Saturday, February 9, 2013

Movie Review – Special 26



Before entering the theatre, I had no idea about the movie. I had not seen the trailer, I didn’t know who was in the movie and I had no clue what was it about. We just saw that people were rating it 4/5 and thought what the heck - if we can get through Race 2 and Jab Tak hai Jaan, we would get through this as well.

But Special 26 is one of the best movies we have seen in a long-long time. It is an intricately crafted drama based on real life heist in 1987 by a gang of con artists who portrayed themselves as the CBI and performed raids at huge business houses and homes of rich politicians. The script writer has done an amazing job weaving the story around these real life incidents. The narration is flawless and racy, the acting is superb and the dialogues are succinct. Things could have easily become Bollywood, but the director Neeraj Pandey of A Wednesday fame did a splendid job for second time in a row.

Also, since it's suppose to be 1987 in the movie, they have taken a lot of care to show old Fiat cars, Lijjat Papad ad in the background and empty Delhi streets. The movie has an air of nostalgia which is quite over-whelming.

I don’t want to say anything else about the story because I want you to watch it just the way I did. It’s a fast paced, no-nonsense film. I kept waiting for a moral because, well, we always have one! Watch the movie to find out if it has one or not.  

I give this awesome movie 4/5 as well. Minus one because they had a romance angle that sucked! Maybe the director was looking for commercial success which he should get anyway. Watch this one if you are a sucker for good movies. 


16 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/09/2013

    I saw it yesterday too and loved the movie :) Although I was keenly awaiting the movie.. maybe I over expected from it but certainly much much better and any day a good watch in comparison to some of the rubbish things we get..

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    1. I don't watch Indian Television that much. Maybe that's why I didn't notice the movie before. And so, had no expectations whatsoever.
      We should have more movies like this one. Quite entertaining!

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  2. I am going to watch this on Monday ! And now I am even more excited !

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    1. You must. It's not a big banner flick otherwise it would have been a super duper hit.

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  3. Thanks for the review. I have added it to my list.

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    1. Ya..download it if it's difficult to watch in the theatre. I know it could be tough with a baby.

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  4. now this one sounds interesting. the kind of movie i would love to watch. a romance angle in such movies is something which i find pathetic. an excellent review. will watch it for sure :)

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    1. 'excellent review'..hehe.. don't use your Indiblogger adjectives here :D

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  5. Anonymous2/10/2013

    Have heard that the romantic angle is a let down. Will soon catch this one.

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    1. Yeah.. but somehow the plot makes up for it. It seemed that they have put the romantic scenes after completing the movie. Because it really had no connection with the main plot!

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  6. Gonna watch it soon! Great review!

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    1. You must. And while you are at it... watch Table No. 21 as well. Good movie.

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  7. I haven't heard good things about the movie but you have given me courage. :D

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  8. The only people who will dislike this movie are huge Hollywood buffs who like everything phoren and ridicule desi maal! lol! Seriously, we need to encourage movies like these to see more intelligent stuff.

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  9. Wow! I am stunned that you are calling this movie "flawless". The biggest flaw in the movie is the unnecessary twist (and deviation from the "true" story) where they use the Special 26 as "bakras" instead of using them for the heist. That move was entirely dependent on the premise that the actual CBI folks would move jewelry to the workshop which was a stupid idea and needless in the first place! If all they (real CBI) wanted to do is catch the bad guys in action, they could have done it without moving anything out. And if they had it kept it simple, how would they have finished the story?! This film is yet another example of how Bollywood can screw up a story by adding a twist just for the sake of adding one!
    Your take on the ambiance created is a good catch, except there were quite a few Maruti Esteem cars which didn't get released until mid-90's! :P Other than that, they did pay good attention to detail which is commendable.
    And yes, the romantic angle sucked big time and could have been totally avoided. When will B'wood go to that level? Let's see... :)

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  10. Wow! I am stunned that you are calling this movie "flawless". The biggest flaw in the movie is the unnecessary twist (and deviation from the "true" story) where they use the Special 26 as "bakras" instead of using them for the heist. That move was entirely dependent on the premise that the actual CBI folks would move jewelry to the workshop which was a stupid idea and needless in the first place! If all they (real CBI) wanted to do is catch the bad guys in action, they could have done it without moving anything out. And if they had it kept it simple, how would they have finished the story?! This film is yet another example of how Bollywood can screw up a story by adding a twist just for the sake of adding one!
    Your take on the ambiance created is a good catch, except there were quite a few Maruti Esteem cars which didn't get released until mid-90's! :P Other than that, they did pay good attention to detail which is commendable.
    And yes, the romantic angle sucked big time and could have been totally avoided. When will B'wood go to that level? Let's see... :)

    ReplyDelete

Your sweetness makes my day. Gentle criticism will be taken in the right spirit too :)