SARKAR 3 (U/A)
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Manoj Bajpayee, Ronit Roy, Amit Sadh, Yami Gautam, Supriya Pathak 
Running time: 132 minutes

The iconic wave of the hand is back. So is the familiar “Govinda, Govinda, Govinda” chant. The baritone, though, is a lot raspier and the stance a little weary. Nine years after Sarkar Raj, Amitabh Bachchan returns to play Subhash Nagre, his part Bal Thackeray-part Vito Corleone-styled don, in Ram Gopal Varma’s third instalment of the franchise. 

But things have changed in the Sarkar universe. Nagre, or Sarkar as his millions of followers revere him, doesn’t let his silences do the speaking for him any longer. He shouts orders, delivers caustic lines laced with sarcasm and scorn and often talks about weeding out his enemies himself, even though he hasn’t picked up a gun in 35 years. But six assassination attempts later, it’s up to Sarkar — who’s lost both sons and dozens of loyal supporters — to save his crumbling domain.

The template, though, remains the same. A messiah of the masses, Sarkar refuses to bow down to the greedy designs of land sharks, earning the enmity of ‘businessman’ Michael Vallya (Jackie Shroff, who sports bandhni scarves, cavorts in a pool and blows smoke rings, but does little else). With his loyal aide Gokul Satam (Ronit Roy) by his side, Sarkar resists the attacks of his new foe, but the entry of his grandson Shivaji (Amit Sadh, disastrously trying to ape a young Bachchan), a man with duplicitous intentions much like Andy Garcia’s Vincent Corleone in The Godfather Part III, sets the ball rolling for an all-too-familiar tale of deceit and death, betrayal and bloodshed. Also baying for Sarkar’s blood is politician Govind Deshpande (Manoj Bajpayee) and Shivaji’s girlfriend Anu (Yami Gautam), whose father, she believes, was killed on Sarkar’s orders many years ago. 

Ram Gopal Varma, who on a Friday generated excitement some years ago, but now only invites dread, peoples Sarkar 3 with familiar tropes and types — from henchmen whose loyalties are suspect to conniving political players all too eager to see Sarkar come crashing down. The first half, in which RGV uses atmospherics to build up a constant sense of foreboding, keeps you engaged, but Sarkar 3 unravels post-interval. Even a twist in the tail and a series of double-crosses aren’t enough to save this soulless film from being a big bore, prompting you to look down at your phone more than a dozen times in its 132-minute running time. 

Women have been an integral part of the Sarkar films, but Sarkar 3 relegates them to the sidelines, making it a boys-only playing field. The last shot of Sarkar Raj saw Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Anita taking charge, but there isn’t even a mention of her in Sarkar 3. Yami Gautam is left to glower throughout the film while Rohini Hattangadi, playing Manoj Bajpayee’s manipulative mother, is written off halfway through the film. Supriya Pathak, playing Sarkar’s wife, delivers all her lines — mostly in Marathi — from a bed… and then disappears from the film.

A lot of tea, a metaphor in the franchise for the constant seesaw of the power game, is slurped in Sarkar 3. Lines are built around it, with analogies being drawn between a damaged life and skin scalded by tea. Even Sarkar going for the kill does not forget to offer his enemy a cup of tea. But nothing really makes Sarkar 3 appetising enough for the viewer.

RGV, known for his penchant for placing the camera at weird angles, reins himself in here, but there are the expected shots of faces seen through window blinds and handles of teacups. A shot lingers a little too long on a jar of pickle, and a bulldog carved out of stone that occupies pride of place in Sarkar’s dark living room has more screen time than some of the actors in the film.

In the end, it’s just Amitabh Bachchan who is the only reason why you may want to give Sarkar 3 a chance this weekend. Long stare to crisp line, meaningful pause to scornful laugh, the big man of Bollywood stands tall even as the rest of Sarkar 3 crumbles around him. That scene at the end where he sprawls comfortably on a sofa and sips on his tea as his eyes speak shows us the magic of this man as an actor. Yet again. 

But does that mean we are happy to drink to ‘Sarkar 4?’ 
Er, not quite.                         

Priyanka Roy