Loosely entertaining watch...
After the success of the Indian thriller drama A Wednesday, Neeraj Pandey is back with a similar film genre, titled Special Chabbis/Special 26. There is no doubt that the former 2008 release was a box office hit, but to what extent Special Chabbis can do the same, remains debatable...
Based on true incidents in India, 1987- con artists Ajay (Akshay Kumar), P.K Sharma (Anupam Kher) and two fellow colleagues, are the masterminds behind stripping the rich and powerful politicians and bureaucrats of black money whilst falsely acting as CBI officers or Income Tax Officials. The four characters manage to carry out over 45 different raids or so, and up until the point of the interval they manage to successfully con each and every reasonable man without a sense of suspect or accusation! Sound to good to be true?...
Well this exactly how it happened back in the late 1980's, and basing a film on a bitter and truthful account that exposes audiences to the corrupt minds behind 'daylight robbery' in India, is a worthwhile story to depict upon! As we are approaching the interval we are introduced to a genuine CBI officer (Manoj Bajpai) who has a 2min 'James Bond' sequence in the film to set the scene of his character. With the help of a newly appointed cop- played by Jimmy Shergill, Bajpai is keen to exploit the truth behind the fakers, and subsequently get them locked behind the bars!
Up until this point it's pretty obvious to work out what's going on in the film, and to call it a 'thriller' as such is somewhat incorrect. Thanks to Manoj Bajpai's character, however, the storyline does begin to unfold, and you do want to find out exactly what the second half has in store for us all! The four con-men are on a mission to carry out their very last (suggestively 50th) con-raid, in which they travel across to the sprawling city of Mumbai! Bajpai and his official CBI team track down where the looters are heading, and follow immediately, whilst the mastermind behind the plan, which is Akshay's character, takes the decision of the raid taking place in a major jewellers and employs a team of 'Special 26' to assist with the biggest incursion of them all! Will the con artist get away with yet another robbery? Or will Bajpai and Shergill finally track down these 4 suspects and the team of Special 26?
The ending of the film worked well in the sense that one could not predict what was around the corner, and thanks to the fine acting skills shared predominantly between Akshay, Anupam and Manoj, the film isn't such a bad watch. I do, however, have some problems with the film, which I can't seem to understand had any relevance to the story as whole! Kajal Aggarwal- the new heroine in B-Town, last seen in Singham played the love interest of the one and only Akshay. Romance is the essence of most Bollywood films, without a doubt, but in a particular thriller drama like this their relationship never sustained enough momentum for audiences to appreciate or warm towards the romance they shared! Moreover, whilst con-artists Anupam and Akshay did a fanatasticlly realistic job of posing as CBI officers, the other two con artists were incredibly insignificant and given little attention!
Overall, Special 26 is interesting in the sense it opens up to some home-truths about India's underlying existing problems around corruption and unhealthy governance. Akshay's acting overall was very pleasing, and he gave a better performance to some of his previous films from 2012. Despite it being a low budget movie, their is something ever so raw and realistic you can appreciate about it! Whilst it has some flaws, in which some minor characters could have been left without, it's not a bad film worth watching as a one off! But I doubt I will be watching it again!
Ratings: 3/5
Kin x
