Are you looking forward to Tiger Zinda Hai? The Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif action thriller from Yash Raj Films that’s a sequel to their hugely popular Ek Tha Tiger of 2012? Who wouldn’t be, right? Would you have been full of enthusiasm and anticipation if the film had been titled 360 Hours instead? PeepingMoon.com has exclusively learned that this was the original title of the film. Until Aditya Chopra, YRF’s dynamic head, came up with the brainwave to rename the film.

According to sources, the film was originally titled 360 Hours. That’s because the desperate mission launched by the film’s characters, the Indian spy Tiger and his Pakistani counterpart Zoya, to recuse the 21 Indian nurses abducted by a deadly international terrorist group was planned over 360 hours. But the YRF team had yet to secure Salman’s nod for this film. And just when they were about to set out to give the actor a narration, Adi had misgivings.

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He reportedly told director Ali Abbas Zafar, who wrote the story and screenplay with Neelesh Misra, not to tell Salman that the film was titled 360 Hours. Instead, tell him it’s called Tiger Zinda Hai, Adi is said to have suggested. The ploy paid immediate and handsome dividends. Salman is believed to have sat through 20 minutes of the narration, and then impatiently and curiously said, “Woh sab theek hai, lekin picture ka naam kya hai?”

When the actor was told it was Tiger Zinda Hai – and the film was being planned as a sequel to his 2012 runaway hit Ek Tha Tiger – he immediately agreed to come on board. The rest is of course history. The actor plunged into a strenuous physical training regimen and strict diet to get muscular and be agile for his action scenes. According to director Ali Abbas Zafar, Salman worked out in a gym for three months before shooting began. He also trained at high altitude to do the film’s demanding action scenes in the Alps.

Along with him, Katrina also trained for her stunt scenes. She posted a video of her workouts on social media and said, “It’s not the size of the person that matters in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the person training for action.” The action coordinator for Tiger Zinda Hai, Hollywood’s Tom Struthers of Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises fame, is said to have been pleased with them.