Race:Review

Many years ago Abbas-Mustan came out with a great hit Baazigar and made the dialogue popular, “haar k jeetne wale ko baazigar kehte hai.” Now we are not talking about SRK, here our Baazigars are none other than duo Abbas-Mustan, who recently experienced haar with duds like 36 China Town and Naqaab, and finally have struck jeet through Race.

Last year Naqaab was touted as the “most shocking thriller” of the year by Abbas-Mustan but it failed miserably. But this time the duo has let their work speak for them instead of making tall claims and Race clearly stands out. Race is a total Saif and Akshay’s movie: they delivered superb performances.

The story of Race revolves around two stepbrothers Ranvir Singh (SAK) and Rajeev Singh (Akshay). The two brothers compete against each other since childhood, and as the rule goes for every game, Saif always ends up winning whereas Akshay is on the losing side. Shot extensively in South Africa, the movie is about betrayal, greed, intrigue and revenge.
Ranvir the eldest of the two brothers is a cunning businessman who is always hungry for success and owns a ranch named Stallions. He gives tough competition to his competitors and doesn’t forgive people who try to act smart with him. On the other hand Rajiv (Akshay) is a total spoilt-rich-brat who loves wine more than the family horses.

Ranvir falls head-over-heels in love with the fashion catwalk queen Sonia (Bipasha Basu). But then a thriller is incomplete without a love triangle. Ranvir’s beautiful and hot secretary is secretly in love with her, but Ranvir gives a damn to her. As expected (from the trailers) Akshay also falls in love with Bipasha, and promises to mend his ways if Bipasha accepts his marriage proposal. Saif Ali Khan like every Indian elder brother sacrifices his love for his younger bro. But then one of the brothers has evil intentions in mind, a murder is committed, and the evil brother gets to walk away with the insurance claim of whooping hundred million.

Now a murder mystery is incomplete without a detective, and we do have one in Race. Robert D’Costa aka RD (Anil Kapoor), who is always munching fruits along with his sexy dumb bimbette secretary Mini (Sameera Reddy) enters the scene of crime and try to solve the mystery of the murder. The thriller gets its dose of humor with this detective-secretary combo. Although the jokes are dumb the audience are left in splits.

The best things about Race are not one but many: Akshay’s negative performance, Pritam’s rocking music, Stunts by Allan Amin, great dialogues, good Cinematography and above all a meaningful ending.

Although the movie is glossy with many action stunts, the director reminds us of SRK’s Baazigar, when one of the brother pushes down the other from the terrace of high-rise building to his death similar to the way SRK pushes down Shilpa Shetty in Baazigar. The first half of Race, kept me glued to my seat, I could not predict easily what exactly will happen in the next scene. With lots of twists and turns, I was munching my popcorn at Rajdhani express speed wondering what is gonna happen next.

Performance wise Akshay Khanna is the best in his negative avatar, Saif Ali Khan (he should take tips on working out from his zero size girlfriend) delivers a power packed performance as an intense elder brother and shrewd businessman, rest all are mediocre. Amongst all the ladies in the movie Bipasha Basu stands out, Katrina Kaif looks strikingly beautiful but fails to strike the right acting chord, Sameera Reddy acts as the Indian version of dumb blonde and provides enough justice to her role. Anil Kapoor provides the comedy element to the movie, but his acts looks monotonous.

Overall the movie is great, can be watched once (once you know the mystery its no more fun), the ladies up the sex quotient and great powerhouse performances by Saif and Akshay. A total paisa vasool movie. Don’t forget to check out the car blast scene in the first half of the movie. I expect Race will recover its investment and break the 30 crore barrier in its first week collections itself. Go Race yourself to the theaters.

My Rating: * * */ 5

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