A tired, thin screenplay leaves Bachchan stranded in a spent franchise.
Verdict tier Unfavorable, most critics didn't like it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
Critic consensus
Critical reception for Sarkar 3 is largely negative, with the majority of reviewers finding it a disappointing entry in the franchise. Amitabh Bachchan's screen presence is the most consistently noted bright spot across reviews, with several critics also singling out Ronit Roy and Amit Sadh for capable supporting work. The film is widely faulted for a weak, repetitive screenplay that retreads the original Sarkar to diminishing effect, underdeveloped characters with shallow motivations, and the sidelining of its female cast. A small minority found merit in the franchise's signature visual style and background score, but the consensus holds that the film fails to justify its existence as a third installment.
1 not-rated review isn't plotted
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 21 critic reviews · may contain errors
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Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Top critic
Film review ·
Sarkar 3 is an improvement on many of Varma's recent films, which, quite frankly, were unwatchable to say the least. Yet it's steeped in familiarity and an overwhelming sense of repetition and pointlessness. Did we really need another Sarkar film? Sadly, the answer is no.
Top critic
Film review ·
Bachchan shows signs of the towering actor he can be, but is captive to the way his Sarkar has been conceptualized and played: he declaims rather than speaks. And there are moments where you can see flashes of the director RGV used to be, when he pulled off films full of creative leaps, and crazy flourishes. Can RGV be restored to factory settings? I hope so.
Top critic
Film review ·
The plotting is oafish, the character motivations are boringly shallow, and there seems to have been a catastrophic misreading of what palace politics entail. Bajpayee, Bachchan and Ronit Roy are wasted, but have it better than the women. The great Rohini Hattangadi is given nothing to do and vanishes midway through, while Yami Gautam appears incredibly vacuous, the actress perhaps unaware what to do because she doesn't usually get to stay alive and unharmed in her films.
Film review ·
Watch Sarkaar 3 for the way Varma frames the familial feud in flames of fury. The performances are largely effective specially those byRonit Roy and Amit Sadh. The latter comes into his own as Mr Bachchan's uncontrollable grandson. But above all, this is one more triumphant celluloid outing for Amitabh Bachchan who invests his role of the aging tiger-neta with a kind of cosmic resonance that goes way beyond that famous baritone.
Film review ·
The brooding palette of shadow and light that has been the trademark of this franchise is retained, as is the Govinda chant that works as a terrific background score. The Ganesh-aarti rendered by Bachchan is spellbinding; the iconic actor is also in top form, mesmerizing you with his grey shades and grey irises. For his legion of fans, this one is an important outing. Amit, Manoj, Jackie and Ronit lend weightage. However, the actresses--Yami, Supriya and Rohini are short-changed.
Film review ·
Though the film boasts of a stellar starcast and a storyline which would been much more crispier, Amitabh Bachchan is that knight in the shining armour which saves the film from ruining it further.
Film review ·
Most of Sarkar 3 is a remake of Sarkar. Nagre is still dealing with absolutely similar problems in absolutely similar manners. But there is one good thing about Sarkar 3. Ram Gopal Varma is a step closer to regain his touch. Veerappan showed he is not out of the game, and Sarkar 3 suggests he is on a comeback. He should also be lauded for a great ensemble cast.
Film review ·
No two words about this…Sarkar 3 is a huge letdown for those who expected RGV to make a major comeback here. If only the maverick director had spent less time trolling Tiger Shroff and Vidyut Jammwal and instead focused on his craft, perhaps the trilogy could have been given a fitting farewell. Forget being The Godfather 3, Sarkar 3 ends up as The Hangover 3 of its Godfather-inspired franchise. Save for Amitabh Bachchan's dependable performance and the final twist, Sarkar 3 is avoidable!
Film review ·
Sarkar 3 has the right ideas but it makes a complete mess of its political themes by trying to be quirky for no reason. Had RGV just stuck to intensity and grit, this would've been a thrilling comeback for the maverick filmmaker.
Film review ·
In a nutshell, RGV's Twitter page is much more entertaining than this 132 min borefest! It's time the filmmaker refurbishes his factory of films. Until then our solace lies in his previous body of work like Satya and Company!
Film review ·
As and when Amitabh Bachchan comes on screen it reminds of the 2005 Subash Nagre, this deja vu is good for RGV as it still manages to give a glimmer of hope that all is not lost for RGV till yet. His comments on social media may not be taken seriously but still those who have grown up watching his cinema since SHIVA in 1989 know about his capabilities and are still waiting. The sentiments mentioned however are bad for SARKAR 3 as the movie follows the form of the original SARKAR but to diminishing effect.
Film review ·
'Sarkar 3' is like a sequeky roar due to bad screenplay and lethargic direction. The movie had all the potential to become big just like a mighty roar of a lion.
Film review ·
The first half is engaging enough, but loses its way post the interval. There are loose ends which are never tied, and by the time the climax comes, you have pretty much figured out how it is going to end. Although a maverick filmmaker, RGV has had several hits and misses in his career. The (hopefully) last film of the Sarkar trilogy, unfortunately, is one of the misses.
Film review ·
In the times of Modi Sarkar, Sarkar 3 is like 'Kal Ki Baat'. Big B tries hard to keep this poorly scripted film afloat but fails to do so.
Film review ·
One just begins to feel indifferent towards it beyond a point. Which isn't a good thing, I know. But then, if "it is what it is" kinda casual indifference follows plain dejection, and natural helplessness, then so be it. I liked this film's end though. You might too. If you can remain fresh and alert enough until then, that is.
Film review ·
Sarkar 3 fails on many levels. The film is crammed to the gills with characters and motives that go nowhere. Amitabh Bachchan is earnest but even he cannot prevent the poorly scripted and horribly hammed work from turning into a train wreck. |
Film review ·
The decision is really easy. Pass this one, unless you have sworn to watch every single Amitabh Bachchan film. Yep, if you are the regular fan, you can easily give it a miss.
Film review ·
Sarkar 3 too is lacklustre and ordinary. Coming from the House of Ram Gopal Varma, in some ways that counts as worse than being bad.
Film review ·
Ram Gopal Varma is back with Part Three of that series, which presented to us the first clear evidence that the great man was slipping...
Film review ·
Sarkar 3 is an avoidable affair this weekend. Make your and everyone else's weekend by getting RGV banned from making a highly plausible Sarkar 4.
Film review ·
Bachchan tries hard to channel his inner Vito Corleone for the third time even as the rest of the cast dart piercing looks at each other. Amit Sadh as Cheeku channels so much intensity that you would be forgiven for thinking he was a soldier going off to fight at the border. Thankfully, Ronit Roy is the exact opposite, playing Gokul with dependable efficiency. But that is hardly enough to salvage a film that, like its protagonist, is a mere shadow of its earlier avatars.
From our readers
2 ratings · user score 3.5
It's been a fortnight since "Baahubali 2" has released & as I had predicted it has crossed the 1000 C mark with ease. As the epic's box office collections steadily makes it way into unchartered territories, the other film makers back home have been skeptical regarding when to showcase their wares lest they get drowned in the Baahubali tsunami. However, we did have a reasonably high profile release this week in the form of "Sarkar 3". But will RGV's creation have the quality to make us sit up & take notice? Seems like a tall ask after all his creativity (does he still have it?) is a pale shadow of what it was more than a decades back. Subhash Negre (Big B) is still the darling of the masses & headache of the corrupt as he maintained an iron fist over the political climate in the state. Inspite of having lost both his sons & survived numerous assassination attempts on his life, he continued to make sure that the commoners were not exploited by the rich & powerful. He was ably assisted by his trusted lieutenant Gokul (Ronit Roy) & as expected just as his followers increased, his enemies also grew in number. The latest adversary who sought to end Sarkar's reign happened to be Michael Mallya (Jackie Shroff), a real estate businessman who operated from Dubai. But a bigger problem was when Sarkar's grandson Shivaji (Amit Sadh) sought to come under his grandfather's wings. Just like his father, Shivaji was impulsive & brash which created unrest in Sarkar's camp much to the delight of Michael & his men who milked the situation to their benefit. Can Sarkar trust anyone on his side or was it the end of the road for him??? There was a time when Ram Gopal Verma was one of the most exciting directors in the country with movies like " Siva", "Company", "Rangeela", "Ab Tak Chappan" etc. But a couple of years into the new millennium, he seemed to have lost his touch to enthrall the audience as he churned out mediocre ventures at alarming regularity. However, on saying that this is surely one of his better efforts in the past decade. When the first part came out in 2005, it gripped the audience as it was inspired from Bal Thackeray & the Godfather series. Even the sequel had a story to tell with Abhishek & Aishwarya put into the mix. But the latest installment didnt have anything to convey as Nilesh Girkar, Jaya Kumar & Ramkumar Singh might have just taken the CDs of the prequels & changed the name of the characters. Interestingly even a fleeting mention of Aishwarya's character is not made in the movie considering she was calling the shots at the end of the second part. The only portion which did interest me was the climax though by that time I was waiting for the movie to end. RGV always had a fascination for bikini clad chicks, silhouettes, odd camera angles, focusing on inanimate objects even as the characters are blurting out their corny dialogues & all of this is present in ample measure here as well. It has been captured through Amol Rathod's frames & the blaring BGM has been the contribution of Ravi Shankar & Rohan Vinayak. When it came to performances, it is basically a Big B show but he doesnt have anything to do apart from slurping his coffee & speak in his baritone voice. He has done justice to his role though he could have done it even with his eyes closed. Amit Sadh impressed as the short tempered instinctive Shivaji along with Ronit Roy. Manoj Bajpayee was wasted, Jackie evoked a couple of chuckles with his double entendres while Yami Gautam & the rest barely had anything substantial to do. Verdict: There is hardly any factor which works in its favour to the extent that I would rate "Meri Pyaari Bindhu" way better than this. With "Baahubali" going strong, it will struggle to make it to the next week & will end up as yet another flop in RGV's career. In short, dont bother as it's as trivial as his tweets!!! Rating: 1.75/5 Regards...Ben
Sarkar 3, a political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the latest one in the Sarkar series absolutely falls flat. Sarkar 3 has nothing new to offer, rather none of the scenes are exciting enough to make one watch the film. The palace politics, as it is defined and shown in the film, is inexplicable. Ram Gopal Varma does not showcase any new perspective or any new aspect through Sarkar 3. The screenplay and editing are not at all deft. As a viewer, I kept wondering what is the overall idea behind making this film. The film has the same old story of a leader who with his power of influence has earned many enemies as well as supporters. It also has the story of deceit, manipulations, betrayal, playing double games etc. The mood in every frame of the film is grim. There is not a single moment in the film which is light. As far as the character sketching is concerned, even the most powerful character has been portrayed in a very weak manner. Sarkar 3 is the third in the series. Sarkar aka Subash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan) is still powerful. He is a loner. His trademark hand-wave can still mesmerize thousands of people. The first half of the film sees Amit Sadh's entry as Shivaji, the grandson of Sarkar. Shivaji chooses to address his grandfather as Sarkar only. Ronit Roy as Gokul and Parag Tyagi as Raman are Sarkar's credible aids. But once Shivaji comes, troubles begin in this camp. Shivaji is in love with Anu (Yami Gautam) who is the daughter of Sreeram who was killed by Sarkar. The film moves further without any twists and turns, any major conflicts, without any unpredictability of the plot. The tempo of the film is very slow. We have seen Amitabh Bachchan in Sarkar and Sarkar Raj earlier. Nothing new is added, no new dimension is added to his role. He slurps tea, offers tea to his friends as well as foes when they visit him. Abhishek Bachchan's photograph with garland is almost there in every frame. Amit Sadh is a wonderful actor. We have seen him creating magic in Kai Po Che, Sultan etc. but here his role is sketched out very poorly. Whereas, his role was supposed to be at par with Sarkar, but it does not happen so. Manoj Bajpayee has the knack of getting into any character he plays, but he did not have much to do as Govind Deshpande in the film. His character had very less of screen space. A very talented actress Rohini Hattangadi as Govind's mother also has a very small role. Jackie Shroff's role as businessman Michael Vallya is perhaps the most unexplained character in the film, though he plays the mastermind behind many conflicts but the scenes given to him are absolutely absurd. Rest of the actors Supriya Pathak, Ronit Roy, Parag Tyagi, Yami Gautam and others are wasted in this pointless dark film. Sarkar 3 has nothing new to offer, rather none of the scenes are exciting enough to make one watch the film. The palace politics, as it is defined and shown in the film, is inexplicable. Ram Gopal Varma does not showcase any new perspective or any new aspect through Sarkar 3.
Credits
Amitabh BachchanSubhash Nagre / Sarkar
Amit SadhShivaji Nagre / Cheeku
Jackie ShroffSir
Manoj BajpayeeGovind Deshpande
Yami Gautam DharAnnu Karkare
Ronit RoyGokul Satam
Rohini HattangadiRukku Bai Devi
Bharat DabholkarGorakh Rampur
Parag TyagiRaman Guru
Ram Gopal Varma
Ravi Shankar
Anwar AliHindi films like Sarkar 3
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