Katrina Kaif shows how to kick butt

A still from the film

When Ali Abbas Zafar announced an all-out action, superhero film with Katrina Kaif in 2020, fans unanimously cheered the idea. While the superhero in her has yet to take flight, the actor is enjoying her role as a super spy in Tiger 3. Over the franchise's past two instalments, producer Aditya Chopra has built Kaif's character Zoya as a strong spy who matches Salman Khan's Tiger shoulder-to-shoulder. Things won't be any different in the upcoming offering of the YRF spy universe, she assures. "I love how Zoya can match anyone with her grit and courage. She doesn't back down from a fight. She can be as good as, if not better than, a man when it comes to doing action. She can pull off some complicated [stunts] with ease, like the one you see a sneak peek of in the trailer," says the actor.

In the past, Kaif has often expressed her desire to lead a full-blown action movie. She had a 10-minute slasher sequence in Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), which displayed her skill in pulling off stunts. She says Chopra and director Maneesh Sharma have upped her character's action quotient in the Diwali offering, thus making it clear that the genre is not necessarily a male bastion. "I love action as a genre, and playing a spy is a dream come true. I knew this was going to be a part of my legacy, so I would always give my 200 per cent to this franchise. Every Tiger film has taken Zoya's character a notch above. She has fought harder, and it has been bloodier."

While one defining sequence in Tiger 3 sees her in hand-to-hand combat with a woman in a Turkish hammam, another has her single-handedly taking on an army of baddies. Kaif had to prep extensively - from gun-training to sword-fighting - with action director Mark Scizak before she filmed the set-pieces. "For the action sequences, I prepped for about two months. We wanted Zoya to look agile, have more speed and strength. It was definitely the toughest training of my career so far." Showing women in such roles on screen gives out a larger message, and its impact isn't lost on Kaif. "A character like Zoya is important and necessary to tell people that women can be nurturers as well as fierce protectors."