My SPECIAL 26 review: The news is Neeraj Pandey is back and Akshay Kumar is the new Danny Ocean

*ing: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai, Kajal Aggarwal, Jimmy Shergill

Neeraj Pandey, the director of the cult hit A Wednesday, is back with Special 26 after a hiatus of almost 5 years. Special 26 is a crime caper set in 1987 and inspired by real events.

The movie is about four con men, Ajay Singh (Akshay Kumar), P.K. Sharma (Anupam Kher), Joginder (Rajesh Sharma) and Iqbal (Kishor Kadam), who pose as CBI officers/Income Tax Officers and loot the politicians and businessmen in the guise of raids. All is well till they dupe Senior Inspector Ranveer Singh (Jimmy Shergill) and involve him in the raid of a politician, which results in his suspension. After his suspension, Ranveer approaches a fiery CBI officer Wasim Khan (Manoj Bajpai), seeking help for investigating into the matter. The first half is focused on the building up of characters, whereas the entire second half is the buildup to the climax where Ajay and his men are to perform the final heist. Ajay and his men are working toward committing the perfect crime with the aid of 26 (special) recruits. On the other hand, Wasim is waiting to nab them as they commit the impending crime since he does not hold “thinking about committing a crime” as a crime.

The movie boasts of good performances from its principal cast as well as the supporting cast. Anupam Kher does a fine job, playing a man who puts up confident show during the con but is a nervous fellow in real. Manoj Bajpai, after GoW-I, again gives a great performance. Rajesh Sharma, Jimmy Shergill, Kishor Kadam and Divya Dutta  do not have much to do but are good nonetheless. Akshay Kumar shines, delivering a knockout act in an understated role. He oozes every bit of coolness and confidence required to play the character of a suave operator and mastermind behind the heists. Akshay is a befitting reply to Hollywood’s Danny Ocean. 

What sticks out like a sore thumb is the romantic track involving Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggarwal and the songs. Avoiding the romantic track and the songs altogether would have made movie even crisper. M.M. Keervani, better known as M.M. Kreem to hindi film audiences, has however given two good songs in Dharpakad and Mujh Mein Tu.

The writer-director Neeraj Pandey, along with his art director, has worked meticulously to the minutest of details to create the era of 1980’s. From Vimal Suitings shops to Nagina posters to Ambassador cars to Thrill hoardings to roads with less traffic, everything has been used to give the feel of 80’s. 

It is good to see the director paying so much attention to smaller things and creating good scenes out of them. Akshay Kumar taking off his shoes before entering the worshipping area to rummage through the idols or Manoj Bajpai asking his wife to put on her dupatta when in public are two instances of such scenes. Such scenes, other than adding charm to the movie, also etch details about the characters.

Neeraj Pandey has blended good amount of humor into the narrative. The dialogues are witty and the humor, tongue-in-cheek. The opening scene, where Akshay and Anupam are interviewing a girl, itself sets the tone for what is coming up. The most hilarious dialogue of the movie is surprisingly delivered by an extra which goes like “…I want to do my country….I wanted to do my country since childhood…” Not to forget the catch phrase of the movie Asli Power Dil Mein Hoti Hai, which is … well … catchy.

Neeraj Pandey is the director to watch out for. With Special 26, he has hit another sixer ala Sunil Gavaskar in the final minutes of the movie. Book your tickets ASAP for the thrilling fun-ride that is really special- Special 26. Highly-recommended.

My rating: