Tiger was the nickname of a real Indian spy from the 1970s and 80s, whose tragic life inspired films like Mission Majnu, Gadar 2, and Salman Khan's Tiger series.
Tiger 3 is in theatres. The Salman Khan-starrer is the third film featuring the actor as the fictitious superspy Avinash Singh Rathore aka Tiger. But while Rathore is a work of fiction, Tiger indeed was a real spy. In fact, he was considered one of the best India has ever produced. A RAW agent who infiltrated the Pakistan Army, this spy fed India crucial intelligance details about the enemy for years till he was captured. His life and death inspired countless movies, the biggest of which is, of course, the Tiger series.
Story of the real Tiger Ravindra Kaushik
Ravindra Kaushik was born in 1952 to an Air Force officer named JM Kaushik in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar. During his college days, Ravindra was involved in theatre and debates. It was here that he caught the eye of the Indian intelligence agency R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing). For two years, Ravindra was trained to be an undercover agent in Delhi, where he learnt Urdu, how to live as a Muslim and as per reports, even underwent circumcision. In 1975, he was sent to Pakistan where he lived as Nabi Ahmed Shakir. He graduated from Karachi University and joined the Pakistan Army.
How Ravindra Kaushik became Tiger
From 1975-83, Kaushik was one of India’s most valuable spies in Pakistan. He eventually rose to the rank of Major in Pakistan Army and would provide intelligence to India on enemy activities. He married a local girl named Amanat, the daughter of a tailor in one of the army units, and fathered a boy. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nicknamed him the ‘Black Tiger’ for his services to India. In 1983, his cover was blown after Pakistan’s ISI uncovered him. He was sentenced to death in 1985 but the Pakistan Supreme Court commuted it to life sentence. From prison, Kaushik seretly wrote letters to his family in India detailing the abuse and torture he was given there. He died in Mianwali Jail in Pakistan in 2001, succumbing to tuberculosis.
Ravindra Kaushik’s connection with Tiger 3, Gadar 2 and Mission Majnu
The life of Ravindra Kaushik inspired several films. A part of Siddharth Malhotra’s Mission Majnu was inspired by Kaushik’s life. In the film, the Indian spy (played by Malhotra), married the daughter of a tailor just like Kaushik did. Gadar 2’s sequence of Utkarsh Sharma being captured and tortured in Mianwali Jail was very similar to Kaushik’s tale. His nickname famously inspired the Tiger series starring Salman Khan. Certain scenes in the latest release Tiger 3 are quite obviously borrowed from Kaushik’s ordeal in Pakistan.
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 "Ravindra Kaushik inspired Salman Khan's Tiger films")
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