Race [2008] [DVD]

It might be no classic but one thing is for sure, race comes as a glimmer of hope for the Bollywood fans worldwide after the tremendous disappointment that were JODHAA AKBAR and BLACK AND WHITE, it is made more emphatic by the fact that Abbas-Mastan, the duo who are responsible for the visually and narrative friendly success of this slick thriller were responsible last year for the damnedest NAQAB, a height of foolish mayhem, but here they are back in charge and have an ensemble cast to help them win this somewhat implausible but nevertheless entertaining race between two half brothers.

Abbas-Mastan have made their best effort since BAAZIGAR with Sharukh Khan in the 90s, improvising on AITRAAZ and AJNABI , and the music is better than CHINA TOWN and SOLDIER, they have worked hard and it shows on the screen.

The two are ably played by Ronie [Saif Ali Khan] and Akshay Khanna as his younger sibling who battle it out here in the discos, bedrooms, race tracks and horse races in a world strewn with high speed glitzy cars, glamorous babes and lots of cash, which leads to them double crossing each other in scene after scene, but wait it is not inspired from either sibling rivalry or the fast and furious, but rather by a clever, twisted plot written and devised by Abbas-Mastan, and it does work most of the time, as the two brothers are incessantly planning with the two sexy vixens to eradicate each other for the life insurance sum of 100 million dollars as their family fortune which came from a stud farm has been lost to bad debts.

The dialogues are natural, the acting for most part flawless, and the editing rhythmic and smooth which makes it quite engrossing a ride for most of the race, Saif Ali Khan is extremely suited to his role and looks and acts very well, Bipasha Basu as his love interest is equally good and virtually sizzles on the screen in some really sexy costumes and dance numbers. Akshay is good too, but its Katrina Kaif who is a total loss with her non-existing acting talent, she has an irritating smile and her voice is infuriating with a single note performance which only is rescued by her dancing in the 3 songs filmed on her and Saif, other than that she can't express one decent emotion or deliver a single line properly even if you put a gun to her head.

There is a wondrous subplot with Anil Kapoor as a corrupt fruit munching cop, with Sameera Reddy as his busty sexy side kick which is very well done and brings on a lot of good comic moments, its classy and witty like the rest of the movie and relieves Anil Kapoor of the crime of BLACK AND WHITE and the shoddy overacting, Sameera Reddy is good too and looks an eyeful, but it is Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu who benefit the maximum from their looks and performances the most and win this race.

As for the movie it's a sure-fire hit and the first blockbuster this year, and will keep the pop corn munching crowd busy for the Easter break, the songs dances are executed with style and are the best so far this year, the costumes and set design is very posh, and the production is stylish with sports Mercedes to Ferraris running across the scenic south African vistas.

It has some obvious flaws like the silly car racing sequences in the finale where the two brothers race and the cars are involved in some impossible stunts, as well as the double indemnity clause where the insurance dishes out 200 million dollars without even a proper internment of the corpses, but it is easily forgiven in a fast, pace thriller with zany music and brilliant colour cinematography, in fact the music and the visuals along with the plot and the classy comedy make this the most recommended viewing this week of all the Hollywood and Bollywood movies. This is far better than OCEAN 11 or 13, or DHOOM 2 even, as it has a vivid story line and credible actors.

But do not expect a RONIN or a GETAWAY, even the DON and ELAAN car chases were better, both technically and in conception, but this does deliver the goods amply and will entertain the majority bored to tears by the claptrap from the last 10 weeks. Enjoy and well done Abbas-Mastan, Saif Ali Khan, Anil KApoor and Bipasha, they have surely won the first race of 2008.

In fact if Katrina had worked on her diction and dialogues and the car race was a bit more sensible it would be a real classy thriller, but Katrina has only 2 merits, she has long naked legs and she is Salman's girlfriend, I wonder if she will contemplate retirement after marriage, which makes me wish the wedding bells ring today so we can be spared this bizarre actress.

This is good goofy family fun and will have Bollywood laughing its way to the bank jingles.

This is about 2 stepbrothers who, growing up in Durbin South Africa, have always turned everything into a race. Older brother (Saif Ali Khan) has always been the winner against younger one (Akshaye Khanna). Older one loves the younger one but younger one has a chip on his shoulder and wants to get rid of older one. Older has a girlfriend (Bipasha Basu) and a secretary (Katrina Kaif) who also figure in the plot. Then there is fruit obsessed police inspector (Anil Kapoor) and his assistant (Sameera Reddy) who come to solve an alleged suicide.., and a racing rival (Dalip Tahil) who plays dirty. This is all set around the race tracks and a South African glamor world of beautiful models and wealth.

Now if you took this as a straight movie you'd have to mark it down as stereotyped and corny. However the whole thing is so outrageous (in a Dhoom sort of way) and almost no character is what they appear. Just about everyone has agendas, double crosses etc. If you just go with it as almost a send-up played straight, it ended up being quite a lot of fun. It is a thriller-action movie that really has little violence in it nor fight sequences. There are some chases for those that like that. There is no real connection between romantic couples yet the whole thing is almost cartoon in quality . So, in that context it isn't a problem as you don't expect depth.

The music is contemporary and the dance scenes high-octane sexy ones yet none of the music remained with me as it did with Dhoom 2 for instance.
So if you are art-house forget it. If you like serious drama and serious thrillers you may have your doubts. It isn't played as comedy but nonetheless can be quite entertaining as you wade through the plot twists and the eventually predictable double dealings.

Elsewhere on the Net it tends to get a little above average. However quite a few really hated it and just as many rated it a high winner. I think it's expectations and how you approach it that explains that difference. It's no Dhoom 2 but I had fun with it and its one of those odd ones that's a keeper. A sequel has been announced using other top Bollywood stars so enough people probably liked it.

ok, this a great movie, so worth watching.Of cos Saif ali Khan, Anil Kapoor and Akshaye Khanne were the stars of the movie for me. Katrina and particularly Bipasha didn't do anything but look pretty.