Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kajal Aggarwal, Divya Dutta
Direction: Neeraj Pandey
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 24 minutes
Ready for a fake ‘Foursome’, with some ‘real’ stuff. Here it goes. With cool conmen, cops, chases, mind, matter and maal. But first, meet the members of the con-club. The asli khiladi Ajay (Akshay), quick-witted, daring and strong-willed – he’s the master-planner. Sharmaji (Kher), a wee-bit weak-hearted, but the real ‘loin of Punjab’ (with 8 bachchas and going strong). Add in, Iqbal (Kishore Kadam) and Joginder (Rajesh Sharma) – who add muscle to the master-mind. In the late 1980’s these conmen pose as CBI officers and raid malaamal matris, business magnates and jewellers.
With no records or FIRs – they escape after every heist with a clean (white) conscience and loads of black money. A (real) CBI inspector, Waseem (Manoj) along with sub-inspector Ranveer (Jimmy) get on a deadly chase to nab them while they’re faking it. Well, if you want to figure out con-asli, con-nakli, go ahead, wear Sherlock’s (Holmes) suit and crack this one.
With an ingeniously layered role and a brilliant act, Anupam Kher truly ‘steals’ the show. Akshay hits hard, with pure, unadulterated acting, minus action. Manoj is always in command, fiery and fantastic. Jimmy lends strong support; Kajal Aggarwal (Ajay’s love-interest) flashes smiles in interludes, and Divya Dutta throws in laughs.
Inspired by a real incident, Neeraj Pandey cuts to the chor-police chase and weaves an intelligent, mind-racing thriller, keeping you tightly strapped to your seats. It captures the 80’s era beautifully; and the cinematography ( Bobby Singh) is a cut above (special mention: scenes in Connaught Place, Delhi, and Kolkata streets). The powerful background score enthuses the pace. The only place he loses momentum is the romantic track and dance number, kinda unwarranted, we must say.
Interestingly, this con-job story is not superbly-stylish or stealthily serious. It doesn’t stun you with a social message like Pandey’s ‘A Wednesday’, but it grips, excites and ahh…climaxes too! And no … you can’t fake this one! Catch it for pure cinematic orgasm.