SPECIAL 26

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Vajpayee, Jimmy Shergil

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Genre: Crime/ Drama

This week’s new release Special 26 is a very unlike Akshay Kumar movie. It is not a laugh riot, non-brainer, larger than life entertainer. For a change there is a plot, real characters and real motives. So does it manage to hold your attention..!

The story is set in the 1980’s. Ajay (Akshay Kumar) and Sharmaji (Anupam Kher) are a part of 4 member gang which conducts raids at the corrupt politicians and businessmen. They pretend to be CBI officers and on the name of the raid, rob the money of people. Since it involves Black money, the victims never complaint to Police about these raids. Waseem Khan (Manoj Vajpayee), an honest CBI officer takes this case in hand and is out to catch the gang red handed. Inspector Ranveer Singh (Jimmy Shergil) helps him in this cause. Kajal plays the love interest of Akshay. The gang plots for the biggest robbery till date but it requires building a much bigger team. The stakes are high, the plan is in place but the rules of the game are about to change…

Neeraj Pandey is back after a promising directorial debut with “A Wednesday”. He again displays his art of storytelling in an interesting manner. And like his earlier venture, the emphasis is here on the plot and not so much on the individual stars. The story is loosely based on the real incidents which happened in 1980’s and is the high point of the movie.

“Special 26” presents a challenging role to Akshay Kumar and he doesn’t disappoint. He plays the role of suave thief with complete aplomb. He looks apart with an assured body language and dialogue delivery. This is amongst his best performances of the career. Anupam Kher is brilliant in the role of Sharmaji; a man caught between the greed and the needs of his family. He brings the house down with his witty lines. Manoj Vajpayee and Jimmy Shergil are top notch in their respective roles. Kajal doesn’t have much scope in the role she has in the movie. Background score adds to the flavor of the movie. Songs though aren’t a big part of movie and are strictly ok.

“Special 26” is a gripping tale of old fashioned drama between police and thief. A genre which hasn’t been explored much in the recent years. I will give 3.5 out of 5 to the movie. Recommended watch!

Rating: 3.5/ 5