Review of Latest Hindi Movies: February 2013

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Special 26 - Truly Special !!!


It is said that Art imitates Life. Sepcial 26 is one such movie which sticks true to the saying and delivers what it promises- making it truly special - well almost !!!

The movie, most would have guessed, is based on real life incidents in the late 80's where a scamster stole crores worth of jewelry by executing a bold and an absolutely genius plan, based on Human Psychology and greed. However, the way the director (Neeraj Pandey) builds up the story up to the finale is commendable.

So, the story (or the gist of it!) . Akshay, Anupam, ---, --- -are four low key and extremely confident scamsters. The movie begins with an income tax raid on a Ministers house, complete with all the trappings of  police, typewriter, official documents.. . The raid is conducted swiftly and a lot of black money and jewelry is recovered, hidden at various places in the house and car! As quickly as the raid was done, a list of all confiscated goods was made and the minister made to sign on that. When the police officer assisting the raid is told to hang around to ensure that no calls to the higher ups are made, one smells a rat. However, before one can think, the loot is transferred to another car, the four disperse by bus, train and air to their respective houses and lives, done all in a low key manner- no flashy stuff!!. Hey bingo,,, the loot is complete and everyone can get on with their lives. Except the guy who was looted!!. Now here in lies the genius of the heist. As the money and jewelry was all unaccounted for, the minister does not want to file an FIR, but only asks for the cops(divya dutta as the woman constable, and Jimmy Shergill as the Police Inspector) to be suspended - which they are!. Finished.

The script then builds up upon the lives of the four scamsters. Akshay is a single guy, living alone in Mumbai. He is in love with a beautiful girl , Kajaal Agarwal, who lives opposite his balcony. Why no beautiful girl ever lived across by balcony!!! Boss, it only happens in the movies!!. Kajaal is betrothed to another guy, Tukaram (not seen in the movie- virtual ) and is pestering Akshay to marry her. He promises her but she is scared that he will get caught one day, executing his scams. Akshay tells her that The man who can catch him hasn't been born yet..!! But she still is scared....

Anupam Kher is a married guy with some 7 children and one on the way. He uses the money to marry off his daughter and in general have a good life. He seems scared and under confident but is in his element when conducting a raid.

Rajesh sharma is shown as a henpecked husband and Mukesh Bhatt as a devotee of some sadhvi.. thats it!!. Not much footage is wasted on them. But every good thing has to come to an end.

Enter CBI Officer Waseem Khan. He is introduced by showing him ferrying his kid on his shoulder to the bus and in the next frame making a dash to Connaught place on a lambretta/Vijay Super scooter to catch a criminal. He catches his man after a  nice chase... well executed and taut. The end is near, when Jimmy shergill, as the suspended cop, appraches Waseem Khan with a list of fake raids conducted by the scamsters and wanting to catch them. Waseem is intrigued and setups up an operation to catch the four in the act.

Well, thats all I am going to say about the plot!!! You should watch it for the execution (even if you know  what the ending is going to be!) After a long time comes a movie with a well written, well executed and believable script. The screenplay is pretty good and so is the acting by all the guys. What stands out is the how one's fears can be played upon by scamsters to part you from your assets.

Highlights - Anupam Kher is very good as the nervous old man, Akshay is great and play his role with a lot of restraint... very believable, Manoj Bajpai is  also brilliant in his zeal to catch these guys. Kaajal looks heart achingly beautiful (yeah you guessed right - she is the new heartthrob). Even with hardly any makeup, she looks every part the role of a teacher, in love with a scamster. Would have loved to see some more footage dedicated to her but......

In conclusion, an excellent movie that does not drag a bit (only when the songs start-- but that is still ok). Well executed and acted. A must watch!

Rating -  ****

Some more reviews at

Zee News

Hindustan Times 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Vishwaroopam - Depicting the Global Face of Terrorism!

Well, Well, Well.... What do you say about this movie! At the outset, I must admit that all that controversy around the film piqued my curiosity so much so that I had to watch it (Pooh- As you all must have guessed- Any flimsy reason is good enough for a movie junkie like me to watch any movie.. and sometimes no reason is good enough!).
Anyways, back to the movie. The movie start is quite tepid and left me wondering whether I was watching an episode of Cheaters!!! Kamal Hasan (Vishwanath) is a kathak dancer, shown teaching his students (all women) a particular dance sequence (and thankfully the only song in this movie!). During the sequence, a detective hired by his wife, Dr Nirupama, a PH.D, who is having an affair with her boss and wants to divorce Kamal Hasan. The story is narrated by her when she is talking to her shrink. about how she married a much older man just for a green card ..blah, blah.. blah...

The detective (Peter) stumbles upon an astonishing fact, regarding Kamal Hasan's religion. What is, is not real and what is real is not it! By the way, Kamal is depicted like a complete Pansy dancer type male and is well...... pansy. The detective stumbles upon a terrorist hideout and well.. is killed. One thing leads to another and enter Rahul Bose (Playing Omar- the Mujahideen from Afghanistan).

There is a scene where Dr Nirupama discovers a different side to Kamal hasan and behold- she looks en;lightened! Have I been living with THIS guy for the past three yearr? me thinks - She Thinks. However, to cut a long story short and not act a spoiler - there is a long flashback wherein the entire Afghanistan War is shown along with the the code of the Mujahideen's. The american's as the aggressors in their Apache Helicopters and fighter jets is shown quite realistically. The Afghan landscape is shown in all its austere glory and is an eyeopener.

Cut to the chase- the story is a spy thriller, classic cat and mouse with an atomic bomb involved and a last minute defusing of the same. Who does it and how needs to be seen. The story moves along leisurely (at a pace we are not used to in spy thrillers) but allows us to soak in the characters and understand them. This movie is not a wham bam only, it build up relationships slowly and allows events to sink in. I felt that some parts were inspired by The Spy Next Door, Babel, New York (hindi) Kurbaan, and a few others interspersed but still maintains some originality.

New York and London emerge as popular destinations for a terrorist attack.. Kamal Hasam has managed to portray, quite realistically, how the New York police and FBI operate. At some places in the movie you actually feel that you are watching a hollywood movie...

As far as acting goes, Kamal is brilliant but looks tired. Shekhar kapur as the diplomat spy makes his presence felt, Pooja as Dr Nirupama, Kamal's confused but intelligent plus cheating wife is passable. Rahul bose as Omar is suitably ruthless. The other characters have not been given enough time to develop but do their job admirably.

Cinematography is excellent - the action shots are captured very realistically. The story line is jaded (unfortunately) but ..kya karen! Thankfully, other than a melodious song at the start, there are no songs to spoil the mood. I feel the first half could've been shortened by about 20 mins (Yes my dears, the movie is almost three hours), but hey.. creative license.

Overall, I would rate the movie *** to ***1/2 for its treatment and technical competence. Watch it if you have patience..