Race

<p>Inspector Robert D’Costa “RD” narrates the story of four individuals. Ranvir “Ronny” Singh, a powerful businessman in , operates a business named Stallions and is known for fixing races using thoroughbred horses. His younger brother, Rajiv Singh, is an alcoholic and uninvolved in the business. Ronny is in a relationship with Sonia Martin, a rising model, while his assistant Sophia Sharma is secretly in love with him. Ronny also has an ongoing rivalry with Kabir Ahuja, a fellow race fixer. A car accident planned for 7 October is intended to kill Ronny, but he survives. He later kills a jockey bribed by Kabir and prevents a hostile takeover of his company. Rajiv admits his feelings for Sonia and pledges to quit drinking. Ronny ends his relationship with Sonia, allowing Rajiv to date her. Eventually, Rajiv discloses that he knows about Sonia’s past and plans to use her to kill Ronny. Their father had insured both brothers heavily, and Rajiv intends to collect $100 million by orchestrating Ronny’s death. Sonia agrees to assist in exchange for $20 million. Rajiv and Sonia stage a marriage. As planned, Sonia seduces Ronny, who admits he still loves her. Rajiv stages a suicide attempt, intending Sonia to push Ronny off a building. However, Ronny is aware of their plan—Sonia has been updating him all along. Together, they conspire to eliminate Rajiv. In a sudden betrayal, Sonia pushes Ronny instead, claiming love but prioritizing money. As RD investigates, Sophia reveals she was married to Ronny, making her the legal heir to the insurance claim. Sonia is shocked. It is then revealed that Sophia is Rajiv’s secret accomplice. Their plan is to eliminate Sonia after receiving the money. RD uncovers that Sophia faked the marriage and manipulated Ronny into signing the papers. He agrees to stay silent in exchange for $25 million. Rajiv hires the same hitman who earlier attempted to kill Ronny, revealing he orchestrated the original accident. Ronny reappears, rescues Sonia, and kills the hitman. He confronts Rajiv and Sophia, explaining that he overheard their conversation with the assassin. He has been pretending to go along with their plan to collect both insurance claims—his own and Rajiv’s. Ronny challenges Rajiv to a final car race. Sonia and Ronny arrive in a yellow Toyota Supra; Rajiv and Sophia in a blue Nissan Skyline. Rajiv switches cars, knowing he had tampered with the Skyline’s brakes. During the race, Ronny tells Rajiv that a bomb is planted in his car and will explode if he slows down. The race ends with the Supra crashing and killing Rajiv and Sophia. Ronny later admits to Sonia that there was no bomb; Rajiv effectively caused his own death. Ronny collects the insurance claims for Rajiv and Sophia, as well as from his own presumed death. As he prepares to flee with Sonia, RD intercepts them. It is revealed that Ronny and RD were childhood friends, and RD had been working with him for a share of the money. Ronny hands RD a briefcase containing a bomb, which does not detonate—intended as a safeguard to prevent betrayal. The casting journey of was marked by several notable changes. Initially, was approached to portray 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. was offered the role of Ranvir Singh, while 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. For the character of Sonia, was the initial choice. She declined the role, as she was not keen on portraying a character with negative shades at that point in her career. The role eventually went to . was originally signed to play Rajiv Singh. However, due to scheduling conflicts with his commitments to the film (2007), he had to opt out. Following this, actors , , and were considered for the role, but none took it up. Ultimately, was cast as Rajiv Singh. The soundtrack of was released by Tips Music on 25 January 2008. Composed by with lyrics by , the album originally featured seven songs, nine remixes, and an instrumental theme. The song “Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)”, performed by and , was recorded after the album’s initial release. It replaced the track “Mujh Pe Toh Jadoo” in the final cut of the film. Following the film’s release, Tips re-issued the soundtrack to include “Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)”. All remix versions were produced by . received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for its stylized presentation, music, and plot twists, but criticism for its convoluted narrative and lack of realism. of gave 4 out of 5 stars, calling it “a superb entertainer all the way” that “has not just style, but a lot of substance too.” of 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.” stated that 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. of described the film as “an absolutely average plot pourri.” of gave 1.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a “carnival of twists.” He further criticized the film as “boringly shot” and “shabbily edited.” Kathy Gibson of rated the film 1.5 out of 4 stars. She found the plot twists “ridiculous” and their explanations even worse, adding that the stunts were “more laughable than exciting.” She concluded that “not Anil Kapoor’s humorous portrayal of a quirky, fruit-eating detective can save .” was released worldwide on 21 March 2008, coinciding with the festival weekend. It earned approximately ₹6.20 crore on its opening day, followed by ₹6.80 crore on the second day and ₹7.50 crore on the third, bringing its opening weekend total to ₹20.50 crore. The film concluded its theatrical run with a domestic net gross of ₹60.83 crore and a worldwide gross of ₹103.45 crore, ranking as the . According to , was declared a “Hit.” The original production team announced a sequel titled . and reprised their roles from the first film, while , , , and joined the cast in new roles. 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.</p>