Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 review: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill’s Russian roulette not enough to blow your mind

It is best to part ways when in a dysfunctional relationship. That has never been an easy option for director Tigmanshu’s Dhulia royal couple – Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill) and Madhvi Devi (Mahie Gill). There is always a  gangster to intimidate, give pleasure and provide the thrills, but the Saheb and his Biwi have always lived to fight another day.

The second film in the franchise, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013) had the poetic gangster Raja Bhaiyya (Irrfan Khan) masquerading as Indra Pratap Singh with a quest for vengeance that ultimately proved suicidal.

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia opens the third chapter, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3, with Sanjay Dutt now stepping into the shoes of Khan.

Uday Pratap Singh (Dutt), is a full-blooded royal, who runs the 'House of Lords' club in London. His hired goons are all English, with the British women serving as waitresses. Uday is deported to India for killing one Lord Bailey of the real House of Lords (the upper house of United Kingdom Parliament). Save for that one odd moment of rage, Uday usually beats his opponents through a game of Russian roulette.

Madhvi Devi witnesses Uday's rage and sees him as the ideal man to carry out her long cherished dream – eliminate her husband Saheb aka Aditya Pratap Singh. Uday’s motivation to return to India is to reunite with his love Suhani (Chitrangda Singh), a dancer. But first he has a few personal battles to fight. Circumstances lead to Uday and Aditya being locked in a game of Russian roulette that holds the future of personal greed, and political ambitions.

The Saheb and Biwi tussle is common, but Dhulia plots his palace politics on a bigger scale in his third film. The monotony of the story is expected as the franchise sticks to its template. The palace politics, too, is eye-catching, but where Dhulia and co-writer Sanjay Chauhan falter is the screenplay. The tardy first-half drags the film down. Uday’s antics in London, though introductory, are a bit too stretched. Also, Saheb’s struggle for freedom is not engaging enough.

While Saheb languishes in jail, his Biwi rises to become a powerful politician. Upon their first meet after Saheb is released, he asks Madhvi a pertinent question - “Why do you crave for men so much? Now, Madhvi’s lust has been a key element in the franchise so far, but it goes missing in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. The odd moment of lust belongs to Saheb when we makes love to a TV journalist.

Kanhaiya (Deepraj Rana), Saheb’s most trusted lieutenant, is reduced to a footnote, but it is his smart daughter who now carries the family tradition of 'saving Saheb'.

The action in the second half is more intense, more purposeful and keeps you on the edge.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 trailer: Sanjay Dutt returns as 'gangster' to complicate things

Despite being the protagonists, Aditya and Uday are not the most respected royals in town. Their tainted past haunts them when the two men are given the cold shoulder by other royals, politicians at a party hosted in honour of the visting Spanish royal couple. That is also the moment for Uday and Aditya’s first meet, and it’s filled with cocky dialogues.  The Saheb-Madhavi reunion, too, is fun to watch.

Dutt is competent in his act, but he never really hits top gear. As the constant factors of the franchise, you expect Sheirgill and Gill to play these characters with ease. Sheirgill, though is more intense than Gill. Save for Sheirgill, there is no other performance that will sweep you of your feet.

Forlorn actor Deepak Tijori, who plays Vijay, the scheming cousin brother of Uday will be merely happy to be facing the camera again.

Chitrangda Singh looks and sounds too classy to play a mujra dancer and disappoints in her only dance number.

As compared to the earlier films in the franchise, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 is rich in visuals, courtesy Amalendu Chaudary.  

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 mainly fails in its story telling.

Monarchy in India has long ended, and while palace politics is still intriguing, you do question how long will Tigmanshu Dhulia cash in on the subject.

Will there be any difference if Dhulia plots a fourth chapter? Perhaps, it is time that the filmmaker leaves the squabbling Saheb and his Biwi alone.

Watch the film's trailer below: