The weekend prior to the release of Race 3, I was bingeing on some popular Salman Khan movies from the '90s. Like, Love, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Andaz Apna Apna, Saajan, Khamoshi. I didn't know why I had been on that trend of watching the movies with a common male lead then, since I wasn't exactly a Salman fan. But when I went to watch Race 3 FDFS on June 15, I realised why - I missed the Salman Khan from the bygone era. That Salman gave some shit about acting.

The new Salman Khan is three times more popular than his younger self and his fans are so crazy about their idol that some of them would die for him. A little twitch in his bicep is enough to send across orgasmic ripples among the Bhai fans. His movies have the potential to cross Rs 100 crore within three days, and even if it's a just about decent enough, it can gross more than Rs 200 or even Rs 300 crore. Bhai is box office gold, and he knows it. The only thing is he doesn't care about anything else - like script, or the making or even acting! And Race 3 is a fine example of that!

Before Race 3 came out, the Race franchise was about morally ambiguous characters, including the lead (played with enough slickness by Saif Ali Khan), and how they can't be trusted. Race 3 surely has similar characters, but its hero is so white then he would put Titanium Dioxide to shame. Why? Because it is played by Salman Khan and he doesn't want himself to be seen anywhere around Fifty Shades of Grey, no matter that he is quite opposite in real life. His movie characters are an extension of his brand campaign, Being Human. In fact, if you exchange his Sikander from Race 3 with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo's Prem and Tiger Zinda Hai's Tiger and it would all be the same. By casting Salman in the lead, the title has lost its significance - here's an actor who doesn't want to show himself fallible, so that makes the movie a race where there are no competitors. When Salman slugs out with Bobby Deol shirtless in the desert, you know who is going to win. You would be kidding yourself, if you thought there might be another outcome. Even Doctor Strange would know there won't be any 14,000,605 possibilities in the fight. Only one - Bhai will always win!

At least some of his previous movies like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan had some semblance of a script, the former more than latter. But in case of Race 3, calling the proceedings as a script is an insult to any form of penmanship existing in the world. The writers just had a couple of twists in mind, got Salman's dates and then spun a few words around it. Thankfully for them, the action directors (Anal Arasu and Tom Struthers) could create long action sequences that make up for the emptiness of their narrative, while the remaining void was filled by the countless songs. Speaking of which, who told Salman that he can write lyrics? And why does he want to assault the ears of the listeners with lines like 'Future mein na ja kar...Zindagi aaj abhi bitaate nibhaate jiyein' (from the song 'I Found Love') and 'Aur thoda wahaan tasalli se

Apne khayalaat ko share karo na' (from 'Selfish'). As a lover of music, I am already tired of Honey Singh and Badshah, and I seriously don't want to hear these craps of verses that some school kid might write to impress his crush. Is this the same man who was a part of lilting tracks like Baahon Ke Darmiyan and Saathiya Yeh Tune Kya Kiya?

The dialogues in the movies will feed meme-makers for years, till Salman greenlights Race 4, as how the ending of Race 3 cruelly hints at us.

I don't know how much creative control director Remo D'Souza had over Race 3. From what I remember, he was supposed to make a dance film with Salman Khan. I shudder to think how that would turn out considering Salman barely was able to move his body in any of Race 3 songs. Maybe even Salman realised it then and he then okayed the script of Race 3 (yes, there existed such a thing) as an alternative. When actors like Sidharth Malhotra were scared enough to be second fiddle to Bhai, he brought in ones with limited acting abilities and be rather bask in Salman's limelight to fill in the cast, including a poor Bobby Deol. No wonder, people are trolling the movie as Salman's kamgaar yojana. Just like Jai Ho!

And then somehow, he convinced the most consistent actor in the industry, Anil Kapoor, to take the whole burden of acting on his face. Others in the cast are more or less interested in preening for the camera.

I don't know whether Remo had in it to tell Salman where and how to emote, because Salman doesn't bother to try even in a single scene. Maybe that's why he was rather invested in making Bhai fly, or look dashing even after getting beaten up or take off his shirt at the flimsiest excuse given. At least in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, Salman attempted something in the histrionics department. Maybe that he tried too much of that in Tubelight and how that attempt failed, Salman has now completely given up on acting, which was also evidenced in Tiger Zinda Hai (where even Katrina Kaif over-shadowed him).

I am not someone for comparison, but look at Aamir Khan. He is the only superstar in Bollywood who can take on Salman Khan at the box office, and his movies make better money than Bhai's. And yet Aamir doesn't rely on his star-power to make his movies sail through. His prep for Dangal is why the movie ran on intrigue value, and we know even when the movies might be shit, like Dhoom 3 and even PK, they have something different to offer.

I am not sorry feeling for myself as someone who admired Salman in the '90s. I am sorry for his die-hard Salman fans, who throng the early shows of his movies whenever they come up during Eid or December. I watched Race 3 in a half-filled show on a Friday morning, and could actually feel the frustration of the fans sitting beside me. They were looking for opportunities to cheer for Bhai in the film, but save for a couple of action scenes or that shirtless scene, they hardly found any! When Bhai winked at the audience promising a sequel, a tired fan screamed what I wanted to say right from the start 'Arre khatam karo yaar!'

It's these fans that's the reason, why despite the negative reviews, Race 3 went on to have the second highest opening day collections of 2018, just behind Avengers: Infinity War. These fans are the ones that have been trying to trend the movie's box office collections on Twitter. Even though they might have nothing to cheer in the movie, they are doing everything to make sure they are supporting Race 3's 'success'. Speaking of which, imagine what would have happened if Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju had released along with Race 3, as it was once speculated. Salman's movie would have been a disaster.

Salman doesn't owe us, critics, any damn thing! But to these fans, who thronged outside his apartments when the court gave him bail in a high-profile case cheering for him, Salman Khan owes them a damn good movie!

So here's hoping that Bharat, Salman's next movie, is just that. And if it turns out to be as bad as Race 3, then we don't know how long can Salman hold onto the goodwill of his fans. Just see what happened to Shah Rukh Khan's recent movies, when they failed to meet the fans' expectations! So Bhai, a sincere request - don't let your fans down!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 17, 2018 12:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).