# Sarkar 3 (सरकार 3)
**Sarkar 3** (सरकार 3) is a 2017 Hindi-language political crime film directed by [Ram Gopal Varma](https://www.edgepedia.org/ram-gopal-varma) and the third entry in his [Sarkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarkar-2005-film) series, starring [Amitabh Bachchan](https://www.edgepedia.org/amitabh-bachchan) as Subhash Nagre, the patriarch known as Sarkar. It was released in India on 12 May 2017, opened on approximately 1450 screens, and ran 132 minutes.[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) The film follows *Sarkar* (2005) and *Sarkar Raj* (2008) and completes Varma's trilogy of Maharashtrian politics.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 12 May 2017, about 1450 screens in India, runtime 132 minutes[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) |
| Budget | ₹360 million (₹36 crore) per Box Office India; IMDb lists an estimated ₹550,000,000[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742874/) |
| Box office | First weekend net ₹66.3 million (₹6.63 crore); total India net ₹99.6 million (₹9.96 crore); worldwide gross ₹205.3 million (₹20.53 crore); trade classification "Disaster"[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) |
| Returning cast | Amitabh Bachchan as Subhash Nagre; Supriya Pathak as Pushpa Nagre, the only other original cast member[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) |
| New cast | Amit Sadh, Yami Gautam, Manoj Bajpayee, Jackie Shroff, Ronit Roy, Rohini Hattangadi[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) |
| Critical reception | Negative; NDTV scored it 2/5 and the Roger Ebert review called it dramatically inert next to *Sarkar Raj*[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sarkar_3/reviews) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017) |
| Series standing | First *Sarkar* was a semi hit, *Sarkar Raj* below average, *Sarkar 3* a disaster by trade reckoning[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) • [1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story centers on Subhash Nagre's conflict with a builder lobby and with greedy politicians and crooked industrialists who want to displace 14,000 private citizens to start a new business venture.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742874/) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017) This land-displacement premise mirrors the inciting incident of *Sarkar Raj*, in which a power project threatened a community's land.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017)
Subhash takes on the corrupt politician Govind Deshpande ([Manoj Bajpayee](https://www.edgepedia.org/manoj-bajpayee)) and his shadowy criminal patron Michael Vallya ([Jackie Shroff](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-shroff)), with the help of his hot-headed grandson Shivaji ([Amit Sadh](https://www.edgepedia.org/amit-sadh)), son of the dead Vishnu.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017) Shivaji, called Cheeku, is the son of Vishnu, whom Subhash ordered killed in the first film after a failed assassination attempt, and the film plays on whether he loves or hates his grandfather and whether he seeks to avenge his father's death.[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/sarkar-3) A further thread of suspicion falls on Sarkar's lieutenant Gokul, who may have turned traitor.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742874/)
Continuity with the earlier films is selective. Shankar ([Abhishek Bachchan](https://www.edgepedia.org/abhishek-bachchan)), who died at the end of *Sarkar Raj*, is represented by recurring shots of Amitabh watering a plant beside a portrait of his dead son, a portrait that dominates Sarkar's chambers.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017) • [4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372)
### Cast and characters
**Returning.** Amitabh Bachchan stars as Subhash Nagre, and [Supriya Pathak](https://www.edgepedia.org/supriya-pathak) reprises Pushpa Nagre; NDTV identified her as the only original member of the series apart from Bachchan.[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372)
**New additions.** Amit Sadh plays Shivaji Nagre (Cheeku), the arrogant grandson. [Yami Gautam](https://www.edgepedia.org/yami-gautam) plays Annu Karkare, who seeks to avenge Subhash Nagre's unfair dealing, which changed the fate of her family, and uses Cheeku for that revenge.[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) • [1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) Manoj Bajpayee plays Govind Deshpande, Sarkar's rival political opponent. Jackie Shroff plays Michael Vallya, a character the Indian Express described as reminiscent of the tainted businessman [Vijay Mallya](https://www.edgepedia.org/vijay-mallya). [Ronit Roy](https://www.edgepedia.org/ronit-roy) plays Gokul, and Rohini Hattangadi plays Rukku Bai Devi.[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) • [2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) Sources differ on Ronit Roy's role: NDTV lists Gokul Satam among Sarkar's new enemies, while Box Office India calls Gokul his trusted wingman.[4](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372) • [1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524)
## Production and release
The film was slow to materialize. It opened on 12 May 2017.[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524)
## Reception
**Critical response was negative.** NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee scored the film 2/5, writing that its worn-out under-wiring lacks the strength to carry the film's weight, and that the direction lacks zest while the writing by P Jayakumar lacks depth, leaving a tired effort to cash in on the earlier films' success.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sarkar_3/reviews) Another review collected on Rotten Tomatoes judged that the film has the right ideas but makes a complete mess of its political themes by trying to be quirky.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sarkar_3/reviews) The Roger Ebert review found the film disappointing and dramatically inert compared with *Sarkar Raj*, which it called more moving and more ambitious, and read the film's obvious mid-film twist as a sign of Varma's reliance on melodramatic shocks over psychological realism, character depth, and nuanced dialogue.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017)
**Commercially the film failed.** Against a budget of ₹360 million (₹36 crore), it netted ₹66.3 million (₹6.63 crore) in its first weekend and ₹95.5 million (₹9.55 crore) in its first week, finishing at ₹99.6 million (₹9.96 crore) net in India, ₹138.3 million (₹13.83 crore) India gross, US$1,040,000 overseas, and ₹205.3 million (₹20.53 crore) worldwide; Box Office India classified the result as a "Disaster" with a poor opening.[1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) IMDb's figures differ, listing an estimated budget of ₹550,000,000 and a worldwide gross of $358,928, including US/Canada receipts of $249,588.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742874/)
## Origins and Godfather parallels
The series is an updated Bollywood version of *The Godfather* with a local touch, and the first film is often said to be a remake of Coppola's 1972 film.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) Varma himself said that for *Sarkar* he closely followed the tone of [Mario Puzo](https://www.edgepedia.org/mario-puzo)'s novel more than the film, calling it his ode to *The Godfather*, and described the subject as a man with a dictatorial attitude who works almost parallel to the system or against it.[8](https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/i-dont-see-a-fundamental-difference-between-any-film-i-make/article18413101.ece)
The [Maharashtra](https://www.edgepedia.org/maharashtra) political imagery is explicit. Sarkar's characterization drew comparisons with Balasaheb Thackeray, the late [Shiv Sena](https://www.edgepedia.org/shiv-sena) supremo, which Varma defended at the time by saying, "If Balasaheb can exist, so can a man like Sarkar"; in a later interview he said the character is not based on Thackeray, only inspired by him.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) • [9](https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/110317/theres-an-additional-spurt-of-intensity-in-amitabh-bachchan-ram-gopal-varma.html) Varma also framed the role as in some way a continuation of Bachchan's Angry Young Man persona, and the trailer billed Bachchan as "a wounded lion" and "angrier than ever."[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/)
## How it compares with Sarkar and Sarkar Raj
By 2017 the series' commercial trajectory had declined at each step: the first *Sarkar* was a semi hit and *Sarkar Raj* fared below average according to Box Office India, and *Sarkar 3* ended as a disaster.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) • [1](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524) Structurally, Varma said each entry works as an independent story, with *Sarkar 3* dealing with complex relationship aspects previously untouched, and he claimed it shaped up more intense than the earlier two films, with a larger scale and much stronger negative characters.[9](https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/110317/theres-an-additional-spurt-of-intensity-in-amitabh-bachchan-ram-gopal-varma.html) Critics judged the result otherwise: the Ebert review noted the film's selective continuity with the first two entries and found it especially disheartening next to *Sarkar Raj*.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017)
For Subhash Nagre, the third film completes a specific arc: both of his sons are dead, and his grandson Shivaji is his companion in the final chapter of the trilogy of Maharashtrian politics.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/) The film's commercial failure and its reception left no retrieved evidence of a fourth Sarkar film in development, though the film remains available on Indian streaming services as of the 2026 retrieval.[7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/sarkar-3)
## References
1. [Sarkar 3 – Movie, Box Office India](https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie-story.php?movieid=3524)
2. [Sarkar 3: Inside the world of Amitabh Bachchan's Subhash Nagre, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sarkar-3-inside-the-world-of-amitabh-bachchan-subhash-nagre-ram-gopal-varma-4651240/)
3. [Sarkar 3 (2017), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742874/)
4. [Sarkar 3 Preview: Amitabh Bachchan Returns Angrier Than Ever, NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/sarkar-3-preview-amitabh-bachchan-returns-angrier-than-ever-1692372)
5. [Sarkar 3 – Movie Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sarkar_3/reviews)
6. [Sarkar 3 movie review & film summary (2017), Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sarkar-3-2017)
7. [Sarkar 3 streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/sarkar-3)
8. [I don't see a fundamental difference between any film I make: Ram Gopal Verma, The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/i-dont-see-a-fundamental-difference-between-any-film-i-make/article18413101.ece)
9. [Sarkar is not based on Bal Thackeray, only inspired by him, says RGV, Deccan Chronicle](https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/110317/theres-an-additional-spurt-of-intensity-in-amitabh-bachchan-ram-gopal-varma.html)
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