Salman Khan's Race 3 Has A Job In Hand To Take Forward Saif Ali Khan's Race And Race 2

When Saif Ali Khan made Race [2008] with Tips and Abbas-Mustan, it was one of the biggest thrillers of those times. A star-studded affair, it established a template for this genre of films which had twists and turns galore practically every 15 minutes.

Half a decade down the line came Race 2 [2013] and yet again it was Saif Ali Khan leading the charge in this Tips production that had Abbas-Mustan taking forward the twists-n-turns formula. Yet again, the film was a success though there were complaints that the formula had been milked dry with the second in the franchise.

No wonder, now that Salman Khan has come on board for Race 3 [2018] exactly a decade after Race, one waits to see how does the entire template approach work for the third in the series.

"As simple as that, there has to be something remarkably different this time around," says an insider, "The thing is that Abbas-Mustan have been masters in this genre, I do agree with that, however they have themselves used this formula in so many other films also of their own that the whole unpredictability factor has turned predictable. So now for something to be truly unpredictable in the narrative of Race 3, there has to be some immense shock quotient in the narrative."

This is the reason why for director Remo D'Souza, there is indeed a job in hand to present that kind of offering to the audience which is a mix of everything that Race brand stands for as well as Salman quotient.

"Exactly the kind of challenge that could make or break Race 3," an observer comments, "See, the thing is that there are certain expectations from Race as a franchise. You want action, you want songs-n-dances, you want twists-n-turns, you want full-on thrills; basically, you want a complete package. However, along with all of that you also need that kind of scenes that accentuate larger than life persona of Salman Khan. The film is really big due to his presence and because of that you have to cater to certain specific needs that a Salman Khan starrer comes with."

Moreover, the film is arriving on Eid and hence it also needs to cater to the single screen as well as multiplex audiences across A, B as well as C centers.

"Net-net, while factors like franchise and Salman are the strengths of the film, it also proves to be a challenge since you have to get everything right," a trade guru adds, "There is no denying the fact that the film will take a huge opening. As a matter of fact, even in the worst case scenario, a total of around 200 crores is given. However, Race 3 has been set as a bigger and better product. When you have made it a star-studded affair with so many other actors added to the cast as well, the intentions of the makers are clear that the film is being looked at as a big ticket money spinner."

All of this also means that the future of Race as a franchise is a lot dependent on how Race 3 eventually does.

"It won't be just about the opening, it would also be about the kind of credibility that Race 3 brings with it from the story, narrative, and execution perspective. It has to enthrall and entertain the audience. As simple as that," the observer continues.

Well, with the film being barely a few days away, the answer would be known soon, very soon!