RACE
HORS D’ OEUVRE OF HORSES AND CURVES
by Vishal Verma

Rating:

What is it?
The men in white are back and with a vengeance and in ishtyle. Yes! If it is from the director duo - Abbas & Mustan Burmawalla then there is no suspense that it will be a mystery thrilled with action and some foot tapping music.

But take a breath; here in ‘Race’, the men in white opt for an added flavour of con to their normal recipe of murder, suspense, thrill & action.

Who’s the winner in ‘Race’ well, without revealing the suspense, I should say entertainment.

After the dragging first half, the movie picks up the momentum in the second and comes out with one bolt from the blue after another and keeps the viewer guessing.

If you are looking for banal ‘whodunit’ stuff from Abbas –Mustan in ‘Race’, then be ready for a surprise, it offers more spice than what those mundane dastan –e- murder mystery offers.

But ‘Race’ has its share of lows. This can’t be ignored.
Agreed it’s a bad world out there and everybody wants to win. There is style, one twist and turn after another in this story of baddies all around. And the one who is less bad as compared to his counterparts ends up as the winner. You don’t find a single character of good virtue in this flick.

But overall ‘Race’ is a paisa vasool stuff & hopefully going by the initials, Abbas –Mustan will end there drought of flops and will come out as a winner in ‘Race’.

What is all about?
Race’ is the story of two brothers – Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan- excellent) and Rajeev Singh (repetitive), who live on the edge of life. Their business is horse racing. Winning is their habit and danger is their sport.

Even love comes laced with a motive. The stakes are too high. Double them and you have the perfect ground for a perfect murder.

One of the brothers dies due to a conspiracy which has it strings held by the glamourous model Sonia (Bipasha – looks ravishing and does well) whom Ranvir loved, or the beautiful secretary Sophia (Katrina – below par) who loved Ranvir.

Enters detective Robert D Costa (Anil Kapoor- good) and his assistant Mini (Sameera Reddy – wasted) and the plot gets deepen into a gripping tale of drama.

What to look out for?
Abbas Mustan slick and stylish story telling especially in the second half backed by Shiraz Ahmed pen work which has its share of surprise elements. Music Director Pritam Chakraborty’s composition for the title song which has already become a rage.

Brilliant Cinematography by Ravi Yadav.

What not?
Is South Africa is having a dearth of people with good virtue? The whole plot revolves around baddies and greedy souls.

The first half drags a lot and the songs are added unnecessarily. It’s a huge hurdle while one is watching the film.

Conclusion: Watch it for its style and extra dose of mystery from the ‘desi’ director duo who time and again borrow the thrills, chills & drama from the west.