Was it a deliberate undermining of the film’s self-serious tone? Perhaps, but then the movie never quite sells its thriller style in the first place, mainly because the plot and action detail is so silly and consistently, gleefully gee-wiz. Still, I’m not quite sure why the directing team, Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla (they did the first pic too), wanted to give Kapoor his speed walk. I’ve read that this pair’s scenes – consisting mainly of sexual double-entendres – and combined with the high bare-skin quotient and strong violence – is enough to exile Race 2 from wholesome Bollywood entertainment. She’s hot for him the translated English subtitles provide her with dialogue where she talks about, umm, 'eating’ RD. He’s a goofy bloke who performs a comic double act with his secretary called Cherry (Ameesha Patel). Played by Anil Kapoor, he’s RD or Robert, the retired cop from Race. But then, so does the major supporting role, a character that provides most of the movie’s plot exposition (which there’s a whole lot of). In Race 2, a sequel to the big Bollywood hit of 2008, the main roles – two men and two women – end up getting their own high-speed walk. It’s not gender specific indeed, when a woman is a subject of a high-speed walk, there always seems to be a stiff breeze blowing lavishly coiffed hair in ever-so-pretty waves that reveal perfectly sculptured cheeks and lips. It’s an effect that I reckon ascribes grace, power and dignity to a character. Captured on a long lens, the character is seen striding directly toward camera, eye-level, in slow motion. The short hand phrase for this visual beat – at least in the context of a Bollywood pic – is 'high-speed walk’. Most of the time Race 2 has the vacant mood and styling of an up-market tourist ad Whenever you see it, you get the sense the makers know the right moves. It’s not the kind of film grammar that’s exclusive to Bollywood, but like the 'fly-around’ in a modern Hollywood sci-fi/fantasy, it’s a signature moment. Like the glittering glamour close up 'portraits’ from Hollywood’s black-and-white 'Golden Age’, the bit I’m thinking of has a similar function it’s there to signal a 'big moment’ for a character or a plot turning point, sometimes both.
There’s a certain kind of shot in a Bollywood film that I always kind of look forward to.