Saif Ali Khan’s lengthy standing profession is replete with achievements however one success that is fairly particular to him is the 2008 movie Race, as he says that he felt ‘grown up’ as an actor after taking part in a string of “chocolate boy” characters.
Race opened to acclaim upon its launch on March 21 and went on to grow to be one of many greatest hits of the 12 months. The movie, fronted by Khan, additionally featured Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy.
Race — which later become a franchise with two extra installments launched in 2013 and 2018 — chronicled the story of two half brothers, performed by Khan and Khanna, caught in an online of lies, deceit and greed.
As the suave, highly effective and misleading businessman Ranvir ‘Ronny’ Singh, Saif Ali Khan gained reward for taking part in a grey character with ease.
Race, together with Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara, is credited for exhibiting a special facet to the actor, who had earlier than them featured in a sequence of romantic dramas and comedies like Ta Ra Rum Pum, Salaam Namaste and Parineeta.
Ahead of the movie’s 14th anniversary, Saif advised PTI that the pulpy thriller occurred to him on the proper time in his profession.
“At that time, I had achieved lots of chocolate boy roles and Race was completely different. Ranvir was a person’s position and you have got to have the ability to pull that off! So I needed to try to that was the actual problem. You do not wish to seem like you are attempting – you simply need to be the man!
“I had began work within the trade after I was about 20 and I had a really younger face. And I had achieved lots of completely different form of work. This was a time after I had grown up barely and I felt I may shoulder this and I did shoulder it. That’s why it means one thing as a result of it was a special achievement with out actually saying a lot,” the 51-year-old actor stated.
Race, which Saif Ali Khan described as a “smart and sexy thriller”, supplied him the possibility to play a “responsible, quieter” position and had one essential requirement: to have a commanding presence.
“It was a kind of roles the place I did not need to do a lot other than simply being the man, which additionally required having a sure presence. Ranvir was a possibility to play a barely extra severe position and present a extra mature facet and I actually loved doing that.
“It was a more stable, responsible and quieter role. There was a certain maturity to playing Ranvir and I wanted to work with Abbas-Mustan. It worked out in a way that I ended up playing the elder brother’s role and I just really enjoyed it,” he added.
Filmmaker duo Abbas-Mustan powered via Race with their trademark relentless plot twists, aided by Pritam’s chartbuster music and the movie’s city setting.
When requested if he felt the viewers, again then, had been hungry for a slick-looking thriller, Saif stated one is “constantly underestimating the audience”.
“One of the big cliches in our line is that the audience has become very smart. I think they were always smart. Abbas-Mustan could do things that nobody did. Race was a really clever script and morality wasn’t an issue.”
“Lots of people get hung up on what they will do and may’t do. Here, this was all about infidelity, sibling rivalry and an unpredictable, twisty-turny plot, which was a lot enjoyable to do,” he added.
The actor stated he remembers the outside shoot of Race in South Africa vividly and recalled how he was in a “really good space” through the filming of the Ramesh Taurani-backed thriller.
Saif stated all the forged was at a “special time” of their lives and “we all brought that special-ness to the screen”, which has been captured within the movie.
“There was one thing nice concerning the forged, everybody from Anil Kapoor, Akshaye, Katrina, Bipasha to Sameera. Katrina Kaif was on her method to turning into such an enormous star and she or he actually nailed the songs. And there was Bipasha who was nice enjoyable to work with!
“Akshaye deserves lots of credit score for making Race what it’s by performing his position in such a particular means. He is such a gifted actor and he had lots of enjoyable with that position. It was a mixture of everybody’s power that made it come alive in the way in which it did. I’ll at all times bear in mind Race as being one of many coolest and happiest instances of my life! One of probably the most easy-going and enjoyable movies that I did,” he added.
Saif Ali Khan can be subsequent seen in Vikram Vedha, co-starring Hrithik Roshan, and the multilingual Adipurush, that includes Prabhas and Kriti Sanon.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
