The thing about an Abbas-Mustan movie is that it is going to be full of thrills. Some hot women will keep the glamor quotient high and a high-voltage or a surprise ending will make it worth your time. Sometimes they get it absolutely right like they did in Khiladi and sometimes they're all over the place like 36 China Town . But what's beyond a doubt is that owing to lack of competition in this genre, Sriram Raghavan being the sole exception, they at least push the boundaries in this genre. Race is a similar attempt in the same genre by the duo.
It stars Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna who play two rich brothers wooing two attractive women, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif. A murder takes place and an investigation officer (Anil Kapoor) steps in with a dumb but glamorous assistant (Sameera Reddy). The film thereafter weaves through twist after twist towards a high-octane climax. By itself, there's nothing impressive about the film but these twists themselves carry the movie forward. Saif and Akshaye Khanna are diligent in their performances but little beyond is interesting about them. The saddest element is Sameera Reddy's role that's a caricature of a character while Anil Kapoor makes a few poor attempts at comedy. The music by Pritam is a sure shot highlight and some of the songs and action sequences are stylistically shot by Ravi Yadav.
As a whole, Race is one of the more average attempts by Abbas-Mustan that's only pepped up in parts. At 165 minutes, it is also at least 20 minutes extra long and a whirlpool of twists towards the end really make you wish the film ended sooner. What's commendable though is the fact that it has still spurred the director-duo to come up with a second instalment in 2012 titled Race2. Sometimes such an unflinching belief in a genre sees people come up with a gem. Its clear that Race wasn't it, maybe Race2 will be.
Rating: 5.8/10
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