‘Race’ before ‘Raceday’-Movie review

Before todays big raceday in Sepang, I went to see another race in CityPride. But I waited to check out Sunday Times review to write this post. I was shocked to find out that Race had been awarded 3 and 1/2 stars. Times rating is getting more and more ridiculous. I remember Dhol getting 4 stars, another shocker.

Movie- Race

Directors- Abbas-Mustan 

Star Cast- Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Akshay Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor, Sameera Reddy 

Race is a typical Abbas-Mustan flick, only the script is totally confused. Movie has more twists and turns than a spaghetti. People change their sides and loyalties just like that! Most of the characters are childishly boastful. First half is very slow and has only 10% of the total twists, so naturally second half becomes very action packed.

For complete review check out Indiatimes Review

Now some finer details. Most of them are spoilers, so those who intend to see the film, pls read this after you have seen Race. If you have no intention of watching it in near future…go ahead.

The songs are just….too many. Not a single one fits in the flow (Reminds me of ‘Nehle pe dehla’). The lyrics are contributed by the great Sameer. So its pointless to find out what they mean. eg. just look at this song and his lack of imagination-

“Bin Tere Sanam Is Jahan Mein
Beqaraar Hum Dum Da Dum Da Dum
Bin Tere Sanam Is Jahan Mein
Beqraar Hum”

What is Dum Da Dum Da Dum??? Absolutely stupid!

Choreography is very mismatched with the costumes and height of the actor who is doing those steps. This is highlighted in case of Katrina. Only good background score and music by Pritam makes songs bearable.

Action scenes are very childish. The jump scenes are really pathetic. I mean you can actually make out that the hero is hanging from a rope. Not expected from an action film!

Akshay, Saif, Bipasha have done a decent job. Cant expect acting from Katrina, but she is improving. Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy appear only after interval. But they have utilised the remaining time very effectively to irritate you to the maximum extent. Sammera Reddy’s dialogues make you bang ur head on the wall. The shady level of dialogues obtain a new negative height with Anil Kapoor. Some of the jokes were good, but some were really obnoxious. He is shown eating a different fruit in every scene. So, by my count, the fruits were- Apple, Banana, Orange, Pomegranate, Sugarcane(??), Coconut, Water-melon, Strawberry, Raspberry, Grapes, walnut, and finally a fruit dish.

Atleast 25% of the movie is irrelevant to the main story. The whole character of Dalip Tahil is unnecessary. The scene just shows how brutal these brothers can get. Johny Lever has a cameo, but he makes sure that you remember him after the movie as well.

Coming back to the story, Saif’s death scene is ok. But again the director duo has tried too hard to make it look very exciting but ends up being unbelievable.(Again, the same old trick of suicide from terrace is used. Interestingly, here also the victim hits the glass first and then the ground, just like Shilpa shetty of Bazigar. But this trick has a special significance in Race)

An interesting observation. In the song ‘Race….’ Saif is dancing in front of a wall. And the background animation on the wall is the one which you see in Windows Media Player when you play an audio file!

Now some “Readers Don’t Digest” moments-

1) A math problem. Akshay Khanna gives 25 million to Anil Kapoor for his help, out of the 100 million received from Saif’s Insurance. So he is left with 75 million. But as it turns out, Saif is not dead after all. Finally, Saif is shown driving away with Akshay’s remainder of cash + 100 million from Akshay’s Insurance. But both Anil and Saif claim that there is still 200 million cash in Saif’s bag and Saif gives additional 100 million to Anil. What happened to the first 25 million?

2) In the final race, Akshay gives Saif a car that has brakes missing. Saif claims that Akshay’s car has a bomb that will be triggered if the speed goes down 100kmph (Remember ‘Speed’!). So neither can stop! Wait a second….you cant stop if you dont have brakes huh. Ever heard of a term called friction? Just turn off the engine and steer the car till it stops man! But instead Saif continues to race in full throttle. You are brave but you are also very stupid!

My rating- **1/2

Go to see it only if you are a die-hard fan of any of the cast, as each one receives a decent amount of screen footage. If you can cope up with useless songs, terrible action scenes and no need of explanation for some very basic questions like why and how, this movie is just made for you!

(PS- I loved this movie. I like such dumb baseless movies with low budget action and stupid characters. My rating mentioned above is for common people, not for people like me. I thought this was a terrific movie and I am definitely going to watch it again.)