(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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The story of Race revolves around two stepbrothers Ranvir Singh (SAK) and Rajeev Singh (Akshay). The two brothers compete against each other since childhood, and as the rule goes for every game, Saif always ends up winning whereas Akshay is on the losing side. Shot extensively in South Africa, the movie is about betrayal, greed, intrigue and revenge.
Ranvir the eldest of the two brothers is a cunning businessman who is always hungry for success and owns a ranch named Stallions. He gives tough competition to his competitors and doesn’t forgive people who try to act smart with him. On the other hand Rajiv (Akshay) is a total spoilt-rich-brat who loves wine more than the family horses.
Ranvir falls head-over-heels in love with the fashion catwalk queen Sonia (Bipasha Basu). But then a thriller is incomplete without a love triangle. Ranvir’s beautiful and hot secretary is secretly in love with her, but Ranvir gives a damn to her. As expected (from the trailers) Akshay also falls in love with Bipasha, and promises to mend his ways if Bipasha accepts his marriage proposal. Saif Ali Khan like every Indian elder brother sacrifices his love for his younger bro. But then one of the brothers has evil intentions in mind, a murder is committed, and the evil brother gets to walk away with the insurance claim of whooping hundred million.
Now a murder mystery is incomplete without a detective, and we do have one in Race. Robert D’Costa aka RD (Anil Kapoor), who is always munching fruits along with his sexy dumb bimbette secretary Mini (Sameera Reddy) enters the scene of crime and try to solve the mystery of the murder. The thriller gets its dose of humor with this detective-secretary combo. Although the jokes are dumb the audience are left in splits.
The best things about Race are not one but many: Akshay’s negative performance, Pritam’s rocking music, Stunts by Allan Amin, great dialogues, good Cinematography and above all a meaningful ending.
Although the movie is glossy with many action stunts, the director reminds us of SRK’s Baazigar, when one of the brother pushes down the other from the terrace of high-rise building to his death similar to the way SRK pushes down Shilpa Shetty in Baazigar. The first half of Race, kept me glued to my seat, I could not predict easily what exactly will happen in the next scene. With lots of twists and turns, I was munching my popcorn at Rajdhani express speed wondering what is gonna happen next.
Performance wise Akshay Khanna is the best in his negative avatar, Saif Ali Khan (he should take tips on working out from his zero size girlfriend) delivers a power packed performance as an intense elder brother and shrewd businessman, rest all are mediocre. Amongst all the ladies in the movie Bipasha Basu stands out, Katrina Kaif looks strikingly beautiful but fails to strike the right acting chord, Sameera Reddy acts as the Indian version of dumb blonde and provides enough justice to her role. Anil Kapoor provides the comedy element to the movie, but his acts looks monotonous.
Overall the movie is great, can be watched once (once you know the mystery its no more fun), the ladies up the sex quotient and great powerhouse performances by Saif and Akshay. A total paisa vasool movie. Don’t forget to check out the car blast scene in the first half of the movie. I expect Race will recover its investment and break the 30 crore barrier in its first week collections itself. Go Race yourself to the theaters.
Everybody is talking about Bipasha Basu! Her hot look, especially the eyes, in “Race” is a turn on. The smoky look of the extended eyeliner a la Sophia Loren has sparked off a trend not only in the film industry but also in the modelling circle. Bipasha said, “Eyes speak volumes! You don’t have to say anything at that point of time! It is the eyes that talk! They say, ‘Samjhnewale ko ishara kafi hai!’ Anaita has done a great job of styling me in ‘Race’ and trying the new make-up trend by extending my eye liner.” Yesteryear glamour icon Sharmila Tagore was the first actress to have started that trend. Bipasha has also been open to experiments and is always willing to try out something new when it comes to her looks and character in films. “Race” gave her that chance.Also starring Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy, the high paced action thriller is set to hit the marquee March 21.
Farah Khan’s husband Shirish Kunder continues to have problems with his ambitious project Joker. When earlier Shah Rukh Khan was to play the male lead and produce the film, Akshay Kumar was a part of the project. In fact, Kunder had decided to produce the film himself. Now, Akshay has walked out of the project and Saif Ali Khan will play the title role of Joker in the film. Our source says, “Shirish had creative differences with SRK and the two had a fall-out following which, Akshay also had a change of mind. It is not clear if he was having second thoughts about the role or whether it was the money he was offered. He sent a message to Kunder that he is not interested in the film anymore.” Our source adds, “Naturally, Kunder was disappointed. However, he wasted no time and roped in Saif Ali Khan to play the title role. In fact, Saif is very enthusiastic about the film.” Akshay remained unavailable for comment. However, one of his very close friends from the industry confirms the news, “Yes, it is true that Akshay has turned down Kunder’s film.” Editor-turned-filmmaker Kunder, who has directed Jaan-e-man, plans to start work on Joker in early 2009 and release it by the end of the year. Joker which is set in the future is an action comedy.
It’s a tough fight between Rani Mukherji and Vidya Balan, and a tough call for Shah Rukh Khan. A few days back we had reported that SRK and Priyadarshan will work together on a film where SRK will play himself. It is for this film that SRK is finalising his leading lady and he has to choose between the two, Rani Mukherji and Vidya Balan. It is going to be exciting to see who finally bags the project. Rani and SRK have appeared together in numerous films and share a wonderful chemistry, whereas Vidya Balan, in turn, has worked with director Priyadarshan in Bhool Bhulaiya and shares a great rapport with him. SRK is playing himself in the feature. In a love story to be produced by his banner, Red Chillies Entertainment and directed by the King of comedies, the project will also see these two talents collaborate for the first time. Meanwhile, Irrfan Khan has already been signed in to play a pivotal role in the film. While SRK is in the process of finalising his lead actress, he is also scouting for two actresses to play important characters in the film. The film is scheduled to go on the floors in April and will be complete by August 2008. Priyadarshan had told us earlier, “I am looking forward to the film and working with SRK.’m excited about this film and am looking forward to working with Shah Rukh. I’m completing Mere Baap Pehele Aap with Akshaye Khanna.” SRK and Priyadarshan will come together for the first time to create a laugh riot along with Irrfan Khan and, er, Rani or Vidya. It won’t be very funny for the one who doesn’t bag it though. We’ll keep you posted.
There is something to be said about restraint. A lot, in fact. We aren’t very aware of the stuff in Bollywood, struggling to tone down our item songs, and here, we have a nice little film like Black & White, positively brimming with it. For one, it features newcomer leading man Anurag Sinha, armed with less than 50 lines of dialogue in the entire enterprise and made to emote with his dramatically intense eyes. It’s a striking, somber debut and one that should be appreciated. Even more constrained than the leading man, however, is here the director. Subhash Ghai, he of the wide-brimmed hat — always synonymous with mega-budget cinema and much celluloid excess — now trades in the blockbuster gimmickry for an earnest, well-intentioned message movie. Black & White is a commendable effort and — while over-simplistic in a clear effort to reach the most audiences — proves to be most valid considering India’s increasingly disturbed religious climate. If the promos haven’t already made it clear, let us spell out what the film’s first few scenes tell you, in conveniently expository dialogues: Anurag plays a fidayeen suicide bomber sent from Afghanistan to India, aimed at making Independence Day celebrations more explosive. Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, where he goes, is a land the filmmaker paints in broad communal-harmony brushstrokes, yet this film impressively negotiates hardcore cliche territory without really getting grating, and manages to ? thanks to skillfully written dialogue ? make the maudlin and idealistic points without much grandstanding around them.
