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Bollywood never ceases to shock us with the portrayal of women as merely eye-candies and second fiddle to the all powerful 'hero'.Race 3 joins the long list of such moronic movies.
Bollywood never ceases to shock us with the portrayal of women as merely eye-candies and second fiddle to the all powerful ‘hero’.Race 3 joins the long list of such moronic movies.
Race 3 is an antithesis of the Race series. Not that I was a fan of the series in the first place! But, Race had a fitting cast – Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Sameera Reddy, Anil Kapoor and Ameesha Patel. It had foot tapping songs, memorable dance performances, slick action, some twists and turns and a whole lot of effortless style and natural sex appeal. With director Abbas-Mustan at the helm, the movie had substance to boot as well.
Thanks to the meddling ways of Salman Khan, Race 3 is a joke irrespective of the crores it accumulates at the box-office. This man has greatly contributed to the declining quality of mainstream Hindi cinema by promoting his star-stuck harem and yes men.
Salman Khan agreed to do Race 3 on the condition that choreographer Remo D’Souza would be the director. Saif Ali Khan backed out of the sequel when he was asked to side-step from the main lead giving way to Salman Khan. John Abraham and Salman Khan don’t see eye-to-eye and hence, John Abraham was dropped from the sequel like a hot potato. Lulia Vantur, Jacqueline Fernandes and Daisy Shah, the latest golden girls in his harem were roped into the project. Since no one (read Siddharth Malhotra, Aditya Roy Kapur and Emraan Hashmi) was interested in romancing Daisy Shah, the ‘desperate to make a come-back’ Bobby Deol was cast to do the honours.
So, basically Salman bhai was throwing around his ´Big Boss´ weight and only ‘Being Human’ for his questionable protégé in Race 3.
Race 3 has nothing new to offer is news by now. Which is sad considering that movie had a lot of money pumped into the project. It has been extensively shot in Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Kashmir and Jaisalmer. The action scenes were choreographed by Tom Struthers, who earlier worked on movies such as Inception, The Dark Knight and Dunkirk. But even Struthers cannot salvage this sinking ship called Race 3 with sickeningly cheesy slow-mo actions scenes, designed only to cater to the whims of a megalomaniac ageing superstar.
Typical of the Race series, the characters in Race 3 are bold and beautiful with changing partners and the plot has plenty of twists and turns. To say that Race 3 is a highly predictable movie is an understatement.
The fact that Race 3 is touted to another huge Salman Khan blockbuster comes as no news either by now. Which makes you pause and ponder the responsibility that successful superstars ought to take when they undertake a project. Just because lady luck sits pretty on some more than the others and all they have to do is remove their shirt for it to be raining crores, it does not give them the right to abuse their position of power and privilege.
Race 3 is shockingly substandard. The movie gave me the 80’s and 90’s Bollywood era vibes – jaded and outdated. Its hideous dialogues are legendary by now.
“Our business is our business. None of your business.
“Isko dil nahi DELL khol ke dikhao.
“Gussai mein liya huwa decision hamesha nuksaan pohchata hai… Isliyai pehlai main ne decision liya… Now I’m getting angry… Very angry”
“Blue eyed boy Sikander ke bina aapko koi dikta nahin. Sikku…I´m sick of this Sikku, Dad!”
Who is the bird-brained dialogue writer of this lame movie? Count me a fan! Seriously, I mean one needs genuine talent and a whole lot of balls to write such pathetic dialogues.
Race 3 is not just a lazy boring fare but also a poisonous one as well. In Swara Bhaskar’s iconic line by now, the women are ‘reduced to being a vagina‘ here. Yes, the women are femme fatales who know how to play around with guns, poles and men with equal finesse. Yet, they can never ever be equal to a man. This fact is repeated in several scenes and dialogues holding subliminal messages.
Take the scene where Jessica played by Jacqueline Fernandes saves Sikander Singh and asks –
“Main nahin hoti toh kya karte?”
“Koi aur hoti!” replies Sikander.
Of course, he apologises but it serves as mere lip service and its too late, as the damage has already been done. There are several such dialogues that show a woman her true place in the gender power equation. Mind you, all these scenes come masked as comedy. After all, humour softens the blow of a hidden message.
Picture another scene – Jessica played by Jacqueline asks Sikander Singh to stamp her wrist and he refuses before punching it hard enough for her to bleed. He sucks at her wrist and seals it with a tender kiss. He follows it with stamping his wrist and asks her to suck and kiss in return. She refuses and then he quips cockily – “It’s your loss.” Its a message that women need to please men if they want to climb up the ladder of success else it’s their loss.
Be it Jacqueline or Daisy Shah, their only purpose in the movie is to be a vibrating vagina and pander to the ego of Salman Khan. So, no matter the number of super lame twists and turns and changing partners, in the end, they are both on the side of Sikandar Singh. Yes, the man wants to have the pussy and eat it too. And, he makes no bones about the fact as he struts around flexing his biceps for an obsequious Jacqueline Fernandes.
Watching Salman Khan romance Jacqueline Fernandez in songs such as “I found love”, or “Heeriye” reminds me of Papa Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh wooing his adopted daughter Honeypreet Insaan on the big screen every time. Don’t these ageing actors take a good look in the mirror at their receding hairlines, double chins and wrinkles before casting 20-and-30-something women as their heroines? Salman Khan’s autobiographical book or movie can well be titled ‘Sugar Daddy’.
The men are obviously the smartest and most powerful ones in the group – Be it Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor or Bobby Deol. Sikander Singh aka Salman Khan is the ultimate alpha male and epitome of all supremacy and goodness. And as a viewer you are treated to one of the most erotic scenes in Hindi Cinema. Don’t miss the obnoxious orgasmic climax featuring a wrestling match between two topless old men, getting beaten to a pulp in the sand – Salman Khan and Bobby Deol!
The songs are an extension of the crappy dialogues. Some of them are written and sung by the likes of Salman Khan, Lulia Vantur, Asif Aslam and more. The cast is completely off the mark except for Jacqueline Fernandez who is reduced to nothing more than a vagina sadly. Salman Khan lacks the natural style and understated sex appeal of Saif Ali Khan and neither does Bobby Deol match upto the talent and coolness of Akshaye Khanna. The character of Shamsher Singh does not suit Anil Kapoor as well. Daisy Shah does not hold a candle to the earthy sensuousness of Bipasha Basu. Katrina Kaif´s shoes are tall to fill for even a worthy Jacqueline Fernandes who simply is not given the space to explore her individuality or express her sexuality as she wills it. Sadly, she plays an extension of Salman Khan´s real-life puppet in the movie.
Race 3 is a movie for the morons, by the morons and of the morons. And, it is the latest growing testimony to ‘The Bollywood Diva’ AIB song featuring Kangana Ranaut.
“Khub maare main aake yahan thumke, Aaj jaana tum bhi meri baat sunke, Thak gayi inki ass chum chum ke, Inse jyada broad minds hain baboons ke, Mann ja ve, O mera role badha de, Mann ja ve, Mann ja vekaanch ki ceiling gira de, Sirf chaddi mein nachaiyaan ve. Coz I have vagina re, Naa sunte meri, Coz I have vagina re. Kamar shot, Coz I have vagina re.”
Header Image is a still from Race 3
Author, poet, and marketer, know more about Tina Sequeira here: www.thetinaedit.com read more...
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