Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan
Salman Khan, Saif Ali KhanVarinder Chawla

Saif Ali Khan has been the face of the successful "Race" franchise, but that is about to change now. The third instalment will be taken over by Salman Khan.

The "Sultan" actor has read the script and is keen to take it up. He will sign the dotted line in a few days, BollywoodLife reported.

This news is in stark contrast to what producer Ramesh Taurani had said last year. "Saif shall definitely be in the film, but the rest of the cast is yet to be decided. We'll be able to finalise the rest of the cast, only once the script is in place," the Indian Express quoted him as saying.

A few months ago, it was being said that a team is working on the script, and that they intend to sit on it for quite some time as they want to add elements to the story that make great content and offer something new to the audience.

About the leading lady:

"Race 2" ended with Ranveer Singh (Saif) and Alina Malik (Deepika Padukone) getting together, in a happily ever after zone. Considering Saif is out of the picture, will they bring back the "Piku" star's character? Only time will tell.

According to a SpotboyE report, Yami Gautam is being considered for the female lead in "Race 3." This actress may not have seen tremendous box office success, but she's never short of films. The producers have apparently met her and discussed ideas.

"The producers have already been in talks with Yami and they are keen on having her on board. They are waiting for Yami's confirmation now," an insider told the entertainment portal.

In between all the casting speculations, Ramesh said that the film is still in the scripting stage and the cast has not been finalised yet.