Akshay Kumar's ‘Special 26’ is indeed special

The movie ‘Special 26’ released on 8^th February, 2013, Friday. It got a lukewarm response as the shows during the day had an average collection of 30 to 35%. But the positive response it got from words of mouth resulted in an increase in footfall in the evening shows. Evening shows had an average collection of 40 to 45%. According to BoxOfficeDay, ‘Special 26’ has collected almost Rs. 7.5 crore on the first day.
The flick is directed by Neeraj Pandey of ‘A Wednesday’ fame. ‘Special 26’ is a heist drama with a very smart script that doesn’t allow you to blink your eyelid. The film is based on true events that occurred in the 1980s. A team of conmen posed as CBI officials and used to raid corrupt businessmen and politicians who had stacked a good amount of black money. The robbed men didn’t reported the incident even on finding out that they were conned since it would be admitting that they really had black money.
On 19^th March 1987 the group of conmen posing as CBI officers raided the Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, Opera branch in broad day light and made away with jewelries worth lakhs of rupees. The movie is said to draw inspiration from this. It is also said that the film is inspired by the 1990 Mammootty starrer ‘Kalikkalam’, a Malayalam Movie.
The star cast of the movie includes Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill and Manoj Bajpai. The presence of beautiful actresses Kajal Aggarwal and Divya Dutta glamorizes the movie. The director has done a good job bringing out the best from each of the actor. Anupam Kher is brilliant as usual in his role and Akshay Kumar puts up a more mature performance. Jimmy Shergill and Manoj Bajpai too sparkle in their individual roles.
This is a heist movie after a long time that has the same aura as that of first serving of ‘Dhoom’. The movie makes you root for the conmen. Be prepared for the twist in the plot that is surely going to shake you. This is no doubt one of the best movies of 2013 and like all the good movies it can be seen more than once. It is an example of a good script doing wonders at the box office. Neeraj Pandey has once again proven his mettle as a director. Don’t forget to catch the film.