Race

Yet another action thriller by Abbas Mustan.

The basic theme goes like this: Two brothers (Saif and Akshaye) own a stud-farm. Racing is their passion, though Akshaye is more interested in money and alcohol and all the good life. Saif loves his younger brother more than anything else and thats why sacrifices his love Bipasha for him hoping Akshaye will improve and let go off his drinking habit after he marries and settles down. But things go horribly wrong when one of them is murdered and the whole movie takes a turn. Anil (a connoisseur for fruits) is the investigating officer and only makes an entry after the interval. And its up to him to solve the mystery of the death only to reveal that nothing is what it seemed.

Nice performances by most of the actors.

The movie is stylishly shot which adds to its character. Though, the action is a little over-the-top is handled well and did not seem ultra ridiculous.

Worth a watch! (Literally. The characters sport a nice collections of watches throughout the movie. :)

This movie has twists that may/may not surprise you. But it is an Excellent Movie. It's got Excellent Production Value. Overall, a must see Bollywood flick. Won't reveal the story but it's worth watching at least once!!!

What works for Race is that you can never predict exactly whats gonna happen next. Just when you think, this could be the last twist in the tale, it surprises you with another twist. There is almost a twist in every reel!

Directors Abbas – Mastan deserve credit for their execution, they succeed in holding your attention throughout the movie. The direction is complimented by the screenplay although the impact would have been much better had the story been more convincing. With so many twists and turns, the viewer after a certain point could get confused as to whose with who. Also it gets a little tedious to sit through.

As far as the editing is concerned two songs can be easily chopped off for better impact. The music is brilliant, Pehli Nazar Mein stands out. Dialogues are superb. Cinematography brilliant!

Firstly take note that - Race is not a movie made for them those who power on the DVD player then insert the disc in it, and watch it till they feel asleep. This is made for them those who want to use their inner intelligence and sharp-brain to understand actually what is going on in between every roles. Don't rate this comment those who don't like Hindi thrillers.

I find it hard to believe even after fourth time watching Race that how Saif performed a deadly serious role as Ranvir Singh. In his first offer with director duo Abbas-Mustan he proved it great. So far his roles were mostly prepared for comedian purposes like in Hum Tum, Dil Chahta Hai or Salaam Namaste, but here he really proved that now he is matured as an actor by performing a serious, no nonsense and one-word guy's role.

Personally I like to watch movies made by Abbas-Mustan for their sense of making thrillers in Bollywood, and I cannot throw away Race apart from my mind. The story has some worth seeing twists which are surprisingly enjoyable. In funny and hilarious sections Akshaya and Anil own their credits. Although this is Akshaya's second negative character under the project of Abbas-Mustan after Humraaz, his role has enough importance in moving forward of the movie. Anil's role as a fruit-eater inspector Robert D' Costa (RD) makes a good sense of humour with his riddling but indicative words. For sometimes it is confusing whether RD is a negative or positive character, but it becomes clear only at the final ending part.

For the three glamor queens Sonia, Sophia and Mini (Bipasha, Katrina and Sameera), they have no much ability to handle the story since it is mainly controlled by the male leads, and focus goes on and on waiting to reveal the hidden truths. Ooops!!! after a long break from director duo, Johny Lever again appears in front of the camera for five minute, but with nothing special. Same is to Dilip Tahil who is the closest rival of Ranvir in horse racing business.

If we judge Race with proper sense there are bound to arise numerous goofs and faults in the whole set of the movie, anyway it's just made for entertainment. One most important goof I noticed is when Ranvir and Sophia goes to Capetown for some official purposes, but Rajiv also moves there and secretly attends an appointment in the marriage bureau along with Sophia (Katrina). But question is - does not Sonia (Bipasha) notice when Rajiv is not around her?

For Akshaya and Katrina's fans Race might be flop, while for Saif and Bipasha's fans it might be a super-hit. This is generally how a movie is rated by audiences. They don't like their favourite actors/actresses to get defeated in the climax, but if it happens so they will consider it worthless or super-flop. In truth a movie is considered successful mostly through the process of business profit --> large audiences = large earning. If you check weekly in the websites on the movie which is doing good businesses, it will be finally declared as hit, sometimes super-hit (or blockbuster) if the businesses run better than expected.

Finally, I like the movie only just due to Saif's new revival role of serious Ranvir Singh, and Akshaya Khanna's negative but interesting role as step brother Rajiv Singh.

My rating 8 out of 10...

Right from the start, this movie will hold you down. Frankly speaking, this movie's story is not that great, and you might have seen it earlier, with two brother fighting over money. But what is different is the way and manner of presentation. We have so many love stories, but every time it's the manner of presentation that makes movies great! Same is true for Race. Arguably the best movie of 2008. So many twists and turns, this makes for the best popcorn flick of 2008! I suggest you to watch it before the end of the year and make is count in the top movies! Katrina Kaif's acting skills have definitely improved, Bipasha is fine, Akshay Khanna is good but Saif's acting is the top notch point of this movie. He should go for more action movies...

A Must Watch! Go for it!

After seeing "Race", I could say that keeping the inspiration fact aside from their track record, Abbas Mastan are no doubt one of the top 3 directors of thrillers movies in Indian Cinema. And "Race" proves that again and the movie can be stated as the most impressive work from the director duo after their last few pale attempts.

"Race" is a high paced and slickly edited thriller with shocks & more shocks for the viewers at regular intervals. And with each new turn you come forward on the edge of your seat. As I don't prefer wasting words on giving out the story of the movie in my reviews, I would just like to add that its one of the most tightly written script and you dare don't go for a popcorn in between the movie or else you will miss a new twist in the story.

All the characters have a well defined role and the casting is just near to perfect too (with only Sameera Reddy as a miscast). Each person in the script has a plan against the other and after the light 20 minutes in the opening, the movie just picks up the speed with a kick start. At times you feel that its going too pacy and there are too much twists and turns in the plot, but still its all enjoyable to a great extent.

The first half has Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Khanna, Bipasha & Katrina as the lead. Saif clearly gives another powerful performance after "Omkara". Akshay Khanna too performs a tough role in an impressive manner. He can easily add this movie in his career's Top 3. Bipasha looks more ravishing than Katrina, but they both surely give the required "Oomph Impact" to the racy thriller.

At the end of the first half enters Anil Kapoor as the detective. And from here onwards you start enjoying the movie more with his one liners and comic timings. But Sameera seems to be unfit in her "Kitty-Karmachand" role as an assistant to Anil. Anil is very entertaining eating all kinds of fruits while he is investigating. Johny Lever is wasted as he is there only for one scene, but he had to be there since he is the lucky mascot of the director duo from "Khiladi" days. While watching "RACE", each time you think that now the whole plan is told, there comes another twist and this continues till the last scene of the movie.

The one thing which can be said as the weakness in the script is that there is no Police involvement shown in the crime. Anil Kapoor is supposed to be the only official detective looking into the case and he is too involved in the plot. The second half belongs to Anil and Saif equally and they both simply excel. The Climax is one of best in the recent times as it is not concerned in showing the victory of truth, but shows how the conmen win and respect the intelligence of the other. The songs are quite enjoyable but there is already plagiarism factor involved with "Pritam" lifting more than one tunes. The background score also seems to be inspired from "Mission Impossible" and "James Bond" Themes. I think the fast paced instrumental version of "Allah Duhai Hai" should have been used repeatedly in the background rather than the slow theme music. It would have given more pace to the scenes.

Summing up, this is one of the best works of Abbas Mastan, and one of the best Thrillers coming out of the Indian Film Industry. The only fear I have is that I should not receive any mails in the coming days that the movie is an inspired one. I pray that it should be an original work from the makers as this is indeed a commendable one.

Go for it, the movie can turn you into a fan of thrillers.