Ram Gopal Verma’s obsessive qualities are no secret from the world and thus the release of two more sequels following the 2005 blockbuster, Sarkar comes with little surprise. The third instalment of the trilogy, Sarkar 3 hit the screens earlier Friday but has failed to live up to the standards set by the original overlord tale, much like its predecessor Sarkar Raj. And we think that it won’t be a hyperbole to state that Sarkar will remain to be the benchmark for all the movies under this franchise.

The novelty

An avid cinegoer mentioned that there was a strong element of unpredictability in the first edition of the Sarkar series, against the second and third that have been called as painfully slow by many. The Godfather-inspired Subhash Nagre was widely accepted by people as their on-screen messiah initially, but then there was nothing new for the audiences in the parts that followed.

“Sarkar Raj doesn’t have either the dramatic tone of the first film, nor a premise that’s particularly engaging,” movie critic Rajeev Masand wrote in a review. “Despite riding on the broad shoulders of Amitabh Bachchan, as impressively on the top of his game as ever, Sarkar 3 is a tedious trudge. It exudes about as much life as the little stone bulldog that occupies a prime place in the brooding protagonist’s gloomy living room,” a reviewer wrote about the latest release.

The chemistry

After watching Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan in the same frame in Bunty Aur Babli, when the latter’s career was looking somewhat promising, fans wished to see more of this father-son pairing on the big screens. And they got their wishes fulfilled with the first part of the Sarkar movie series as both the actors lived up to the billing.

Despite witnessing the addition of the family’s then new member Aishwarya Rai to the fold though, the successor failed to hit the ground running. “What works here are the performances. The Bachchans-all three of them are in fine form. Despite wonderful performances and nicely done dramatic moments, Sarkar Raj doesn’t pack the visceral punch of Sarkar,” critic Anupama Chopra stated.

The score

A wise man once said that good music is a movie in itself. And the Govinda Govinda chants in the original Sarkar gave everyone plenty of goose bumps with its quintessentially Mumbai feel. But the music has only gone down in the years to follow.

“If you are mentally prepared for that noise the background music creates and the camera being held in the weirdest possible positions and angles, you can actually enjoy the drama despite all its flaws,” a movie critic said about Sarkar Raj and another added this about Sarkar 3: “There is the loud background music designed to resemble a religious chant, but it is relatively less shrill than in the older films.”