Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; September 9, 2017)

Last time, when After Hrs spoke to Ramesh Taurani, he revealed that for Race 3, along with Salman Khan, they are looking to cast another young A-list hero. Guess their search has ended now with Sidharth Malhotra.

On Salman’s suggestion?
Confirms a source, “Yes, Sidharth has been approached for the part. Salman is very fond of Sidharth and suggested his name for the film. This is one of the biggest films that Sid has been offered. It will also be his first franchise.” He has worked with a senior actor — Akshay Kumar — before in Brothers and that was a great collaboration.

Bigger and better
While there are reports that Salman is playing a baddie in the film, our source negates that, “Salman will never play the bad guy on screen. He doesn’t want to send out the wrong message to his fans. It has been learnt that the film will have an ensemble cast. They want it to be bigger and better than the previous Race films. Sid is considering doing the project, and since the film rolls out this October, he has the required dates. His Aiyaary will be over with another 10-15 day schedule in September itself,” adds the source.

Sid-Jackie: Together again
Sid is also going to be paired opposite Jacqueline Fernandez one more time. “It looks like both, Salman and Sidharth, will be fighting for Jackie. This Race franchise will have more twists than all the previous installments. Sid has not yet signed on the dotted line. He is still discussing it, but who would say no to such a film?” our source asks. The big announcement of the full cast will be made soon.