Movie review: Special Chabbis, a well treated heist thriller

New Delhi, Feb 8: The story kicks-off in Delhi where Ajay Singh (Akshay Kumar) and PK Sharma aka Sharmaji (Anupam Kher) from CBI raid a mantriji's residence and find lakhs of rupees and valuables hidden in numerous unfamiliar spaces. They leave the house and we come to know that they have actually robbed the minister. Accompanied with two more, the four persons are sharp minded cons who portray themselves as CBI officers and raid different ministers and business houses. And since there is black money involved, no one dares to complain. So after every robbery the conmen walks away clean.Now they have a bigger plan to become rich. This time they target a big jeweller at Opera house in Mumbai who will make them fabulously rich overnight and to make this big raid real they hire a band of 26 other people. But this time it's not going to be a cakewalk as the real CBI officers headed by Wasim (Manoj Bajpai) are after the imposters. So will the ‘Special Chabbis' succeed in their plans? That's the question you need to put your brains in for.Known for his award winning ‘A Wednesday', Director Neeraj Pandey has once again portrayed the real-life incident set in 19th March 1987 in which an unknown conman posing as CBI officer ‘Mon Singh' recruited a band of 26 imposter Income Tax officials to carry out an audacious robbery on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai disappeared with precious jewellery worth several crores of rupees. Pandey has given attention to minute details relating to the robbery like common seal, advertisement in newspaper for vacancy in CBI office, recruitment process and other small things which make one believe it's a real CBI raid. Considering the 80's era, he has given attention to the localities especially cars used over that time like Maruti 800, Maruti Van, and Ambassadors. ‘A Wednesday' like thrill and intensity was expected but he fails to deliver those moments. Adding to the flaws on one side, we are told that Ranveer (Jimmy Shergill) is a senior inspector while at the other end it is revealed that he is a superintendent. That just looks unbelievable. We won't reveal much but one question will frustrate you: that is, are the CBI officials, with razor-sharp intellect, so weak that they can't identify one such person? Even the love story between Akki and Kajol seems non-essential.The cinematography is disappointing. The 80's environment created in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chandigarh looks a work of a newly passed student. It required a lot of attention.Editing by Shree Narayan Singh is not up to the mark. Unnecessary repetition of the scenes could have been avoided as it drags and the flick looks lengthy.There is not much to cheer about the music also, as M. M. Keeravani, Himesh Reshammiya and Chandan Sharma haven't experimented much. The background music is also a repetition in most of the scenes. Among the songs, there is nil to hum.Akshay Kumar is seen after a long time in a serious role. He is not here re-establishing his ‘Tees Mar Khan' buffoon con, but is intelligent enough to fool anyone. He is not a glamorous con and nor does he requires any action this time.Anupam Kher like ‘A Wednesday' delivers fantastic performance as a disciplined officer while he makes us chuckle through his fear and tension pre- and post- robbery. Manoj Kumar plays smart and is in command as a CBI Officer and shows a lot of energy. The dialogues suit his style.Jimmy Shergill is not a hardcore police officer like he was in ‘A Wednesday' but does a good job.One flick old Kajal Aggarwal is the only actress in the flick. Not much part to deliver but whatever she gets is not quite convincing. I will go with 3 stars for Neeraj Pandey's “Special Chabbis”. It is an intelligent portrayal of the real life daring heist rarely seen onscreen. It will keep you hooked to the seat as the climax holds a surprise but don't expect ‘A Wednesday' thrill from this one.