Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 Movie Review: Pointless Palace Politics

The earlier two films in the Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster franchise by Tigmanshu Dhulia, had been highly entertaining and this time, the third installment gets bigger with none other than Sanjay Dutt, Bollywood’s go-to guy to play a gangster, playing a pivotal role in it. But will the franchise hit a hat-trick? Read on…

With Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill) languishing in jail, his wife Madhavi Devi (Mahie Gill) has become a political force to reckon with and wants to maintain the status quo. But when she discovers that Aditya is getting acquitted and will be back to reclaim his position, she decides to team up with banished prince Uday (Sanjay Dutt), a London-based club owner, who makes obscene amounts of money by playing Russian roulette, to get rid of her husband.

Following a fracas, Uday has to relocate to India and therein follows a game of betrayal, intrigue and palace politics as all the characters indulge in a game of one-upmanship. Who will emerge victorious? The Saheb, the Biwi or the Gangster?

Jimmy Sheirgill is totally in his element as Saheb and it is a sheer delight to watch him as Aditya Pratap Singh. Even when pitted against Sanjay’s larger-than-life persona, Jimmy manages to maintain an aura of regal arrogance, which is quite impressive. As the Biwi, Mahie is deliciously menacing and quirky and yet vulnerable as and when the situation demands it and we hope we see more of the actress in the near future. As for Sanjay Dutt, though he fills up the screen with his imposing physical presence, he looks quite tired, haggard and disinterested in the proceedings. Chitrangda Singh, another new entrant to the franchise, looks absolutely gorgeous but comes across as too posh to play a ‘mujre-wali’. The rest of the cast comprising Deepak Tijori, Kabir Bedi, Nafisa Ali and others are totally wasted.

As for the plot, though the film starts off on a promising note, it meanders into various directions and at times, it becomes hard to keep track of who is doing what to whom and why. The plot lacks finesse and the story fails to arrest your attention or keep you riveted to your seats. Many situations and plot points have not been explained at all and will leave you wishing the writers had paid more attention to the plot than to the gimmicky treatment of the film. I strongly suspect that the makers felt the presence of the deadly Dutt would take care of everything and that there was no need to focus on the story that has always been the backbone of the prequels.

In conclusion, the preceding two films in the franchise are much better than this latest offering…