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Friday, October 4, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD SPECIAL 26
EDITOR'S PICK
`Special
26` entertaining and engaging caper-thriller
Rating: ****
Gimme raid, said the fake CBI officers who in a daredevil swoop-down on a
well-known jewellery outlet in Mumbai in 1983 escaped with loot worth lakhs. If
done today, it would have been a heist worth crores.
But that`s the devilish beauty of Neeraj Pandey`s second feature film. Though
set in a world where lakhs were a large fortune, he gives us a caper-thriller
worth crores. The period detailing of the 1980s - the cars, hotel lobbies,
clothes, hairstyle and most importantly, the attitude to wealth acquisition
(scams were unknown back then, scandals were as far as the financials over-reachers
went) - they all add a lustre of underscored believability to the proceedings.
Morality is a prime casualty in the tale.
Get this. There are two sets of CBI officers on duty in this deviously-plotted
tale of daredevilry and drama in real time. The real and the fake teams are
respectively helmed by Manoj Bajpayee and Akshay Kumar. Both put in impressively
understated performances. But since Akshay Kumar is a bigger star than Bajpayee,
he gets a bonus romantic track with the unimpressive Kajal Aggarwal.
The high energy-level in the plot - how high, just check out Manoj`s
introductory chase sequence across Connaught Place, it leaves you panting for
breath - comes entirely from the way the quartet in the core group plans its
various pseudo-CBI raids across the country from Kolkata to Mumbai, bringing to
the plot a meticulousness that doesn`t interfere with the entertainment
quotient. After a point, you don`t care about the headlines. It`s all about the
deadlines.
The goings-on resonate in rapid-fire speed, imparting the kind of urgency to the
proceedings that "Oceans 11" would have achieved if it wasn`t a caper
devoid of a moral centre, or "Race 2" were it not devoid of a soul.
"Special 26" achieves a rare synthesis of real-life credibility and
cinematic flamboyance. Pandey`s perception of cinematic licence is liberating.
The real-life incident involving the CBI scam, which shook the nation, is given
a sensuous spin that culminates in a completely unexpected and spectacular
culmination.
Cinema, Pandey tells us, is not only about being true to life. It is also about
making life seem more engaging than it actually is. This is where the director`s
ability to punctuate socio-political anomalies with edge-of-the-seat excitement
comes into full play.
The mix of fact and fiction was earlier applied by Pandey to the theme of
terrorism and the wounded individual in "A Wednesday". No character
who goes so audaciously against the law in "Special 26" seems
particularly wounded or terrorised. You suspect they are all in it for fun.
The characters are not in search of a moral payoff and we are not eager to find
it for them.
Pandey weaves vivid vignettes into the main heist-format from each of the four
protagonist`s personal lives. One of them played with compelling gusto by
Kishore Kadam washes his wife`s clothes at home when he is not away carrying out
fake CBI raids with his comrades. Another, played equally effectively by Rajesh
Verma, lives in a sprawling joint family where everyone is caught sleeping while
he sneaks out to do his clandestine thing with his pals. These moments define
the individual and the crime.
Anupam Kher has a sizeable part as Akshay`s right-hand man. A nondescript family
man with an unending brood of children, Anupam`s Sharmaji could`ve been the
reluctant terrorist Naseeruddin Shah in Pandey`s "A Wednesday".
Thankfully, Sharmaji decided to protest against his inconspicuous life with some
serious con-jobs and not something more ... er, explosive.
Another reined-in but riveting performance comes from Jimmy Sheirgil as a
conflicted cop who must redeem himself before the final reel. And what a
resounding redemption!Jimmy, who has lately shaped into one of our finer actors,
imparts a secret life to his duty-bound cop`s role without being given leisurely
space to do so.
Manoj is in many ways the film`s main protagonist. In fact, he gets the kind of
breathtaking breathless introductory chase sequence that Akshay would normally
secure for himself. Curiously, Manoj underplays his part in a film where the
performances are purposely italicised. In just a couple of shots with his screen
wife, we get a full measure of Manoj`s idealistic character.
Whether it`s the lucid and long-limbed writing or the performances or maybe a
yummy yoking of both, one doesn`t know. But the narrative`s over-all mood is one
of urgent crises-point reached with minimum fuss and optimum energy. Pandey adds
considerably to his narrative`s credible climate by shooting on real locations,
wherever the pseudo-raids take our `hero` and his three unlikely associates.
Akshay as the mainstay of the governmental masquerade moves away from his by-now
patent and predictable comic moves to deliver a surprisingly subtle unassuming
performance. His Ajay Singh is a bit of a loner, a bit of an enigma. The only
character he bonds with is Sharmaji. Anupam and Akshay bring a very understated
father-son feeling to their bonding.
Feelings are frequently hammered into place in the no-nonsense plot by a
background score by Sanjoy Chowdhary. It was the same in Pandey`s "A
Wednesday" where the characters` silences were loudly interpreted and
interrupted by the background score.
"Special 26" is not a film that favours soft creative options. It
takes the heist-story audaciously through a complicated maze of morality without
getting snarled in sermons and messages. This is a film that engages you while
letting the protagonists cross mischievously from one side of the line of
morality to the other.
Special mention in this special caper must be made of the editing by Sree
Narayan Singh, which allows every character (even the small and cute cop`s role
played by Divya Dutta) to breathe as individuals, and the unassuming but
illuminating cinematography by Bobby Singh that takes us to the cities of the
raid without pausing to define the location.
Bobby died months ago. But then this film wouldn`t let him die.
Actor Jimmy Sheirgill, who will soon be seen in "Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3", says he is inclined towards playing difficult and challenging characters on-screen."I am always interested in characters that are much layered and difficult to play. So even though someone comes to me with the main lead, it has happened in the past that I opted for a smaller role in that same film because as an actor, I can contribute more to make that part interesting," Jimmy told IANS.The actor is known for his work in films like "Mohabbatein", "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.", "Bas Ek Pal", "Mukkabaaz", "Tanu Weds Manu" and "Special 26".Read More
London schedule for 'Aiyaary' wrapped upThe London schedule of filmmaker Neeraj Pandey's upcoming film "Aiyaary" has concluded.Read More
