By: Husna Rizwan

Race 3

Race 3 Is A Pure Entertainer For Gen X & Kids

Banner: Salman Khan Films & Tips Films

Producers: Salman Khan & Ramesh Taurani

Director: Remo D’Souza

Star Cast: Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Bobby Deol, Saaqib Saleem, Freddy Daruwala, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Sharat Saxsena, Rajesh Sharma et al

Music: Salim – Sulaiman

Director Remo D’Souza dancer turned choreographer turned actor turned director’s 1st ever 2 outings were F.A.L.T.U. & ABCD – Any Body Can Dance. In his 3rd outing Race 3 courtesy Salman Khan, who also happens to be a producer & a distributor along with Ramesh Taurani of Tips Films, Remo D’Souza has definitely shown more sparks to ignite his directorial prowess even further. Albeit he got a chance to direct Race 3 after replacing the original director duo Abbas-Mastan of Race 1 & Race 2 franchise which had performed much better at the Box-Office turnstiles, but of course Race 3 succeeded in doing 100 crores business duo to weekend holiday signifying the end of the Holy month of Ramzan followed by Eid-ul-Fitr. Yours truly met a lot of kids who enjoyed the movie in a suburban multiplex and one kid named Amber really liked Race 3’s car dashing action sequences, performance of Salman uncle’s acting and the style & grandeur of Race 3 albeit not necessary in that particular order.

That apart when Race 1 had arrived in cinemas in the year 2008, everyone had expected it to be a decent suspense fare. But the film exceeded everyone’s expectations thanks to its stylish narrative, excellent performances, writing & most importantly, the numerous unpredictable twists & turns. While Race 2 which had arrived in the year 2013 didn’t reach the level of its predecessor, forget going beyond it.

Yet, the franchise of “Race” had a lot of steam left. The producers obviously realized it and they have now come up with Race 3. This time, the film is bigger in terms of scale & grandeur and moreover, it also features one of the country’s biggest superstars, Salman Khan. At the same time, the thrill element has been toned down a bit to make it more family-friendly.

But the lead hero of Race 1 & Race 2 namely Saif Ali Khan, is no longer a part of the “Race there”.

Race 3 is the story of a dysfunctional family amidst a high stakes heist. Shamsher (Anil Kapoor) is the head of this family & Sikander (Salman Khan) is the kind-hearted & wise member. Sanjana (Daisy Shah) & Suraj (Saquib Saleem) are the youngest in the family and have a grudge against Sikander. But Shamsher is the pacifier who always ensures that things don’t go out of control. However, trouble arises when this family is entrusted with a task of retrieving a hard disk kept in a locker. This hard disk is worth millions. Shamsher entrusts this task to Sikander and the other family members. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

The biggest problem with Race 3 is that there’s hardly any storyline in the film. Whatever of Shiraz Ahmed’s story is there is too lame & too confusing and it rests on a wafer thin plot. Shiraz Ahmed & Kiran Kotrial’s dialogues are corny and one soon realizes that Daisy Shah’s “none of your business” dialogue is not the only troll-worthy one-liner of the film! Shiraz Ahmed’s screenplay is disjointed as it concentrates more on style & action than substance. Also, just like its predecessors, the makers have added a lot of twists & turns but they are unnecessary & unconvincing.

Remo Dsouza’s direction also suffers as a result of the flawed writing. The film is high on style & low on substance. The action bits are good but Remo has stretched these scenes unnecessarily. Moreover, he, the makers & the writers have tried every gimmick in the book to appeal to Salman fans. Even dialogues & scenes are something that is tailor made for the “Bhai” fans.

The 1st half of Race 3 is ok. Yet it’s only in the 2nd half that the film boasts of some worthwhile moments. There’s no doubt that the film looks rich. Each & every frame is a visual delight and it shows that the money has been spent like water. The makers have even left scope for a sequel. At 2.40 hours, the film appears too long. Some of the scenes are so corny that it would surely become the talking point of social media in the days to come.

The songs of Race 3 are good. However, “Allah Duhai Hai” & “Selfish” are quite memorable and are picturised brilliantly. “Heeriye” leaves a bit of a mark. Salim-Sulaiman’s background score is much better and it adds to the thrill & the dramatic element.

While Ayananka Bose’s cinematography is eye catching and captures the locales of UAE & Thailand very well. Rajnish Hedao’s production design is classy while Anal Arasu & Thomas Struthers’s action lifts the film to an extent. But again, it’s not as spectacular as Salman Bhai’s previous films like Tiger Zinda Hai & Kick which had arrived in the year 2014. Steven Bernard’s editing is haphazard and the film could have been smoother & shorter in length. Manish Malhotra, Ashley Rebello, Alvira Khan Agnihotri, Anaita Adajania, Akshay Tyagi & Rhea Kapoor’s costumes are quite good and suit the financial status of the characters.

Talking of performances, Salman Khan does well and is in a way the saving grace of the film. He’s not in his top form like he was in his last film Tiger Zinda Hai in the year 2017. But he sails through the film with his performance. Jacqueline Fernandez is shockingly disappointing and she struggles to act. Bobby Deol as Yash is also strictly okay. There was an excitement to see him after a hiatus and he’s sure to disappoint his fans & admirers. Anil Kapoor however puts his best foot forward and is impressive. His look is also quite great. On the other hand Daisy Shah & Saqib Saleem has given a decent performance, and the same goes for Freddy Daruwala as Rana.

Tail Piece: On the whole, Race 3 is high on style & low on substance.

At the Box-Office turnstiles, the movie will take a jump start due to Salman Khan’s star power & accelerate over the weekend.

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