"Race", one of the most awaited films of 2008 had hit the silver screens with a bang. Although director duo Abbas- Mustan are famed for style, suspense, action, drama et all in their films, Race is so far the best of their kitty to watch out for. It has all the ingredients of a super stylish film - posh locations, plot, actors to suit its name. Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy play the leads.
Plot/Storyline :-
Ranvir Singh(Saif Ali Khan) a highly successful businessman is based in South Africa. One of his all time passions include horse riding(Polo). He often bets on matches and has a hardcore business rival played by actor Dalip Tahil who also bets on polo matches.
Ranvir’s step brother, Rajiv(Akshaye Khanna) equally competitive in attitude has one main goal- to somehow get the property/money in Ranvir’s name. He would go to any extent in acheiving so - even killing Ranvir. He even attempts to do so by hiring a professional killer to knock his car off the road.Ranvir fortunately escapes with some serious injuries and being hospitalised.
Later, Ranvir gets friendly with supermodel Sonia(Bipasha Basu).Rajiv too meets Sonia and tries to flirt with her to achieve his motive.He strikes a marriage proposal with Sonia and reveals all his plans. According to the plan, Sonia would get a share of the property Rajiv would steal from Ranvir.
However, Ranvir is unaware of Rajiv’s motives and agrees on Rajiv getting married to Sonia.
Ranvir’s secretary Sophia(Katrina Kaif) has a soft corner for him. Initially, Ranvir fails to acknowledge Sophia’s love for him. A couple of item numbers between the two is shown indicating their love for each other.
Rajiv implements his master plan of knocking off Ranvir to get his property. He explains this to Sonia who acts as a double agent and secretly explains the plan to Ranvir. Ranvir says that everything will go as planned but in the end, Rajiv would die.
Finally, Rajiv calls Ranvir on top of their multi storied office tower and as per the plan, Sonia had to push Rajiv, but does the opposite by pushing Ranvir out. Ranvir falls off the building and dies immediately.
After Ranvir’s death, a new twist occurs.Inspector Robert D’Costa(Anil Kapoor) along with his assistant Milly(Sameera Reddy) investigate Ranvir’s murder case.This makes things even more complicated for Rajiv and Sonia. However, later it is revealed that Ranvir had secretly married Sophia and all of the insurance money which Ranvir had applied for would go to his wife rather than brother. Coming as a massive shock to both Rajiv and Sonia, Rajiv comes with up with another master plan.
Rajiv then approaches a professional killer named Franco(the same guy who tried to knock Ranvir off the road earlier), with a photo of a woman(unseen to the audience with everyone assuming the photo to be that of Sophia) and wants her killed.
Later, in a startling twist, it is shown that Rajiv had planned everything with Sophia and entered into a relationship with her in order to steal all the money and property.It is now evident that the photo given to Franco was that of Sonia, not Sophia.
Franco is now on his way to kill Sonia in a dramatic filmi-style car chase sequence. But, mysteriously Ranvir jumps in and saves her. He explains as to how he tied-up with Inspector Robert D’Costa to implement their plan in backfiring Rajiv. Since D’Costa was partly a corrupt cop, he decided to do all this for money.
Meanwhile, Robert D’Costa investigates the case and later finds Rajiv and Sophia in the beach.He narrates his entire investigation to both of them leaving them shocked. Rajiv says that he would give him a huge sum if he stops the investigation and leaves them alone. D’Costa agrees with the deal and later tells him to deposit his share in a children’s home.
Much later, Rajiv discovers that Ranvir is alive. After a lot of drama, both of them agree on a car race similar to the cycle races they use to engage in childhood. Being the dramatic climax scene, this is absolutely awesome and cannot be revealed in its entirety which would break the suspense underlying it.
Overview :-
One of the most catchy features of Race is the posh locations that it has been shot in.Filmed entirely in South Africa, it adds a lot of glamour and look to the film.This is quite evident in a DVD format on an LCD or Plasma screen.The background score is another element which proved to work. Cinematography, Item numbers and the choreography add the extra spices required to make it a superhit film.
Almost all the actors portray grey shades in the film- not entirely negative or positive. Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna portrayed their roles with absolute ease. Bipasha looked apt in her role as a supermodel. Katrina Kaif managed to surprise the audience in her dual shaded role. Anil Kapoor, playing the role of a corrupt, but intelligent and humorous cop too worked well.Sameera Reddy did not have much to do in the film except for a few crazy dialogues, since she played a crack assistant to Anil Kapoor.
Coming to the direction, Abbas Mustan has taken it to a higher level. This hit director duo always changes with times. Thier direction is another element which adds to the film’s beauty.They have managed to give superhits like Khiladi , Baazigar , Baadshah , Ajnabee , Aitraaz , 36 China Town and Naqaab.
Music:-
Music of Race was very popular among the crowds much before the film had released. The most popular "Race Saanso Ki" and its partly english version "Race is on my mind" was sung by Neeraj Shridhar and Sundihi Chauhan. Other equally popular ones such as "Khwab Dekhe" and "Zara Zara touch me" was sung by upcoming singer and ex Indian Idol contestant Monali Thakur. Atif Aslam in his slow and sensous voice managed to grab the audience with "Pehli Nazar Mein". Sunidhi Chauhan along with K.K and Shaan again rocked it with "Dekho Nashe Mein".