Producer Ramesh Taurani recently opened up about replacing Saif Ali Khan for the third part of the Race franchise and said that it was a business decision and there was nothing personal about it. He said that Saif was upset as Salman Khan played the lead role in Race 3, however, they resolved the issue later.

Speaking to Showsha, the producer talked about the reason for casting Salman in Race 3. He said, “Race 2 is still his (Saif) biggest hit. But after that, the poor guy had a series of flops. And Race is an expensive franchise, it just didn’t make sense (to cast Saif in Race 3). It was a business decision, nothing personal. He’s a very good actor.”    

Ramesh also reflected on the first time he and Saif collaborated for a film. “The first film we did together was Kachche Dhaage (1999). Actually, Saif wasn’t supposed to do Kya Kehna (2000). An actor called Mukul Dev was going to do it, but he didn’t show up on set on the first day of the shoot. At around 11 am, someone from the production called him up to ask where he was, and he said that he was on his way. They called again at noon, and he said that he’s outside RK Studio, but he never showed up,” he said.

Ramesh then decided to find a replacement for Mukul and he got in touch with Saif. Ramesh added, “Saif liked the script, but I told him that there were three problems. First, he was a replacement for Mukul Dev. Second, the shoot begins tomorrow. And third, he would have to bring his own wardrobe. Saif understood that if not him, the role would go to somebody else. He was also luckily free, and had the suits that we wanted.”

Saif and Ramesh collaborated recently for the horror-comedy Bhoot Police which also starred Arjun Kapoor, Yami Gautam and Jacqueline Fernandez in pivotal roles.