Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Sameera Reddy and Others.

Action: Allan Amin.
Art: Aashish Ranade.
Audiography: Rakesh Ranjan.
Choreography: Bosco Caesar-Ganesh Acharya.
Cinematography: Ravi Yadav.
Costumes: Anaita Adajania.
Dialogues: Anurag Prapanna-Jitendra Parmar.
Editing: Hussain Burmawala.
Lyrics: Sameer.
Music: Pritam.
Story & Screenplay: Shiraz Ahmed.
Direction: Abbas-Mustan.
Producer: Kumar Taurani-Ramesh Taurani.
Banner: UTV Motion Pictures-Tips Films.
Release Date: 21st March, 2008.



In recent Hindi film history, there is perhaps no other movie with as many twists, climaxes and anti-climaxes as Race, directed by Abbas-Mastan and having an ensemble cast. In fact, it should have been titled 'Maze' for all the red herrings and turns the movie takes.Plot Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajeev Singh (Akshaye Khanna) are step-brothers and owners of a stud-farm in Durban. Ranvir is a suave winner no matter what, while Rajeev is an alcoholic. Sofia is Ranvir's secretary who adores him while Sonia is an upcoming model who Ranvir has a soft corner for. Rajeev falls for Sonia and promises to quit alcohol if she marries him.

Ranvir gives Sonia up, and Rajeev woes her in style. They get married but Rajeev continues to drink and tells Ranvir that he suspects that Sonia is having an affair with someone, finally deciding its with Ranvir himself. With both the brothers being heavily insured, greed gets the better of relationships and plans are formed to get money and outsmart one another. A murder, a double-crossing and in comes RD (Anil Kapoor), an investigative officer and his eyelash batting secretary (Sameera Reddy).


Story, Screenplay and Direction Baazigar, which came more than a decade ago, without all the stylishness of Race, is less shoddy in the direction department. The first half is slow as they come, which leaves you completely unprepared for the second half which has a twist every three minutes. At least, it keeps you awake and wondering what's next. It gets to you after a while; one of those serious situations that are not supposed to make you laugh, but invariably and unintentionally, they do.


Only one twist involving Katrina Kaif is really surprising. Otherwise, leaving aside the star value of the movie and the groovy music, the plot itself is shoddily put together, more for the shock value than the real need to tell an interesting story.


Then the lines. All those 'punches' fall flat, especially in the first half and what more, the annoying part is that two perfectly capable actors ham and act phony. The actual Races in the movie are nothing much to speak about-neither the horse races nor the last car race. The styling of the actors is admittedly top-class managing to make it looks highly international.


Performances Anil Kapoor, like wine, is getting better with age. Even with all the pjs he gets to mouth and his constant fruit-eating binge which is supposed to be funny, he manages to steal the show. His entry perks up the movie a lot. Saif Ali Khan has done better work, though he looks good with a sleek hairstyle and pumped up biceps. Same goes for Akshaye Khanna, which is a pity, as they both are good artistes. He hams through the first half Katrina Kaif looks cool as ice and Bipasha Basu hotter than ever, and manage to pass it off as acting. Sameera as Anil's assistant is okay.


Song and Dance The music is a highlight, especially in the second half of the movie. The background is bland in the first half, and even the pace is kept slow likewise. The movie, pace and music picks up as the movie progresses. Two of the numbers i.e., 'Zara Zara Touch Me'and 'Allah Duhai Hai' are sure to rock dance shows and parties for a while, even though a part of the background score in one song is a lift from an international number.


Last Word Commercially, it has all the elements that might make it run. A starcast, pairing, songs, some dark humor and several movies in one. But as a movie, even if this happens to be Abbas-Mastan's biggest budget yet, as a movie it is highly inferior to some of their earlier work.


It doesn't have to be real or convincing, but the narrative itself seems insincere (something that was not seen in their earlier movies, however much they might have lacked the style quotient of this one). All said and done, Race is a good-looking movie that might appeal to a large section of the audiences for its popcorn appeal. To pass time, it is good even though the first half is boring. Those looking for a really good movie or some substance will be disappointed.