Special 26
Year: 2013
Writer-Director: Neeraj Pandey
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma, Manoj Bajpai, Kishore Kadam

Neeraj Pandey had given enough evidence of his directorial talents in his award-winning debut venture A Wednesday, which was an intelligent and fast-paced thriller. Coming back after a rather long hiatus, he presents Special 26, a real life inspired crime caper. So how does he fare in his second effort?

What’s the plot?

It’s Delhi, 1987.  A CBI-team raids a minister’s house and impounds loads of stashed bounty. The minister is left dumbfounded when he later finds out that the raid was a handiwork of crafty conmen! It is found out that these men have conducted many such fake CBI or Income Tax- raids in the past to dupe a number of corrupt politicians and businessmen. Since the loot always involved black money, none of the victims ever made any police complaints. But now, a detarmined cop (Jimmy Shergil) gets a tough CBI officer (Manoj Bajpai) to trail these clever fraudsters (Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kadam). It emerges that the con-team is planning another big-time heist. Will the cops be able to outsmart the thieves?

What’s hot?

·         Intelligently written and directed film. Neeraj Pandey keeps the film pacy and light-hearted. He builds up the momentum well and delivers a satisfying climax.

·         Period feel of 1987 has been superbly created.

·         Lead performances are excellent. Akshay Kumar is impressive while essaying the role of the master-mind criminal with a good heart. Manoj Bajpai delivers another powerful performance as the tough investigator. Anupam Kher is superb as the ageing conman wanting to retire.

·         Supporting cast (Jimmy Shergil, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam, Divya Dutta and a host of minor actors) is a perfectly matched act.

What’s not?

·         Kaajal Agarwal (as Akshay Kumar’s love interest in the film) is a wooden performer.

·         The entire song-dance-romance track feels like a needless addition and a commercially motivated decision. Because of that the film loses some pace at times.

·         The suspense could have been stretched a little more!

Verdict

Although it is not in the same league as A Wednesday, still Speical 26 is quite a watchable, enjoyable and intelligently crafted thriller, featuring some crisp writing and fine performances. With it, Neeraj Pandey confirms that he is not just a one film wonder and Akshay Kumar finally gets to show some ‘acting muscle’!