Alongside Dhoom, Race is inarguably the biggest action franchise Bollywood has witnessed. And while Race 3 may have received a mixed response, Ramesh Taurani has revealed that the fourth instalment will get made very soon. And now we’ve some exclusive updates on the same. The first schedule of the film, which was supposed to begin later this year, has been slightly pushed. “The shoot of Race 4 will begin in 2025. The script has already been locked and we’re currently in the process of zeroing in on the star cast,” Taurani tells us.
Race that released in 2008 was headlined by Saif Ali Khan and it emerged as a commercial success. He went on to star in Race 2 as well but its spiritual sequel saw Salman Khan taking over the reins from him. Talking about this shift that led to a fan war on social media, Taurani shares, “It was our call to change the cast of Race. We wanted to work with Salman again after Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai and Auzaar. We had been trying to collaborate for four to five years before Race 3 actually happened.”
Interestingly, Race 3 wasn’t supposed to be the first collaboration between Salman and Remo Dsouza as the duo was banking on another film. Reportedly, this was the same script as that of Be Happy, Remo’s upcoming directorial starring Abhishek Bachchan, which revolves around a single father, who goes to extraordinary lengths to fulfil his daughter’s dreams.
Making this big revelation, the veteran producer comments, “At that time, he was working on another of Remo’s script which was the story of a father and a daughter. Daisy (Shah) and Jacqueline (Fernandez) were also a part of that film. But Salman thought ki yeh nahi karke Race karte hai. That’s how we went ahead with Race 3 with Remo as the director.”
But was Saif upset with being replaced by Salman? “Saif and I never fought. Par haan, woh naraaz the. Race, after all, was his franchise. Race is Saif’s biggest hit till date. After that, four or five films starring him didn’t work well. Every actor goes through these kinds of ups and downs in their life. Race is a very expensive franchise. And you’ve to consider the profit and box office outcome of a film mounted on a huge budget. An actor’s box office standing matters when it comes to casting him in a franchise film,” states Taurani.
The Ishq Vishk Rebound and Merry Christmas producer further reveals that creating a franchise out of Race was never a part of the original plan. “We loved the script of Race. It was very different and we knew that it would turn out to be a good film. It was only after it released that we decided to make a sequel to it. These were all very difficult scripts to write because of the numerous twists and turns in them and that remains the highlight of the franchise,” he elaborates.
