If the daughter is trying out different things in Bollywood, the father is trying out different film industries altogether! Fresh from his Hollywood dalliance, Anil Kapoor is gearing up for his next Hindi film venture with Race 2. And if you thought his brief appearance in Mission Impossible meant he would do similarly ephemeral roles back home as well, you’re highly mistaken. It seems Anil ensured the makers of Race 2, Abbas-Mustan, realised his star value, and got himself a nice, meaty role in a multi-starrer film.
“Anil Kapoor doesn’t do too many films. In the last four years, he has followed an average of one film per year. So when Abbas-Mustan came to him with the offer of the Race sequel, he had to be convinced the role is integral to the plot,” a source says.
In the original Race, Anil’s character made an appearance only towards the end of the first half, and then too, helped provide comic relief to a film that essentially belonged to Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu.
Race 2 begins from where the original ended; with Anil and Saif dividing the money among themselves. They become rich, but the ghosts of their past return to haunt them. In fact, Anil is not only the senior-most actor in the film, he is also a partner in the franchise. Little wonder then, that he ensured he won the “race”.
When contacted, Abbas-Mustan refused to comment. “How can you expect me to talk about the plot so early in the day? It is a suspense thriller after all, and every actor is there because he/she is integral to the plot,” Abbas said.