Ramgopal Varma’s ‘SARKAR 3’ Cast Includes Bollywood’s Legends & Rising Stars

Critically acclaimed writer-director Ramgopal Varma's long awaited project finally sees some light. The director recently released a series of Tweets, that surprisingly didn't actually offend or piss anything off, but rather confirmed the entire cast of 'Sarkar 3'. But similar to his weird and shocking tweets, this reveal was just as stunning.

So read on to find about each actor in 'Sarkar 3' and what characters they play.

Say what you will about Director Ramgopal Varma today, (and many people have) but his body of work still bestows upon him the honor of being considered one of Bollywood's greatest filmmakers. Movies like 'Satya' and 'Rangeela' cement the man's position in cinematic history. Inspired by Hollywood's Francis Ford Coppola, Varma's tribute to the director was immortalized in the adaptation of 'The Godfather' into his very own 'Sarkar', and even gave credit to Coppola in the opening credits of the movie; something unheard of in Bollywood.

The movie saw real life father-son duo Amitabh Bachchan & Abhishek Bachchan share screen for the first time, playing father and son roles, which I'm sure stretched their acting capabilities. The sequel brought the meta even harder when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan joined the cast for 'Sarkar Raj'. Ramgopal Varma's been planning a sequel for quite some time now, and it looks like it will finally see the light of day, as the director Tweeted out every major character's image, with a very short description of who each character will play.

Amitabh Bachchan as Subhash Nagre

Amitabh Bachchan in 'Sarkar 3'

Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan has a long standing, and pretty decent relationship with the scandalous director, despite the unholy travesty that was 'Ram Gopal Varma's Aag'. Having worked with him in many movies with varying degrees of success, the duo work amazingly well with one another.

Varma himself proves that he hasn't lost this sense of humor, despite his career graph in Bollywood, as he introduced Bachchan as a 'new' actor. Reprising his role as Sarkar / Subhash Nagre, Bachchan's look in 'Sarkar 3' doesn't look much different than the two films before. He looks the same brooding and menacing, tilka adorned man as before. Which I guess is impresive in and of itself, given that the first film was 11 years ago and the actor is now 73 years old.

Varma also confirms with his Tweets that son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aiswarya Rai Bachchan will not be a part of the sequel.

Both Abhishek and Aishwarya are not there in Sarkar 3 as this story is set in another time and another situation pic.twitter.com/oLa7ZFR5Kl

— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) October 16, 2016

Jackie Shroff as Sir

Jackie Shroff in 'Sarkar 3'

The unimitable Jackie Shroff (father of Tiger Shroff, for you millenials) appears in 'Sarkar 3' as one of its main antagonists. Shroff is a veteran actor whose most recent films have seen him in antagonist or father figure roles; like in 'Jazbaa' or 'Aurangzeb'. You can hear more about Shroff's history in Bollywood on my Podcast about 'Parinda' here.

Shroff is one of those actors whose talent have been refined to the point where every performance is memorable, for both good and bad reasons. His own personal style is in every role and the movie's he's a part of are only enhanced by it further. Not to mention that his off screen antics make him just as much a pleasure to watch as an on-screen performance these days.

Shroff's last movie with Ramgopal Varma the influencial 'Rangeela' in 1995.

Manoj Bajpayee as Govind Deshpande

Manoj Bajpayee in 'Sarkar 3'

Manoj Bajpayee in 'Sarkar 3'

Manoj Bajpayee is currently considered to be one of Bollywood's greatest actors. With humble beginnings, it was Ramgopal Varma's 'Satya' which launched Bajpayee into the limelight.

Working in 'Sarkar 3', Bajpayee plays Govind Deshpande, a role modeled after current Indian political heavyweight Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a 'very cranky and slightly violent version' or the person. Varma has a tendency to use characters that have been inspired by real world persons. Be it a case of adding social relevancy or just a tendency to court controversy, it looks like 'Sarkar 3' won't be any different.

Ronit Roy as Gokul Satam

Ronit Roy in 'Sarkar 3'

Ronit Roy in 'Sarkar 3'

The cast of veterans don't seem to end in 'Sarkar 3', with fan favorite Ronit Roy being added as well. Roy has a background steeped in TV, commercial films, international projects and art house cinema. Recently Roy's made a habit of playing physically intimidating roles in movies like 'Ugly' and 'Boss'; while also putting in strong dramatic performances like the one from '2 States' or 'Udaan'.

Usually playing a character with either greys or all out villains, it's great to hear that Roy's role in 'Sarkar 3' will be as right hand to Nagre; essentially a good guy role. I hope.

Bharat Dabholkar as Gorakh Rampur

'Sarkar 3' Cast

Dabholkar has worked exclusively with Ramgopal Varma for majority of his more significant roles in Bollywood. Mostly playing bad guys or character roles, Dabholkar's presence in 'Sarkar 3' definitely raises the caliber of talent involved. Not to mention that look is just supremely creepy, and one has to wonder what's on the other end of that chain?

Rohini Hattangadi as Rukku Bai Devi

'Sarkar 3' Cast

'Sarkar 3' Cast

Giving stepmothers a bad name all through the 80's and 90's, Rohini Hattangadi made a name for herself exclusively playing characters who had the worst moral compass in Bollywood history! Despite this, her effective-ness at being a character you hate, is undeniable.

So it comes as good news that she will be playing another antagonist in 'Sarkar 3' named Rukki Bai Devi. With so many antagonists, 'Sarkar 3' is definitely shaping up to be an interesting movie so far.

Yami Gautam as Annu Karkare

Yami Gautam in 'Sarkar 3'

Yami Gautam in 'Sarkar 3'

The female leads of the 'Sarkar' franchise have been pretty non existent. The original 'Sarkar' featured Katrina Kaif in a pretty insignificant role earlier in her career, while Tanisha Mukherji ended up stealing the show with her bubbly demeanor. The sequel 'Sarkar Raj' showed slight improvement by tapping Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for a role more fierce and fleshed out. Slightly.

While the men to women ratio in 'Sarkar 3' is slightly (see: sarcasm) off, I can't be anything but happy at the casting of Yami Gautam. Gautam has made remarkable strides in her Bollywood career, debuting with 'Vicky Donor' and popping up in interesting films afterwards like 'Badlapur'.

Yami Gautam in 'Sarkar 3'

Yami Gautam in 'Sarkar 3'

Gautam's character Annu Karkare, apparently has an axe to grind with Nagre, as she seeks revenge for her father's death. While it's not clear, her collared shirt in the images seem to be of the same color as that of what an Indian Police Officer uniform looks like. It's a role that I initially expect to be at odds with Nagre, but will turn her becoming a protagonist, possibly for a love story angle with the next character on this list.

Amit Sadh

Amit Sadh in 'Sarkar 3'

Amit Sadh in 'Sarkar 3'

Amit Sadh's character is the only other character from the first film that seems to be returning, but cast as someone else. The original film featured Kay Kay Menon as Nagre's eldest son, and also a betrayer of the family. Menon's character was ultimately killed by his own brother played by Abhishek Bachchan. Spoiler!

The character of his son at the time was only around 10-11 years old, and his grown up son is the role being played by Amit Sadh. Sadh is a rising star to really watch out for, and working with Ramgopal Varma should only make his star rise even higher.

Amit Sadh in 'Sarkar 3'

Breaking out with 'Kai Po Che', Sadh had his biggest hit this year in 'Sultan'. How the character of Vishnu's son will affect the plot remains to be seen. If he is aware of the Nagres murdering his father, he may harbour some need for revenge, similar to that of Gautam's character. And one wonder if this will spark their possible (or inevitable) love story, having something in common. You know, murderous revenge.

The images definitely suggest a wild card and aggressive character from Sadh. which seems more in line with Menon's character from the first film. The inclusion of this character is the most intriguing of the film thus far, and I cannot wait to see how the story plays out.

The Movie

Given how much the first films took their cues from 'The Godfather' franchise, I wonder if 'Sarkar 3' will follow the events of the third film of that franchise. In which case, I'm sure we'll see a surge in people's Netflix queues. Varma's movies are always layered with just the right amount of political set ups, edgy plot points, brutal villains and a realism that's hard to escape. So I'm hoping this movie marks his comeback into the popular film scene.

Are you excited for 'Sarkar 3' based on the character images?

Let us know in the comments below.