Underplayed Gems

Special 26 (2013)

Special 26 poster
Original title
स्पेशल 26
Directed by
Neeraj Pandey
Genre
heist film, thriller film, historical film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 24m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 230 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A team of con artists poses as CBI officers to raid corrupt politicians and businessmen. As they plan their biggest job, real CBI agents close in on them.

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What happens

Special 26 (also known as Special Chabbis) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language period black comedy heist thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Based on the 1987 Opera House heist, the plot follows a team of criminals (Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher), who pose as CBI officers and conduct raids, robbing politicians and businessmen of their black money. With the real CBI (Manoj Bajpayee) on their trail, they decide to pull off their biggest heist yet. The film also stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Divya Dutta and Kishor Kadam. Filming began on 23 February 2012 in Delhi. The film was shot in Chandni Chowk, near Jama Masjid, and Mumbai. A theatrical trailer was released online on 20 December 2012. The film was distributed all over India by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Wide Frame Pictures. Special 26 was released on 8 February 2013. It received widespread critical acclaim. Several critics called it one of the best films of the year. It became a commercial success, grossing ₹103 crore (equivalent to ₹175 crore or US$18 million in 2023). In 2018, it was remade in Tamil as Thaanaa Serndha Koottam starring Suriya in Kumar's role. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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