Race

Director: Abbas-Mustan
Producer: Kumar S. Taurani, Ramesh S. Taurani
Starring: Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Sameera Reddy, Katrina
Music: Pritam
Lyrics: Sameer

This year has been quite dull from its very inception for the cine audience. Either there has been a single movie or no release at all on Fridays for the past few weeks.
So, the audience has eagerly awaited this week's release 'Race', that assures them of a much-hyped steamy scene between dusky beauty Bipasha Basu and today's most wanted hero Saif Ali Khan along with sexual innuendo in many a dialogue. As told before, there are more twists and turns than a roller coaster and instead of feeling thrilled, one gets a bit dazed.
This is the most star-studded movie by director duo Abbas-Mastan. Incidentally, its star cast has already walked on the ramp for 'Provogue' with Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Sameera Reddy and Akshaye Khanna with their Producers - Kumar Taurani & Ramesh Taurani, Directors - Abbas & Mastan, Music Director - Pritam, Lyricist - Sameer and Singers - Atif, Neeraj and Monali. In fact, they set the ramp on fire as the 'Race' poster got unveiled.
Post the prologue, the film follows the Abbas-Mustan formula of obligatory introductions, regular romance and transition tracks for the first 20 minutes. We cannot say if it was essential. There is enough of a scenic beauty in the movie as it has been shot in beautiful locations of Durban, Cape Town and Mumbai.
Speaking about the cast, for the second time Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna are together in a Bollywood movie after 'Dil Chahta Hai'. Similarly, this is the first time when the two actresses - Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif - have played together.
In fact, Bipasha and Katrina and Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna have come together for the first time. This is to inform the audience that Sameera Reddy replaced Mallika Sherawat who was initially Anil Kapoor's heroine . The movie's story unfolds with Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna playing as half brothers ; they own a huge stud farm in Cape Town ( South Africa) and are the topmost bookies in the sport of horse racing.
Katrina is Khanna's personal secretary who loves him. Bipasha plays the role of an upcoming Indian ramp model in Cape Town. Although she loves Khan, a twist of fate gets her married to his younger brother, Khanna. A series of twists change the lives of the movie's three characters, resulting in a death and what follows is a murder mystery.
Anil Kapoor plays the role of a police detective with Sameera Reddy as his personal assistant, both of whom step in to solve the murder mystery. Sameera plays a dumb blonde though. Incidentally, Anil Kapoor who acts in 'Race' is also the brand ambassador for South Africa. Anil Kapoor's voiceover introduces all the players. This seems to be an old way of establishing characters. Ranvir Singh played by Saif is suited-booted and also passionate about horse racing.
He has even employed his own horses for the prestigious Durban Cup. The Anil's voiceover hums: "Race iska passion hai. Uski zindagi hai. He lives life on the edge. Then, Dalip Tahil is introduced in a bizarre beard who is supposed to be Ranvir's archrival at the race and on winning boasts a lot. Then, comes Sonia played by Bipasha Basu , an upcoming model who has love for Ranvir. But Ranvir's alcoholic brother Rajiv played by Akshaye Khanna falls for Sonia as well and promises to give up drinking if Sonia were to accept him. Ranvir is moved and steps back sacrificing his love.
Meanwhile, Ranvir's secretary Sophia played by Katrina Kaif in her short outfits and blinding lip-gloss enters the complicated state of affairs. All this and there's also the race for a multi-million dollar booty.
What happen next are murder attempts, some character surprises, and lots of unexpected developments? No sooner the interval is over than appears Anil Kapoor as investigating officer named Robert D`Costa with an assistant Mini played by Sameera Reddy who keeps exclaiming - `Sir mera dimag aapke jaisa sharp kyon nahin hai'. Like all of Abbas-Mustan films, the thrills and revelations are simple and superficial.
The portrayal of women is usual as in the mainstream Hindi cinema, especially like masala actions movies. All the three heroines play sorry accessories, some more than the other. Mini's character is dumb as a sparrow and dressed in short dresses and a ton of lip-gloss. Apart from this, the dialogue has a marriage registrar played by Johnny Lever comparing a wife to a chewing gum and explaining why a mobile phone is better than a wife!
Cast-wise, Sameera plays average while Katrina fares very well , and Bipasha is smoking', smoking' hot. Similarly, Saif plays superb and Akshaye appears very good , especially when he decides to keep his chest hair covered.
Anil Kapoor tries his best to do well in a clichéd role; his comic timing is impeccable as always. Saif and Akshaye have taken the movie ahead very well; their chemistry as stepbrothers is fantastic as in their previous movie. Saif looks fit and fine, especially in his shirtless scenes.
Isn't the dialogue archaic and dull with outdated words like `galat fehmi' (misunderstanding) repeated throughout. Ravi Yadav's camera handling is good and occasionally interesting. Background music is reminiscent of Dhoom, and here too, the film's title is repeated in action sequences. Pritam's music is good with songs like Bin Tere Sanam and Allah Duhai. However, other songs lack his usual charm. Action sequences are not eye-popping as one would expect.
Like always, Allan Amin's action is good, but there's nothing new to offer here, except perhaps a few races in snazzy sports cars. Bipasha and Katrina have stolen the limelight in every way. The movie might attract the younger generation as it has been failing to enjoy historical movie like 'Jodhaa Akbar' that was only recently released.
Though the latter has romance but of the past centuries whereas 'Race' provides it with the latest in glamour and sexy dialogue with its heroines always seen in short skirts and skintight shirts with first few buttons tantalizingly open! A critic has rightly suggested that the movie should have better been titled `Racy'.