Bollywood film review: ‘Race 3’
Salman Khan’s ‘Race 3’ is a hot mess of bad writing and a lame plot
Bullets are being sprayed indiscriminately and souped-up cars are going up in flames in quick succession, but no amount of slick well-timed stunts can save this star-powered vehicle.
Race 3 is a doomed adventure.
The thriller, starring Salman Khan and directed by Remo D’Souza, reeks of bad writing, terrible dialogues, pretentious acting and a lame plot. It’s also a classic example of how throwing wads of cash into an action thriller and dolling it up with snazzy cars or having its gorgeous, but questionably talented stars, do slow motions cannot save the day.
Even a fight sequence with gleaming, sculpted torsos of Khan and Bobby Deol wrestling in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa desert isn’t a balm to a viewer, who’s simply exhausted by antics of the players in Race 3.
There’s even a random fierce girl-on-girl action sequence between Sanjana (Daisy Shah) and Jessica (Jacqeline Fernandez) at a nightclub thrown in for good measure. But swagger and stylish stunts cannot compensate for a terribly storyline.
Race 3, which delves into the lives of a wealthy dysfunctional clan led by patriarch Shamsher Singh (Anil Kapoor), is a stylised take on illegal arms dealing. Abu Dhabi has been dressed up as the fictional island Al Shiffah, the epic centre of Singh’s business empire.
From the ontset, it’s established that it’s the playground for the rich and ruthless. You cross Shamsher and he will blow you up in pieces.
His children — played by Saqib Saleem, Shah and Khan — aren’t as united as they looks. When they are not indulging in pretentious ‘bro’ and ‘dude’ speak, they are scheming to kill one another for money. It’s supposed to be a giddy bullet-riddled action-adventure, but it’s just a colossal mess.
The actors — in the midst of a heist or some evil plan-hatching — have the propensity to also break into song and dance. Sadly, even Khan’s fail-proof charisma and star power cannot elevate this thriller, that’s defunct when it comes to a believable storyline.
But history has taught us that a film starring Khan, now past 50, doesn’t have to be high on logic as his swagger can elevate any mediocre project. But the deal with Race 3 is that the dialogues seems to have been written by an amateur writer high on a sugar-rush.
Sample this: Our business is our business, none of your business, uttered by a dead-pan Shah; “I am sick of this Sikku,” spoken by an uninspiring Saleem; and “The fools who are trying to remove me from this race don’t realise that I am the champion of this race,” a gilded Khan is as trashy as it sounds.
The original Race installments, which were shameful guilty pleasures that prided on being effortlessly sophisticated despite camp storylines, were better than the laboured effort seen in Race 3.
While the action sequences, spearheaded by Hollywood stunt legend Tom Stuthers, are visually compelling and might appease the motor-head soul in you, the story fails to ignite any emotion in the viewer.
The wafer-thin plot that skims through illegal arms and drug dealings feels like a joke. Even the allure of Khan going shirtless or watching catfights unfurl cannot save this inglorious mess.
Deol, who makes a comeback with Race 3 as a sly commoner, Yash, harshly reminds why his career failed to take off.
The only saving grace in this epic affair is Kapoor, who impresses in his stylish avatar.
Watch this if you love to watch cars being blown up, but if you are looking for an intriguing story, then Race 3 isn’t the answer. — Manjusha Radhakrishnan is the chief reporter with tabloid! and loves all things Bollywood, fashion and music. After all, what’s not to love about grown men and women dancing around trees?