Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangada Singh
Rating: 1/5 stars
A royal prince is getting arrested, thanks to machinations of his own family, and before getting into the vehicle he asks a police constable if he has the luxury to make a phone call. The constable shoots back the most obvious of questions — “dene ke liye kuchhai jeb main?” Is there anything in your pocket to offer? Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’s third outing, with Tigmanshu Dhulia again, is set at a time when royalty is not merely frowned upon but has lost its sheen after repeated attempts at rejuvenation, numerous efforts at restoring old architecture both physically and metaphorically.
Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Shergill) won’t let go of it even after 70 years of independence and three films of struggle with his wife Madhavi Devi (Mahie Gill). Feudalism thrives in his veins and it is no different for now member of Parliament Madhavi. Dhulia wants to capture all this in a pulpy saga of intrigue, but the material here has long run out and Dhulia, out of tricks. He has misplaced item numbers, awkwardly placed sex scenes (In 2018, the prince loves to have sex on the haystack apparently), a meaningless detour to London and the worst use of Madan Mohan’s Lag Ja Gale.
So much that we get a line about Saheb having solved a 15-year-old case languishing in the courts in a matter of fifteen minutes. Tamil cinema fans might laugh at this indirect, unintentional reference to another 90s film that celebrated feudalism but most laughs in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 are of the same calibre — unintentional. The film runs like a long teaser for everything we have already watched in the first part. So, Dhulia follows a template. Sometimes edits occur such that they don’t complete a song or a scene. We are just left there to fill in the details, only this is not writing or filmmaking of the good kind. There is no Randeep Hooda? There is Sanjay Dutt, an estranged heir to another royal.
There is no Soha Ali Khan anymore? There is Chitrangada Singh, a dancer. Dutt looks tired and admittedly unhappy to be there, wishing there was a part two of his biopic where he can fool the audience and the media at the same time once more. Soha Ali Khan looks happier lying on a hospital bed in coma than she was inebriated and dancing with Gill to Lag Ja Gale. And Shergill is honestly done with stereotypical role as the bad guy from the cow belt, threatening his wife, extracting revenge, reinforcing feudal mindsets. Get him into an infectiously-happy-middle-aged-single-father-rediscovers-his-romantic-side-again role already.