To their surprise, the superstar agreed to be a part of the project. Thus, keeping their past aside, Salman played Tiger to Zoya in Ek Tha Tiger.

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About YRF Spy Universe

Even though Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai paved way for YRF Spy Universe with its massive Box Office collections (the latter minted Rs. 339 crores in India), the makers wanted to explore a little more. Thus came Siddharth Anand’s War, featuring Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff and Vaani Kapoor, in 2019. More recently, Shah Rukh Khan entered the universe with, once again, Siddharth’s Pathaan. The 2023 release was when the makers made the official announcement for YRF Spy Universe.

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The future for YRF Spy Universe

War 2, helmed by Ayan Mukerji, will be the next release from the universe. The movie features Hrithik once again but this time he is opposite Jr. NTR. Kiara Advani is the female lead of the movie. The film is scheduled for August 14, 2025 release.

The makers have also announced Tiger vs Pathaan, which will obviously feature Salman and SRK once again. This time though, unlike Pathaan and Tiger 3, they will not be helping one another in missions but go against each other.

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