Saif Ali Khan calls Race film to be his coolest and made him feel grown up as an actor

Saif Ali Khan's long career is abundant with accomplishments, but one victory that stands out for him is the 2008 movie Race, in which he says he felt "grown-up" as a performer after having played a string of "chocolate boy" characters.

The Race debuted to critical acclaim on March 21 and proceeded on to become one of the year's biggest hits. Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, and Sameera Reddy also appeared in the film, which was directed by Khan.

Race, which later became a film series with two more installments released in 2013 and 2018, told the story of two half brothers, Khan and Khanna, who were caught in a web of lies, deception, and greed. Race, alongside Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, is credited with revealing a new side to the actor, who had previously appeared in a string of love dramas and comedies such as Ta Ra Rum Pum, Salaam Namaste, and Parineeta.

Saif told PTI ahead of the film's 14th anniversary that the pulpy thriller came at a good time in his line of work. The Hum Tum actor says “At that point, I had done a lot of chocolate boy roles and Race was different. Ranvir was a man’s role and you’ve got to be able to pull that off! So I wanted to try and that was the real challenge. You don’t want to look like you’re trying – you just have to be the guy! I had started work in the industry when I was about 20 and I had a very young face. And I had done a lot of different kinds of work. This was a time when I had grown up slightly and I felt I could shoulder this and I did shoulder it. That’s why it means something because it was a different achievement without really saying much.”

He further added in the interview, “ It was one of those roles where I didn’t have to do much apart from just being the guy, which also required having a certain presence. Ranvir was an opportunity to play a slightly more serious role and show a more mature side and I really enjoyed 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.”

When Saif was asked about working with so many well-known and famous actors on one frame he replied saying, “There was something great about the cast, everyone from Anil Kapoor, Akshaye, Katrina, Bipasha to Sameera. Katrina Kaif was on her way to becoming such a huge star and she really nailed the songs. And there was Bipasha who was great fun to work with! Akshaye deserves a lot of credit for making Race what it is by performing his role in such a special way. He is such a gifted actor and he had a lot of fun with that role. It was a combination of everyone’s energy that made it come alive in the way it did. I’ll always remember Race as being one of the coolest and happiest times of my life! One of the most easy-going and fun films that I did.”

We will soon get to see Saif Ali Khan screening opposite Hrithik Roshan in their upcoming film Vikram Vedha.