Race franchise was identified with Saif Ali Khan as he played the lead role in the first two films. Everything has changed with the third installment of Race, in which Remo D’Souza has replaced Abbas-Mustan and the cast was completely changed except Anil Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez. Race 3 stars Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, and Freddy Daruwala in key roles.
The diehard fans of the franchise were hopeful that there will be a surprise cameo by Saif Ali Khan. Remo D’Souza made it clear that there won’t be any reference to Saif. Remo claims that the movie requires a completely new cast. In a recent interview with Bollywood Life, Remo revealed, “There’s no reference to Saif in the film. It wasn’t that we didn’t want him. The script is written with different characters, which is why Ramesh (Taurani) Ji approached Salman sir, and when he was on board, then it was all done. All the other characters were done so there was no need.”
Salman Khan has announced his plans in 2016 to launch his own private single-screen theatre chain in Maharashtra to make movies more accessible. But the project has been delayed until now. Salman Khan will be taking his first step towards it by being a distributor to his Eid release Race 3. “We were in talks with Eros (International) for a long time. Eventually, we reached a phase where the terms and conditions were not met and the deal fell through. But something good came out of it. I am distributing Race 3 and will also distribute Aayush (Sharma)’s debut film (Loveratri),” Salman Khan said in a recent interview. He further added, “Ticket rates should be brought down to Rs 200-250 for weekends and Rs 120-150 for weekdays, the way it is for regional films. With Hindi films, the numbers are higher but we need the footfalls too.” Salman Khan has already met producers, distributors, and exhibitors to expand his plan to other states within the next decade.
The Race 3 trailer and songs attracted jokes and memes on social media. Several people criticized the film for lacking originality and the funny stunts. Earlier, when asked about the trolls, Salman Khan has dismissed the backlash on Twitter against the trailer of Race 3, saying comments by people with ‘One or Two’ followers do not qualify as trolling. Nevertheless, the film is expected to mint over Rs 200 Crores at the box office as it is getting released in the festive season and there is not much competition. Race 3 is all set to release worldwide on June 15.
