Director duo, Abbas Mustan are veterans of the
thriller genre and they are best when they boil their thrillers down to a cat
and

mouse game between 2 protagonists. SRK vs Dalip Tahil in Baazigar, Akshay
Khanna vs Bobby Deol in Humraaz, Akshay Kumar Vs Bobby
Deol in Ajnabee and Priyanka Chopra vs Kareena in Aitraaz being some of their
better outings.

          

Essential to a thriller, are twists and turns that you do not see
coming. And it is in that respect that Race is a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, the
plot of Akshaye vs, elder step brother, Saif, the murder and the 1 million
insurance claim is reasonably well developed and the twists and turns in the
first half do keep the viewer engaged. But somewhere in the second half the insurance
claim spirals to 2 million and even the proceedings fizzle into too many twists
and too many turns and by the end of it all, the viewer cannot help but lose
interest. The barrage of largely forgettable songs by Pritam also do not help
matters. And while you do leave the theatre with your head reeling, the
directors do manage to keep us rooting for the good brother until the end. In
recent times we all rooted for a fairly villainish Neil Nitin Mukesh in Johnny
Gaddar as he weaved through a plot full of twists and turns, and while Race is comparably
much lower IQ … it is better than Abbas Mustan’s recent outings like Naqab and
36 China Town.

          

As far as acting goes … Saif has to literally ‘strut’ and look
‘cool’ and this he can now do without breaking into a sweat … Akshaye has the
better lines, and he delivers them with panache – but please can we get more of
him without those lousy wigs … Bipasha, Katreena have to do a little more than
just song and dance, and they manage that … Anil Kapoor is given crass lines,
and at his age one would rather see less of him in No Entry, Musafir  types.

          

And btw … as for the supposedly steamy Saif Bipasha numbers –
viewers would be better advised to watch SRK and Shilpa in ‘Aye Mere Humsafar’.
Yes the popular track, My heart is racing now ... had almost the whole theater
(Gaiety@Mumbai) glued to their seats, even as the credits rolled. Something that
a lot of Directors seem irrationally interested in.

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Not revealed
Best to watch with:	Spouse / Partner
Movie Genre:	Thriller/Suspense
Best part in the movie:	Not sure