{"id":3043,"date":"2016-04-03T16:26:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T10:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3043"},"modified":"2016-04-03T16:26:01","modified_gmt":"2016-04-03T10:56:01","slug":"saheb-biwi-sanju","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3043","title":{"rendered":"Saheb Biwi aur Sanju Baba: The Death of a Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B<\/span><\/p>ack in 2011, <\/span>Tigmanshu Dhulia<\/span><\/a> pulled off an unlikely coup by reimagining Albar Alvi\u2019s <\/span>Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam<\/span><\/i> into an amoral modern universe. <\/span>\n\nIn <\/span>Saheb Biwi aur Gangster,<\/span><\/i> Dhulia introduced a perverse hinterland replete with sharp socio-political commentary where power hungry ex-royals shamelessly manipulated each other in order to adapt in a world constantly scheming against them. For more reasons than one, the film felt, looked, and behaved like a DIY desi-bred <\/span>G<\/span><\/i>ame of Thrones<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/a> Headlined by the cold-hearted Saheb (a compelling Jimmy Sheirgill) and his toxic relationship with the equally ambitious Biwi (Mahi Gill), the film garnered a unique potency. We\u2019re sad to report, though, that the third installment mercilessly robs the franchise of this very novelty.<\/span>\n\nSaheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3<\/span><\/i>, the weakest and most bizarre film of the franchise, comes five years after <\/span>Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns <\/span><\/i>and picks up from where the earlier film left off. It starts off with Sheirgill\u2019s Aditya Pratap Singh serving his sentence in jail (for killing a gangster from the earlier film). His wife, Madhavi, on the other hand, enjoys her freedom and clout in politics as a<\/span> Member of Parliament<\/span><\/a>, determined to keep her loving husband behind bars. But the films are so used to feeding off the couple outwitting each other, that Singh soon finds himself out of jail and in the same frame as her. <\/span>\n\nWhat it fails to do, is build on their mechanical partnership and Singh\u2019s innate masculinity and entitlement. It barely brushes the surface of what could be a complex study of the depths supposed royals can fall to. Instead, it chooses to be an unabashed <\/span>Sanjay Dutt<\/span><\/a> celebration, even though it wasn\u2019t directed by <\/span>Rajkumar Hirani<\/span><\/a>. But that doesn\u2019t deter Dhulia, who takes it upon himself to readily contribute to the great Indian season of \u201cIt\u2019s all about loving Sanju Baba\u201d.<\/span>\n

We get to learn very little about why the deeply flawed characters behave the way they do.<\/blockquote>\nDutt plays Uday Pratap Singh, the proverbial \u201cGangster\u201d of this film. Staying true to Dutt\u2019s reputation, Dhulia goes out of his way to paint him as an exiled gangster with a \u201cheart of gold\u201d who\u2019s happened to make some \u201cbad choices\u201d. Unlike the earlier films (where the gangsters were essayed menacingly by Randeep Hooda and <\/span>Irrfan Khan<\/span><\/a>), Dutt\u2019s gangster in this installment isn\u2019t just another player \u2013 he\u2019s the star. Every other character in this overpopulated film exists only as mere showpieces.<\/span>\n\nThe film opens with Uday killing it at Russian Roulette at a dingy London club. He owns a club called \u201cHouse of Lords\u201d and establishes his ferociousness by telling us that he enjoys a reputation of being the undisputed pro at Russian Roulette. The deadly game of chance is apparently also a <\/span>family legacy<\/span><\/a>. At this point, he\u2019s less gangster, and more board-game addict. But to remind us of Uday\u2019s gangster status, Dhulia gifts us a totally original accompanying background score that goes \u201cHe\u2019s the Baba\u201d everytime he comes on screen. <\/span>\n\nAll of this would have been a lot more effective had the actor not looked disinterested and tired. It\u2019s hard to digest that Dutt\u2019s ambitions are anything other than getting six months of uninterrupted<\/span> sleep<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nBut <\/span>Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 <\/span><\/i>remains oblivious to Dutt\u2019s incompetence and hence wastes away much of its 140-minute-long runtime in straying away from its true essence. We get to learn very little about why the deeply flawed characters behave the way they do. And as a result, the film ends up being a needless, long-drawn exercise of characters plotting against each other because they had nothing better to do. <\/span>\n\nA bunch of completely irrelevant characters, including a glaring Kabir Bedi, an angry Deepak Tijori, and a wasted Chitrangada Singh are created to justify Uday\u2019s motives. And when the film is not busy killing off women or making them look helpless, it\u2019s busy parodying its own franchise. Even Aditya and Madhavi\u2019s crackling chemistry can\u2019t help this ship from sinking.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3 forgets to be a political thriller and instead becomes a needless celebration of Sanjay Dutt. The result is an almost-dead franchise with an equally disinterested villain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[5978,141,26,19,5979,5980,5330],"class_list":["post-3043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood","tag-biwi","tag-bollywood","tag-cinema","tag-india","tag-saheb","tag-saheb-biwi-aur-gangster","tag-sanju"],"yoast_head":"\nSaheb Biwi aur Sanju Baba: The Death of a Franchise<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tigmanshu Dhulia's Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3 forgets to be a political thriller and instead becomes a needless celebration of Sanjay Dutt. 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