Bollywood heist movies still enthral

The cast of Happy New Year.

The cast of Happy New Year.

Published Oct 6, 2014

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Shahrukh Khan and Farah Khan work together for the third time, in Happy New Year, a heist film. OneIndia.in takes a look at this genre’s popularity in Bolly movies…

 

THE curiosity that Happy New Year created when its trailer released was simply awesome.

Heist films remain popular in Hollywood and Bollywood by being engaging and keeping audiences guessing.

Happy New Year falls into that genre, with some music and dance added according to Indian taste.

The film is an action comedy by Farah Khan. The ensemble cast includes Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Jackie Shroff, Vivaan Shah and Boman Irani.

Khan says the central theme may be a heist, but there are things that set her film apart from others in the genre.

“Heist is a genre, a formula, just like a love story or romance is a formula. The obstacles lie in how you make it and how you add your own twist.”

A host of other Bollywood films crafted around the heist formula have proved to be box-office successes. Here is a glance at some of them:

 

The Dhoom Series

This is one of best Bollywood franchises based on the heist formula. The film centres on a cop and his sidekick mechanic who helps nab the gang who tried to rob him. Dhoom was released in 2004 and was followed by Dhoom 2 in 2006 and Dhoom 3 last year.

 

Players

Featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol, Sikander Kher and Omi Vaidya in the lead roles, and Aftab Shivdasani in a cameo, Players was a thriller based on a heist. This was an official remake of Hollywood’s The Italian Job.

 

Special 26

Special 26 is a heist thriller directed by Neeraj Pandey. Featuring Akshay Kumar, it was inspired by a real-life heist that took place in 1987: a group posing as CBI officers carried out an income tax raid at the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai.

 

Aankhen

This film has an ensemble cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Sen.

It is based on a Gujarati play called Andhalo Pato (Blindman’s Buff).

This film received a lot of critical acclaim and was a big hit.

 

• Happy New Year is scheduled to screen at Suncoast Cinemas from Friday, October 24.

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