Ramesh Taurani reveals why Saif Ali Khan was replaced by Salman Khan in Race 3.
Saif Ali Khan has been a part of the Race franchise since 2008. Abbas-Mustan directed the first film, which also featured Akshaye Khanna, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor, and Sameera Reddy. The amazing response to the movie prompted the release of a sequel, Race 2, in 2013. The second part features Saif with John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernadez, Ameesha Patel, and Anil. However, Salman Khan took Saif's place as the lead star in Race 3. Stay tuned to BollywoodLife for the latest updates from Bollywood, South, TV and Web-Series.
When Salman Khan took over the Race franchise with the third film, many were startled. Except for Anil Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez, none of the leads from the first two movies were part of it. In 2018, Remo D'Souza directed the third part, which featured Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem, and Freddy Daruwala. The movie received poor reviews from the audience. Recently, there was speculation that the makers are now planning to rope in Saif for the fourth film.
In a new interview, producer Ramesh Taurani reveals why Saif Ali Khan was replaced by Salman Khan in Race 3. The producer also shared that the Hum Tum star was upset when he was not cast in the third installment. Ramesh told Showsha that Race 2 is still Saif's biggest hit. However, after that, the actor had a series of flops. As Race is an expensive franchise, they thought it didn't make sense to cast him in the third part. "It was a business decision, nothing personal. He's a very good actor," shared Taurani. The producer reveals that there is no issue between them anymore.
In the same year as the release of Race 3, Saif Ali Khan made his Netflix debut in his first web series, Sacred Games. The show received a tremendous response from the audience. In terms of cinema, the audience harshly criticized Om Raut's Adipurush, where the actor last appeared. Saif's next film is the pan-India Telugu action thriller Devara. Directed by Koratala Siva, the film also stars Jr NTR and Janhvi Kapoor. The actor is also a part of Jewel Thief: The Red Sun Chapter.
On the other hand, Salman Khan is currently busy with AR Murugadoss' Sikandar. The action film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Sathyaraj, and it will hit theatres during Eid 2025.
