Race

About the film

Race is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir action crime film directed by Abbas–Mustan and written by Kiran Kotrial and Shiraz Ahmed. Reportedly inspired by the 1998 Hollywood movie Goodbye Lover, it is the first installment in the Race franchise and stars an ensemble cast of Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover, Katrina Kaif Kaushal, and Sameera Reddy Varde. In the film, the professional and personal loyalties between brothers and businessmen Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajiv Singh (Akshaye Khanna) are shown as a storyline.

Principal photography took place in Durban, Goa and Dubai, and was produced by Tips Industries. Race was theatrically released in India by UTV Motion Pictures on 21 March 2008. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for its editing, screenplay, cast performances and music. It was a commercial success, grossing ₹103 crore (US$11 million) worldwide, making it the sixth highest grossing Hindi film of 2008. It was followed by the sequel film Race 2 (2013) and the spiritual successor Race 3 (2018).

Plot

A voice-over by Inspector Robert D'Costa "RD" (Anil Kapoor) introduces the four main characters. Ranvir "Ronny" Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is a successful and powerful businessman who runs a ranch house, Stallions, in Durban and fixed many horse races using the finest breed (mainly Thoroughbreds) of horses. He likes to take part in adventure sports. His younger brother Rajiv Singh (Akshaye Khanna) is an alcoholic and has no interest in the business. Ronny is dating an upcoming model, Sonia Martin (Bipasha Basu), while his personal assistant Sophia (Katrina Kaif) appears to be secretly in love with him. Ronny is also involved in a competition with his business rival, Kabir Ahuja (Dalip Tahil), who is also a horse race fixer.

The film opens with a murder plot involving a car accident on 7 October that Ronny narrowly survives. Ronny later kills his unfaithful jockey, who had been bribed by Kabir, and destroys Kabir when the latter offers to buy his company, which is in debt.

Rajiv drunkenly confesses to Ronny that he likes Sonia and would quit drinking for her. Ronny stops dating her, and Rajiv and Sonia begin dating until, in a twist, Rajiv reveals that he knows of Sonia's shady past and plans to use her. His father had secured huge life insurance policies on each of the sons, and he wants to kill Ronny and inherit $100 million in insurance payments. Sonia agrees to help in exchange for $20 million.

Production

The movie was loosely inspired by the 1998 American thriller/comedy Goodbye Lover. Apart from the basic plot, notable similarities were observed in several supporting characters as well. Actors Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu later acknowledged the resemblance to the Hollywood film, and Basu subsequently worked with Goodbye Lover’s director Roland Joffé in The Lovers (2013), who reportedly expressed frustration when she discussed Race with him.

The casting of Race was marked by several notable changes. Initially, Ajay Devgn was approached to portray Inspector Robert D'Costa (RD). Although he appreciated the script, Devgn declined the role as he wasn't inclined towards participating in an intense action film at that time.

Akshay Kumar was offered the role of Ranvir Singh, while Saif Ali Khan was considered for the role of Rajiv Singh. However, Kumar turned down the offer, reportedly due to unreported reasons. Subsequently, Khan expressed interest in playing Ranvir Singh, the elder brother, leading to his casting in that role.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Race was released by Tips Music on 25 January 2008. Composed by Pritam with lyrics by Sameer, Race had 7 original songs, 9 remixes and an instrumental theme. The song "Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)" sung by Monali Thakur and Neeraj Shridhar was recorded after the release of the soundtrack, replacing the original song "Mujh Pe Toh Jadoo" in the film. Tips then re-distributed the soundtrack, adding "Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)" after the release of the film. All the remix versions were produced by DJ Suketu feat.

Reception

Race received acclaim from critics, with praise for its stylized presentation, music, and plot twists.

Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM gave Race 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a superb entertainer all the way" that "has not just style, but a lot of substance too." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as a mix of "fast cars and fast babes" and noting it was "better than anything else its directors have made recently." He suggested that audiences "won’t be disappointed."

The Economic Times stated that Race is "reasonable enough to win a 'not bad' stamp" but "isn't imaginative enough to gain a 'good' tag." The review criticized the outdated action sequences and inconsistent camerawork, though it acknowledged that the film's racy ending helped to camouflage its narrative flaws. Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times described the film as "an absolutely average Abbas–Mustan plot pourri."

Sequel

The original production team announced a sequel titled Race 2. Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor reprised their roles from the first film, while John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Ameesha Patel joined the cast in new roles. Bipasha Basu also returned for a cameo appearance as Sonia. Principal photography began on 5 October 2011. The film was released theatrically on 25 January 2013 and was a commercial success, earning over ₹1 billion (US$12 million) at the domestic box office.

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