‘Saif Ali Khan went behind our back and tried to quit Race, told us he didn’t understand a single word’: Abbas-Mustan reveal 5 stars rejected the movie

Director duo Abbas-Mustan recalled the trouble they went through in casting the lead role for their film Race. They said that several major stars turned them down, and all of them complained that the plot was too complicated.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | July 19, 2025 06:09 PM IST

3 min read

Saif Ali Khan at Indian Express' Adda.

Director duo Abbas-Mustan, best known for their densely plotted thrillers, spoke about the difficulty they had in casting the lead role in their film Race. They said that several major Bollywood stars of that era rejected the offer, and that all of them found the plot of the film to be too complicated. One of them even told them that listening to the narration felt like getting hit in the head with a hammer. They were eventually told to approach Saif Ali Khan, who also had his reservations about the project. In an interview, Abbas-Mustan said that Saif wanted to change his on-screen image at the time, and had even tried to wiggle out of the project without telling them.

Chatting with Lucky Bisht on YouTube, the director duo recalled, “Every character in the first Race was grey. Five of the biggest stars heard the story and told us that they couldn’t understand it. They couldn’t make head or tail of it. One of them said that it felt like being repeatedly hit in the head with a hammer. They didn’t want to do a film that they themselves couldn’t understand. We considered these five actors to be very close friends.”

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They continued, “Then, our producer suggested that we approach Saif Ali Khan. Saif was experienced, and he wanted to detach himself from romantic films. He didn’t understand the script as well, even after reading it four or five times. But he told us that he’d do the film if we gave him a great songs. It’s another thing that he later went behind our back and tried to get out of the film.”

They said that their goal is to always ‘play with the audience’s mind’, and to give them stories that they can’t predict. They recalled an interaction they had with Amitabh Bachchan at his house one day, when he told them that he caught Race on a flight, and was really impressed with it because he couldn’t tell where the story was going. “I sat stunned for three hours after watching the film, you did a great job,” he told them.

In a humorous interaction with East India Comedy, Saif recalled how, one day on set, Bipasha Basu announced that she had just watched a film titled Goodbye Lover, and discovered that it basically had the same plot as Race. Saif said that they asked Abbas-Mustan about it, and that they sheepishly admitted to having been ‘inspired’ by Goodbye Lover. Race was followed by a sequel, also starring Saif. A third film was headlined by Salman Khan, but didn’t involve Abbas-Mustan. A fourth instalment with Saif back in the lead is being discussed.

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