Race 2: Bipasha kicked out for Kareena Kapoor

By Subhash K Jha

Though for a while it seemed Abbas-Mustan would not be doing the sequel to Race, it seems the producers Tips and the Tauranis have been convinced by the film's leading man Saif Ali Khan to rope in Abbas-Mustan again.

Explains Saif, "They understand the pulse of plot. Race was a fast-paced action-adventure caper. Not too many filmmakers in Bollywood would've done such a wonderful job of it."

Apparently the producers and the usually-affable directorial duo had certain issues to be resolved. And if Saif had not intervened the film would've gone from Abbas-Mustan's hands.

But Saif is keen to revive the Race magic with Abbas-Mustan, not only because the first part of the film was a blockbuster, but also because lady-love Kareena Kapoor co-stars with him.

Says Saif, "Yes Kareena will be part of Race. We're yet to flesh out the details. But Race 2 has to be bigger and larger than Race. Otherwise no point in making it."

Apparently Race 2 will be more gadget and gizmo-friendly, as upwardly-scaled as Dhoom 2 was as compared with Dhoom.

Bipasha's character has been written out of the script to make way for Kareena.