Race 2 is a Bollywoodactionthriller film directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced under the Tips Music Films banner. It is the sequel to the 2008 film, Race and stars an ensemble cast that includes Anil Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan reprising their roles as Robert D'Costa and Ranveer Singh respectively, while Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ameesha Patel are new additions to the cast. Bipasha Basu reprised her role of Sonia Martin in a special appearance.[4] Made on a budget of ₹600 million (US$7.2 million),[2]Race 2 was released on 25 January 2013 and opened to mixed reviews from critics and highly positive response at the box office, earning ₹930 million (US$11 million) domestically. The film was the first one to enter the worldwide Bollywood's 100 crore club in 2013. According to Box Office India, it was a 'Hit' domestically and overseas.[5][6][7]
Plot
A robbery takes place and European printing plates are stolen. Ranveer Singh (Saif Ali Khan) sees this news on TV and decides to take advantage of this to get revenge for a past matter. Ranveer cons Vikram Thapar (Rajesh Khattar) by pretending to have stolen the Euro printing plates, and his plan is successful. He cons Vikram so badly that he is divested of the five casinos that he owns in Istanbul, Turkey.
This con is revealed to be a plan that Ranveer made a week earlier with ex-street fighter and current casino mogul Armaan Malik (John Abraham). Ranveer was introduced to Armaan by his friend Robert "RD" D'Costa (Anil Kapoor) and his dimwitted assistant Cherry (Ameesha Patel). After the con, Ranveer gives Armaan ownership of Thapar's five casinos in exchange for 10% of the money. With this deal, Ranveer and Armaan become friends. Ranveer also romances Armaan's half-sister Alina (Deepika Padukone), who is his 50% business partner in all his ventures and spent a night with him to start their partnership.
At a party hosted by Armaan and Alina, Ranveer meets Armaan's girlfriend Omisha (Jacqueline Fernandez) and sees a picture of his ex-wife Sonia (Bipasha Basu) in her wallet. He charms her through matches of archery and fencing where he cuts her dresses without her knowledge and walks away without watching her without dress. Ranveer then tells Armaan of a deal that will get them endless money. Armaan agrees to the plan.
Later, Ranveer reveals to RD that he is not planning to make Armaan rich, but he is actually planning to con Armaan so badly that he will lose all his money and be forced to become a beggar on the streets. This is part of Ranveer's plan to avenge Armaan's killing of Sonia. He vows that until Armaan is ruined, he will not do Sonia's final rites. Ranveer then establishes contact with Omisha, who tells him that she is Sonia's sister Tanya and she too wants revenge. Omisha agrees to help Ranveer in his plan. However, right after Ranveer leaves, Armaan shows up at Omisha's apartment, where it is revealed that she is not actually Sonia's sister, but she is actually working for Armaan. Ranveer, however, does not know this and still believes that she is Sonia's sister.
After this, Ranveer shows RD and Cherry that his plan is to steal the Shroud of Turin. Ranveer will steal the Shroud himself, but will tell Armaan that he is getting someone else to do it. That person will ask for 15 billion Euros from Armaan, which Ranveer will secretly take. After that, he will get away with the Shroud and all of Armaan's money. RD is afraid of Armaan and therefore betrays Ranveer. RD tells Armaan all of Ranveer's plan. Armaan then tells RD to give Ranveer whatever help he needs, but RD will still be on Armaan's side.
Ranveer and Alina get closer and start dating. On one such date, Armaan informs them that there is a bomb planted under Alina's car. Ranveer somehow manages to get rid of the bomb and Armaan tells them that Thapar must have planted it to get even for the five casinos he was conned of.
Armaan then introduces Ranveer to the Mafia Godfather Anza. After Ranveer is out of sight, Armaan asks Anza for the 15 billion Euros to give for the Shroud of Turin theft. Anza says that he will give Armaan the money only if he wins a fight against Anza's prize fighter Typhoon. Ranveer was eavesdropping on this conversation the whole time, and when he turns around, he sees Alina standing there. Alina reveals to Ranveer that RD is actually on Armaan's side. She then reveals that Armaan actually wants to kill her and he was the one that planted the bomb in her car. But when he realised Ranveer was in the car, he warned them about the bomb and thus saved them. Armaan only wants Ranveer alive to keep the plan going. Alina takes Ranveer's side in the "race to the finish."
While Ranveer steals the Shroud of Turin with RD and Cherry, Armaan fights against Typhoon and wins. After the theft, Ranveer leaves the Shroud in a luggage locker at the airport and keeps the key on his necklace. Afterwards, RD and Cherry hook up at a nearby beach. Ranveer tells Omisha where the real Shroud is, and gives her a fake Shroud to give to the fake thief. Omisha tells Armaan about Ranveer's entire plan, and Armaan tells her to do exactly what Ranveer says.
At the ruins of Antalya, Ranveer's fake thief Eric meets up with Ranveer, Armaan, Alina, RD, and Cherry. As per Ranveer's plan, Eric gives Armaan the fake Shroud. He takes 15 billion euros from Armaan and drives away with Omisha hiding in his car. Eric gives Omisha the money and leaves. Back at the ruins, the remaining five celebrate the end of the deal with some champagne. After Ranveer drinks his glass clean, Armaan reveals that Alina mixed poison in Ranveer's glass. As Ranveer slowly dies, Armaan reveals that thanks to RD he knew Ranveer's plan the whole time and he was controlling the race the entire time. Alina reveals that she was never on his side because of her blood relationship with Armaaan. Omisha drives back with the money and reveals to Ranveer that she was also on Armaan's side and she is not Sonia's sister. After Ranveer dies, RD and Cherry leave after getting 10% of the money from Armaan. Alina leaves to get the private jet ready, while Armaan and Omisha retrieve the real Shroud from Ranveer's luggage locker.
Armaan, Omisha, and Alina leave in their private jet. While in the jet, Armaan points his gun at Alina, revealing that all along he was planning to kill her and take her money. Suddenly, Ranveer crashes through the wall and reveals that Alina never poisoned his drink. Alina tells Armaan that she was on Ranveer's side ever since Armaan planted the bomb in her car. Ranveer reveals that RD never betrayed him, and that he himself told RD to inform Armaan of the real plan. This was to make Armaan think he was ahead of Ranveer. Ranveer then reveals that he had seen a picture of Sonia's sister before he even met Omisha. Therefore, he knew all along that Omisha was on Armaan's side. This leads to a fight between Ranveer and Armaan on the plane, while Alina and Omisha watch fearfully. The plane begins to spiral out of control after Armaan breaks a window. During the fight, Armaan reveals that before Sonia was with Ranveer, she was dating Armaan, but she lied to him and stole his money, which is why he had her killed. He then shoots the pilot and all but one parachute. As the plane is about to crash, Armaan and Omisha take the parachute escape with the real Shroud and the money. Ranveer and Alina then also escape the plane, but with nothing.
When Armaan and Omisha give the Shroud to Godfather Anza, it is inspected and revealed to be fake. Then, they give the money to Godfather Anza, but that is also fake. As a punishment, Anza takes everything from Armaan: his casinos, his money, his house, his cars, his yachts, and even Omisha. As Armaan leaves, he vows to get revenge on Ranveer.
Ranveer lays flowers on Sonia's grave as Alina watches on. They then meet up with RD and Cherry, and Ranveer gives RD 10% of the money they made from ruining Armaan. There, Ranveer reveals that the Shroud was never even stolen from the Church of Turin because it was too holy to be sold in the underworld market. RD then tells Alina that he never trusted her even though Ranveer trusted her fully. Ranveer reveals how after everyone left the ruins of Antalya, Alina came back to take Ranveer to the jet. Then, they reveal how Alina switched the real money with the fake money while Ranveer and Armaan were fighting in the jet. RD then says that he does not want to risk his life again and makes Ranveer promise to never meet him again. Ranveer shakes on the promise but then warns RD that promises are made to be broken. RD and Cherry then leave in one helicopter, while Ranveer and Alina leave in another.
Atif Aslam as himself in a cameo appearance in the song "Be Intehaan"
Production
After the success of Race (2008), Ramesh Taurani registered Race 2 as a title and Abbas-Mustan said that they would go ahead with a sequel "if we get a script in place which is even better than the original."[8] The screenplay was written by Shiraz Ahmed who also wrote Race. Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor were the first to sign on in November 2009 and were reported to be the only returning cast members from the first film.[9] In June 2010, John Abraham was signed on to play the antagonist and Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra were approached to co-star opposite Khan and Abraham respectively.[10][11] However, Kapoor turned down the role as she didn't want her pairing with Khan to get repetitive; Chopra opted out due to scheduling conflicts and was subsequently replaced by Padukone.[12] It was also rumoured that Asin had been shortlisted to star alongside Khan.[13] In December 2010, Sonakshi Sinha was cast as a replacement for Kapoor.[14]Chitrangda Singh was approached for a role opposite Anil Kapoor in May 2011 but eventually dropped out for unspecified reasons.[15] Ameesha Patel and Mallika Sherawat were considered for that same role, but it ultimately went to Patel.[16][17]
"The expectations from Race 2 are humongous and we plan to make it bigger and better than the first part."
The film's shooting was set to begin on 5 October 2011 but was postponed to accommodate Deepika Padukone's dates causing scheduling conflicts with Sonakshi Sinha.[19] Sinha's dates conflicted with her filming schedule for Dabangg 2 (2012), forcing her to drop out. In October 2011, Jacqueline Fernandez who had opted out of Krrish 3 and Raaz 3 was cast as a replacement for Sinha.[20] Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Bipasha Basu would be reprising her role as Sonia in a cameo appearance and continuing to be Khan's love interest. Despite rumours suggesting that Basu would be sharing screen space with ex-boyfriend John Abraham for the first time after their break-up, Abraham denied this.[21][22][23] Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the largest of Sunni clerics in India, urged PM Manmohan Singh to stop their publication and display of Race 2 posters that featured verses from the Quran.[24]
Filming
The first Indian schedule began on 5 November 2011 in Mumbai for 15 days, wrapping up on 20 November.[25] Meanwhile, Sanjay Dutt was in talks to join the cast, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.[26][27] The second schedule commenced on 23 January 2012 in Mumbai. Padukone dropped out within six days because the film was always being rescheduled.[28]
Race 2's producer Ramesh Taurani released a statement to the media deeming Padukone's behaviour as "unethical, unprofessional and unacceptable".[29] Also, it was reported that Asin was offered the role to replace Padukone, although it has been rumoured that she declined the offer, thus avoiding any controversies regarding her and Kapoor.[30] However, Padukone and Taurani agreed on a settlement after much negotiation and the filming continued as planned.[31] Fernandez, Abraham and Padukone joined the cast in May at Istanbul for the third schedule. On 7 October 2012, shooting was completed. The Mardan Palace in Turkey was the setting for many scenes where it was shown as the home of Padukone and Abraham's characters.[32]
Release
Race 2 was released in 3200 screens in India; it is the third biggest release ever for a Hindi film after Ek Tha Tiger (3300 screens) and Dabangg 2 (3700 screens).[33][34]Race 2 was released in more than 50 countries, including US, UK, Gulf, Australia, Pakistan as well as non-traditional markets like Maldives, East Timor, Myanmar, Morocco and Vietnam (with as many as seven screens).[35] The film had a simultaneous release in Morocco in four to five screens, including theatres in Casablanca and Marrakech.[36]Race 2 is subtitled in Arabic, Thai, Bahasa, Malay, Vietnamese, and Dutch.[37][38]
Critical reception
Madhureeta Mukherjee of Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5, while commenting "Heists, hot-babes, roulette, raging cars, gizmos and gags – Director duo, Abbas-Mustan have thrown in everything with pompous grandeur, save for a riveting plot that shocks or stuns."[39] Rubina A Khan of The First Post gave it 3 out of 5 stars, adding, "Race 2 delivers what it promises – good looking ensemble cast, exotic locations, cars, bomb squads, revenge, lust and love, a couple of good music tracks and, most importantly, a plot which unravels at a thrilling pace."[40] Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 3 out of 5 stars.[41]
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and said "The writing isn't watertight, the film lacks a hit score, the climax is far from effective and overall, Race 2 pales in comparison to Race."[42]Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN awarded it a score of 2.5 out of 5 while commenting "The film has no intellectual pretensions; its only ambition is to offer a good time. In that, it mostly succeeds."[43] Anupama Chopra of Hindustantimes gave 2 out of 5, reviewing, "Race 2 is essentially a big-budget cartoon in which coolness is all. The director duo Abbas-Mustan have no pretensions about what they are making – full-on masala with a dash of revenge, a slice of heist and characters who are either strutting their chiseled bodies in slow motion or betraying each other."[44] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it a score of 1.5 out of 5 and feels "This is a wreck of a movie strictly for action junkies who might be looking for a feverish two-and-a-half-hour ride that is far more giddy than heady."[45]
Box office
India
Race 2 had what Box Office India called a "solid opening" at multiplexes and single screens with occupancy of around 60%–70%.[34] The film had a very good opening day, netting ₹142.5 million (US$1.7 million).[46] It showed good growth in its second day, collecting approximately ₹185.0 million (US$2.2 million) nett and became the fourth biggest Saturday collections ever.[47][48]Race 2 did well on its first weekend by collecting around ₹48.50 crore (US$5.8 million) nett by collecting around ₹152.5 million (US$1.8 million) on Sunday.[5][49]Race 2 dropped on Monday as it collected around ₹6 crore (US$720,000) nett.[50]
Despite dropping collections after the weekend, the film managed to do well and netted around ₹695.0 million (US$8.3 million) in its first week.[51]Race 2 did pretty well on its second Friday collecting around ₹32.5 million (US$390,000) nett.[52] The film had a decent second weekend and collected around ₹140 million (US$1.7 million) with first Sunday collections going to around 60 million nett plus. It collected around ₹835.0 million (US$10 million) nett in 10 days.[53] It did well in its second week collecting around ₹205.0 million (US$2.5 million) nett. The two-week total was around ₹900 million (US$11 million) nett.[54] It further added ₹35.0 million (US$420,000) in its third week.[55] The movie as per Box Office India stands at ₹930 million (US$11 million)in India.[a]
Overseas
Race 2 had a good opening in overseas with approximately $3.25 million the opening weekend.[59]Race 2 grossed approximately $5.5 million overseas in ten days.[60] After grossing $6 million in 17 days overseas, the film was declared a hit by Box Office India.[7]Race 2 recorded similar figures in overseas markets like its prequel.[61] Moreover, it recorded the highest ever collection in Pakistan for any Bollywood film with an amount of $775,000 beating Don 2 which netted $675,000. Its final business in the overseas market is around $6.5 million.[62][63]
Soundtrack
Untitled
Track listing
The soundtrack of Race 2 is composed by Pritam. It has four main tracks. The tracks "Lat Lag Gayi," "Be Intehaan," and "Party on My Mind" became extremely popular and were declared chartbusters.
KK, Pritam, Atif Aslam, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Benny Dayal, Vishal Dadlani, Shalmali Kholgade, Shefali Alvares, Bob & URL (mashup: Dj Kiran Kamath )
4:09
Reception
The soundtrack received positive critical reception. IBN Live gave it four stars of five saying, "Race 2's soundtrack is racy to the core. In a nutshell, the album is bound to be a hit. Let's just hope the movie is as good as the soundtrack is!" Shresht Poddar, of Score magazine, gave the album three out of five stars saying, "Personally, as a standalone album with no biases, it is enjoyable but it could have done with better lyrics. The tracks are foot-tapping and they would appeal to the masses. But if you compare it to Race, the album undoubtedly falls flat."[64]
Notes
^Reputed trade analysts and trade magazines have put domestic nett. gross of Race 2 at ₹100 crore (US$12 million) making it first Bollywood film of 2013 to cross 100 crore club.[56][57][58]
