114 Race (Hindi)

Subtlety and restraint have never found a place in the movies of director duo Abbas-Mastan . Their latest thriller ‘Race’ is so much crammed with unexpected twists and turns that after a while you naturally begin to expect the unexpected from the film.
And that is the trap that any suspense thriller can fall into. In a bid to shock the viewer, ‘Race’ keeps unraveling one surprise after another. So much so that after a while the surprises lose their shock value and the movie ceases to be a thriller.
This is the only major problem with ‘Race’. Apart from this the movie is a fine
entertainer with pretty good action sequences and a superb performance from Akshaye Khanna. He is the man you would love to hate in the film.
Set in picturesque cities of Durban and Cape Town, ‘Race’ tells the story of two brothers – Ranvir Singh ( Saif Ali Khan ) and Rajeev Singh ( Akshaye Khanna ).
Ranvir, the eldest of the two, is a shrewd businessman who owns a ranch named Stallions where horses are bred for races. He is a fierce competitor and he doesn’t forgive anyone who double-crosses him.
Rajeev, on the other hand, is more interested in alcohol than family business. He likes to wake up to a glass of beer every morning to recover from the hangover of previous night’s drinks.
Sonia ( Bipasha Basu ), a fashion model, walks into Ranvir’s life and wins over his heart. On the other hand is Sophia ( Katrina Kaif ), Ranvir’s gorgeous secretary who is always vying to get his attention, but without any success.
The ball is set rolling when Rajeev falls for Sonia and promises his brother that he would quit drinking if she agrees to marry him. Ranvir, like any true-blue big brother, sacrifices his love and becomes a matchmaker between the two.
But beneath the surface, evil plans are taking shape in the minds of the protagonists. One of the two brothers will die. And the other will inherit the huge insurance claim of 100 million.
The murder takes place. Enters detective RD or Robert D’Costa ( Anil Kapoor ) and his pretty and dumb secretary Mini ( Sameera Reddy ) who try to crack the case and get to the bottom of the mystery.
All in all, ‘Race’ is not a bad watch at all. Yes, it could have been much better if the director duo had incorporated more intelligent twists in the story.
Don’t go expecting anything cerebral and you might end up enjoying ‘Race’