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Special 26
By Joginder Tuteja, 15 Apr 2013
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kajal Aggarwal, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam, Vipin Sharma, Deepraj Rana, Divya Dutta
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Producer: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Shital Bhatia
Music: M.M. Kareem, Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Shabbir Ahmed
THE FILM
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. This is what you end up saying even before end credits start rolling for Special 26. A film that goes beyond expectations (which by the way were pretty high, considering all around credentials involved), Special 26 is what ends up as a highly entertaining film that keeps you on the edge of the seat (many films promise that, this one does) right till the very finale. In the times when one continues to draw parallel with Hollywood films when it comes to heist thrillers and con games, Special 26 turns out to be an indigenous piece of cinema that manages to create its own space.
In this endeavour of director Neeraj Pandey, his 'special' actors completely go with his vision. Akshay Kumar underplays it like the way he did in Patiala House (though he is a much happier character this time around), Anupam Kher changes colour like a chameleon while Jimmy Sheirgill doesn't mind taking a step back but still stay in the game. In the middle of them all, Manoj Bajpayee makes sure that his presence in the film counts and steps into the zone with his own Special 26. With an eclectic mix of characters contributing to the script, Pandey ensures that the roller coaster ride keeps the audience guessing.
Now this was indeed a task in hand for all involved since a film belonging to this genre can easily make audience second guess and end up cracking the twist in the tale earlier than anticipated. Well, at the cost of saving a spoiler from being revealed, the film does have a twist, a major one at that, which only leads to acknowledgment and appreciation with a collective cheer of 'Now what's that'. Frankly, if at all there was a film that did a complete volte-face on the other side of Kahaani, it has to be Special 26, the major difference being that while former was tense, latter is sheer fun.
It is this very fun element that ensures that you do chuckle, break into loud laughter and at quite a few places, especially in the second half, even come up with claps and applause. Whether it is the sequences featuring raids or the entire recruitment drive that Akshay and Kher come up with or the 'Indian Idol' kind of auditions that happen for the open CBI posts or the manner in which Bajpayee gets his sleuths in place to prevent a robbery, you are totally glued to the proceedings while also ignoring any distraction whatsoever.
What does distract though is the entire love track. Completely unwarranted and only turning out to be an interruption, especially in the first half where a couple of back to back songs as well as a few 'almost silent' scenes featuring Akshay and Kajal bring the pace down, they could have been better off the film in entirety. Of course there are Bollywood compulsions in play, especially when big stars and big money are involved which means some ingredients can't be done away in entirety. Thankfully Pandey manages to keep it all short instead of filling in this space.
To his credit though, he ensures that the space and platform provided to him is well utilized. Though it hasn't been spoken about much, Special 26 is one film which can well be tagged as a true blue period film. 80s is reflected beautifully, right from the hoardings to the traffic on the roads to the billboards to the politician references to communication channels to the offices to the whole language, milieu and overall surroundings - Just awesome!
A major player in this whole game who keeps the momentum up is the background score that has been composed by veteran Surender Sodhi. A huge name, especially in the 90s, he elevates the film to a different level altogether with an eclectic mix of 70s style score (that reminds of Amitabh Bachchan's The Great Gambler, Parwana and Don to name a few) while also bringing in the contemporary sound. Frankly, in a film like Special 26 which is so much screenplay driven with hardly in dialogues in play, especially in the second half, a different dimension altogether is added due to Sodhi's work.
As for the actors, they make sure that Special 26 never gets into a frivolous zone even once. Case in point being Akshay Kumar who never ever allows his stardom to come in the way of the film in even a single scene. At times he stays in the background while in certain instances he leads the show. On the other hand Anupam Kher, despite an experience of around 400 films, can easily count this as one of his Top-10 performances till date.
Manoj has a huge role to play in the proceedings and he does exceedingly well, as is expected from him. Jimmy justifies his presence in the film and is an important part of the play. Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kadam, as subordinates of Akshay and Kher, provide as good a support as the script demands. On the other hand Divya Dutta has just one dialogue that she repeats throughout the film and that too comes with a reason.
DURATION
The film's duration is 135 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Making of the Film
Making segment here is just about okay as the actors and the director talk about the genesis of the movie and how they approached the characters. Yes, there are some on the sets shots made available as well but none is the kind that makes you keenly interested in going through the entire segment. Also, there are no anecdotes highlighted either which haven't been covered earlier in the numerous interviews that one read and heard before the release of the film. This one can be given a quick skip.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles - English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 399/=
CONCLUSION
Everyone knows what the film is all about when it comes to fake CBI officers taking on the establishment and conducting raids across the country. However even this part of the film is so well layered and presented to the audience that the film just flies by. Right from the opening sequences where a raid is conducted at the house of a politician to a similar, but highly effective sequence that follows in Kolkata, you know that director Neeraj Pandey is playing his game well. He teases the audience, engages them, indulges them and keeps the door open for the story to even demand a sequel.
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kajal Aggarwal, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam, Vipin Sharma, Deepraj Rana, Divya DuttaDirector: Neeraj Pandey
Producer: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Shital Bhatia
Music: M.M. Kareem, Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Shabbir Ahmed
THE FILM
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. This is what you end up saying even before end credits start rolling for Special 26. A film that goes beyond expectations (which by the way were pretty high, considering all around credentials involved), Special 26 is what ends up as a highly entertaining film that keeps you on the edge of the seat (many films promise that, this one does) right till the very finale. In the times when one continues to draw parallel with Hollywood films when it comes to heist thrillers and con games, Special 26 turns out to be an indigenous piece of cinema that manages to create its own space.
In this endeavour of director Neeraj Pandey, his 'special' actors completely go with his vision. Akshay Kumar underplays it like the way he did in Patiala House (though he is a much happier character this time around), Anupam Kher changes colour like a chameleon while Jimmy Sheirgill doesn't mind taking a step back but still stay in the game. In the middle of them all, Manoj Bajpayee makes sure that his presence in the film counts and steps into the zone with his own Special 26. With an eclectic mix of characters contributing to the script, Pandey ensures that the roller coaster ride keeps the audience guessing.
Now this was indeed a task in hand for all involved since a film belonging to this genre can easily make audience second guess and end up cracking the twist in the tale earlier than anticipated. Well, at the cost of saving a spoiler from being revealed, the film does have a twist, a major one at that, which only leads to acknowledgment and appreciation with a collective cheer of 'Now what's that'. Frankly, if at all there was a film that did a complete volte-face on the other side of Kahaani, it has to be Special 26, the major difference being that while former was tense, latter is sheer fun.
It is this very fun element that ensures that you do chuckle, break into loud laughter and at quite a few places, especially in the second half, even come up with claps and applause. Whether it is the sequences featuring raids or the entire recruitment drive that Akshay and Kher come up with or the 'Indian Idol' kind of auditions that happen for the open CBI posts or the manner in which Bajpayee gets his sleuths in place to prevent a robbery, you are totally glued to the proceedings while also ignoring any distraction whatsoever.
What does distract though is the entire love track. Completely unwarranted and only turning out to be an interruption, especially in the first half where a couple of back to back songs as well as a few 'almost silent' scenes featuring Akshay and Kajal bring the pace down, they could have been better off the film in entirety. Of course there are Bollywood compulsions in play, especially when big stars and big money are involved which means some ingredients can't be done away in entirety. Thankfully Pandey manages to keep it all short instead of filling in this space.
To his credit though, he ensures that the space and platform provided to him is well utilized. Though it hasn't been spoken about much, Special 26 is one film which can well be tagged as a true blue period film. 80s is reflected beautifully, right from the hoardings to the traffic on the roads to the billboards to the politician references to communication channels to the offices to the whole language, milieu and overall surroundings - Just awesome!
A major player in this whole game who keeps the momentum up is the background score that has been composed by veteran Surender Sodhi. A huge name, especially in the 90s, he elevates the film to a different level altogether with an eclectic mix of 70s style score (that reminds of Amitabh Bachchan's The Great Gambler, Parwana and Don to name a few) while also bringing in the contemporary sound. Frankly, in a film like Special 26 which is so much screenplay driven with hardly in dialogues in play, especially in the second half, a different dimension altogether is added due to Sodhi's work.
As for the actors, they make sure that Special 26 never gets into a frivolous zone even once. Case in point being Akshay Kumar who never ever allows his stardom to come in the way of the film in even a single scene. At times he stays in the background while in certain instances he leads the show. On the other hand Anupam Kher, despite an experience of around 400 films, can easily count this as one of his Top-10 performances till date.
Manoj has a huge role to play in the proceedings and he does exceedingly well, as is expected from him. Jimmy justifies his presence in the film and is an important part of the play. Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kadam, as subordinates of Akshay and Kher, provide as good a support as the script demands. On the other hand Divya Dutta has just one dialogue that she repeats throughout the film and that too comes with a reason.
DURATION
The film's duration is 135 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Making of the Film
Making segment here is just about okay as the actors and the director talk about the genesis of the movie and how they approached the characters. Yes, there are some on the sets shots made available as well but none is the kind that makes you keenly interested in going through the entire segment. Also, there are no anecdotes highlighted either which haven't been covered earlier in the numerous interviews that one read and heard before the release of the film. This one can be given a quick skip.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles - English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 399/=
CONCLUSION
Everyone knows what the film is all about when it comes to fake CBI officers taking on the establishment and conducting raids across the country. However even this part of the film is so well layered and presented to the audience that the film just flies by. Right from the opening sequences where a raid is conducted at the house of a politician to a similar, but highly effective sequence that follows in Kolkata, you know that director Neeraj Pandey is playing his game well. He teases the audience, engages them, indulges them and keeps the door open for the story to even demand a sequel.
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