Direction: Abbas-Mustan

Producers: Tips Music Films and UTV Motion Pictures

Writers: Shiraz Ahmed and Kiran Kotrial

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, Amisha Patel

Music: Pritam

Genre: Thriller

Rating: * ½

Story Outline: After amassing abnormal amount of wealth through crook, multi-millionaire Arman Malik (John Abraham) is enjoying the luxuries of Europe with his step sister Alina (Deepika Padukone) and girlfriend Onisha (Jacqueline Fernandez). This is when Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) enters his life. Through some illegal ideas, Ranvir helps Arman add up to his already colossal wealth. But why is Ranvir doing such favors on Arman? Meanwhile, cop-turned-casino-owner Robert D’Costa provides all the support to Ranvir but is he really on his side?

Review: Abbas-Mustan’s Race 2 reminded me of the old phrase ‘Jana Tha Japan Pohoch Gaye Cheen (China)’. Although the intention of the makers might have been to make a sequel to the impressive thrilling ride Race (2008) but knowingly or unknowingly the director duo ends up making a sequel to their last film Players (2012). Second movie in the line of Players… Need I say more?

Race 2 has almost everything needed for a racy thriller – mind-blowing action sequences, exotic locations, thrilling chases, twists and turns, lots of style, expensive cars, choppers and some foot-tapping music. So what went wrong? Well, I did mention the word ‘almost’ in the second last sentence which was used for the most important thing – s-c-r-i-p-t!

The problem with the writing is that the story doesn’t unfold at a good pace as a lot of footage is given to some unconvincing, lame sequences and, of course, lots of glamour (read: cleavage and thighs). And when the story does move forward, it mostly produces twists that are not only predictable miles back, but also unintentionally hilarious. An example of just taking the genre and the audience for granted! The disgustingly cheap conversations between Anil and Ameesha’s characters truly deserve special mention!

To its credit, the film does have few things going though. Some chase sequences and stunts are out of the ordinary. The camerawork (Ravi Yadav), background score and some super-stylish editing also deserve praise. Pritam has come up with some good tracks (hoping they are original), although the songs are forcibly placed!

Saif Ali Khan pulls of the character of Ranvir Singh quite well but this time he isn’t as convincing and powerful as he was in the 2008 movie. John Abraham shows a lot of style but acting-wise, he is pretty average. A talented as well as experienced actor like Anil Kapoor is simply wasted! It was also disturbing to see his character indulge in such cheapness!

Deepika Padukone and Jacqueline Fernandez are just used to expose their toned bodies forcefully! Although, acting-wise, the former is okay, the latter is simply poor! Lastly, there is Ameesha Patel who gives one of the most irritating performances in recent years!

Overall, while the two main characters in Race 2 are constantly trying to fool each other, it is the audience which ultimately gets fooled. Due to some hype, the film might get a decent opening but it will struggle at the box office once the word spreads.