The only word that comes to mind again and again is, “whatever”. As someone who has grown up on Amitabh Bachchan films and calls herself a fan of very, very few celebrities, it hurts to see him a film that has no hold whatsoever.

This idea of mystery - to point the audience to the other direction and throw in something supposedly shocking - is the lamest way to narrate a thriller.

Sure, he does his best as Sarkar. Just the movement of his eyes is enough to express doubt, conflict, anger, and so on. But then again if I wanted to watch his performance there are so many better films to pick from. I don't need to see one where everything else about the film wants to make you pull your hair.

The other performers have to battle two things. One, their urge to stand against the pressure of performing in a film with Amitabh Bachchan (Sarkar). Two, the director's urge to amplify everything in an attempt to create suspense. Nothing else can explain the tone and voice of Amit Sadh (Sarkar's grandson, Shivaji Nagre) and the guy who plays Gandhi – just to affected. Sure Manoj Bajpayee and Ronit Roy hold their own but there is little for them to do. I think if you showed me any shot with Yami Gautam in it, whether or not I would recognise her I'd know she is from a Raj Gopal Varma film. Something about her styling and make-up makes her like any of the others. And the less we talk about the random scenes that Supriya Pathak and Jackie Shroff are offered, the better.

Though more so when one of these two appear on screen, that's what Sarkar 3 feels like even otherwise - one random scene sewn after another. The only common theme through the film is to try to create suspense. But, each detail gives the suspense away. For example, body language is such a lovely tool at the hands of the actors. So much, the audience assimilates without realising. But, the director chooses to not only zoom in to the eyes, the feet, the flicker of the fingers, he also lingers there a little too long. This tells you too much about the story. For a bit, I thought this was the intention - that the director did not want the suspense. But the climax tells you the opposite.

This idea of mystery - to point the audience to the other direction and throw in something supposedly shocking - is the lamest way to narrate a thriller.

The rest is the usual Ram Gopal Verma do. Dark rooms, loud drums, weird camera angles. In this midst, it seems out of place, but I am thankful that the purity of “jay dev jay dev” aarti (prayer) is retained.

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.

- meeta, a part of the audience