Though there are many actors, much fireworks and a whole lot of noise mostly created when cars collide and fancy guns go off in the wilderness, it is only one man whom we see from the first frame to the last in the trailer of “Race 3” — Salman Khan.
For one, the race is won by relying almost completely on its superstar’s super-imposing aura. And why not’ When you have Salman Khan in the lead, talking about how he would go to any lengths to protect his family, he seems to be doing an extension of his real-life image as the superstar who loves his family above all else.
With Salman playing another variation on himself, you really don’t need anything more to liven up proceedings.
The trailer has more of Salman than all the other actors put together. He is seen almost single-mindedly obsessed with machines: cars, mobikes, machine guns and robotic actresses who think going to the gym is equivalent to being a star.
Not that the supporting cast is particularly interesting. Except for Anil Kapoor who appears in a menacing larger-than-life avatar with an all-white beard, the other actors seem to be mere props, saying their lines as though they were being forced to do so with a gun held to their collective heads.
Bobby Deol, who has confessed that he came on board on Bhai’s say-so, is seen taking off his shirt alongside Salman and walking towards the camera in slo-mo. You really need to be brave to go shirtless alongside the centrespread icon who seems to have invented the shirtless look.
Interestingly, both the heroines have action scenes. Daisy Shah slits her tightly-wound dress with a knife from thigh to foot to be able to kick some ass literally. Jacqueline Fernandez gets to perform some stunts too. While doing them, she also gets time to make a ‘marriage joke’ with Salman who asks her for her hand.
“Not in marriage but something else,” grins Salman. We wonder what it could be. The mind boggles at the possibilities.
We are relieved. The last thing we need in a big-budgeted action movie is a stopover for a solemn wedding. Everybody seems to be having a grand time except Saqib Saleem, who cribs: “I am sick of this Sikoo (that is Salman’s Sikandar).”
A sentiment unlikely to be shared by the moviegoing public which just can’t get enough of Salman. In “Race 3”, he seems happy being in almost every frame, mowing down enemies in expensive cars, shooting guns that look as strange as they look intimidating.
Somehow, I missed Saif Ali Khan in the trailer of “Race 3”. But I am sure no one in the audience this Eid would be thinking of any other actor except Salman. He wouldn’t let them.
By Subhash K. Jha
