The writer of Race 4, Shiraz Ahmed has confirmed that Saif Ali Khan is returning to headline the next film in the Race franchise, for which the shoot will start in 2025. He shared, “Saif Ali Khan and Sidharth Malhotra’s casting is already out in the media. The rest of the cast will be revealed by the producers Tips Films at the right time in a proper announcement,” the writer revealed. However, absence of Salman Khan from the film raised questions. For the unversed, Salman was part of the third film, also starring Daisy Shah, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol.   

Race 4 will take forward the story and characters of Race 1 and 2. Addressing the same and clarifying the reason behind the failure of Salman Khan starrer, Shiraz said, “In Race 3, we shifted a bit from the Race franchise in terms of characters. If you remove the title ‘Race’ from the film, you will enjoy it. People went to see Race, but they got to see something else.”

As far as Salman’s casting is concerned, Shiraz pointed out that the film did not work well because people don’t like to see their favourite superstar in a negative role. “We had Salman Khan in the film. So, you need to keep certain things in mind. He doesn’t play negative roles. Mainly, his fans would never like to see him in a negative role. So certain boundaries came about. Still, we tried to do whatever we could,” he explained.

Audience unanimously agreed to Shiraz’s point of view and felt that Race only belongs to Saif. Several people commented and expressed their happiness over Saif’s return. “We love Salman, but Race is only Saif’s film,” wrote one fan on Instagram. Another said, “Saif is great because Race Saif ki hai.”

It’s not yet confirmed who will don the director’s hat for the fourth part, but Ramesh S. Taurani and Kumar S. Taurani will be producing the expected blockbuster under the banner of Tips Industries.