One Two ka Four, Keh ke Lenge ye 'Special 26'

Promo said it and indeed it said it well. The heist story of 1980s is beautifully crafted especially in these times of overacting Dabangs, Rathores, Sardar’s son, Khiladis, etc. Heist Score – 4/5

Plan –

4 clever guys double up as fake raidSTARs in the wardrobes of CBI, Income Tax, ED and carry out safe ‘facepalm’ types of robberies. Their targets corrupt politicians, businessmen evading tax, etc. Their modus operandi is to go with confidence, posing like men from an enforcement agency and carry out raids & then to take away the confiscated stuff. They work with precision and are delight to watch.

Movie’s first half is slow paced and at one point, the first robbery is re-shown (literally). The movie picks up once Manoj Bajpai (the good cop) enters and then it’s an interesting ‘Catch me if you Can’. Manoj Bajpai adds that ‘fear-of-police’ angle and with his facial expressions, sets up a nice climax. Story ends revealing about the Special 26, which is truly the ‘Keh Ke Leli’ moment.

Star Cast –

Akshay Kumar (plays the planner-con, Ajay Singh) - He is slowly coming back to form. OMG was a booster which rationalized him. He looks cosy and better than his last ‘Khiladi’ flick. Nice to see him back. #TeesMaarKhan_returns  

Kajal Agarwal – looks good in traditional clothing. Limited presence but effective.

Anupam Kher (plays the congaing-lead, PK Sharma) – Awesome. Acted from dil (without any fear). #Shaandaar

Jimmy Shergill – plays the chaman cop, Ranveer Singh. The ‘sahab’ from sahib biwi aur gangster throws a usual performance by his standard which is ‘worth it’. His moustache also supports his personality. Nice!

Manoj Bajpai  (Waseem Khan)– he looks malnourished. His dialogue speaks abuses but the screenplay was written to get a U certificate from censor board. I could sense so0O many instances where he could have easily added core Hindi abuses (keh ke lenge style)   

Neetu Singh (plays Waseem Khan’s wife) – two glimpses. And she manages to impress you. What a find! Consider recent debutants, the new order for these newcomers are

Diana Penty > Yammy Gautam > NehaSharma = Neetu Singh > Kajal Agarwal (in terms of looks)

Neeraj Pandey’s direction is good. Music is on the soft side; consider it ‘soothing’ stuff. An admiring thing about the movie is the setup of 80s. Man! Being a Delhite, I was amazed to see how the shots of Connaught Place were taken. The cars, autorickshaws, everything was mapped to 1980s which really enhanced my experience.

What works – story, acting, 1980s setting, it sails through 2.5 hours, enough twists in the plot to engage you

What not – thrill is limited (though it had the scope but wasn’t stretched), visual effects (really poor)

SPEAKing PICtures’s verdict: Bollywood thrillers are rarely good. This one is. Go for it.  

“aasli kaam to ye log kar rahe hai” ~ police in praise of fake raidSTARs