PremiumAs Crew hits the big screen – Special 26 to Bunty Aur Babli; Bollywood heist dramas that were rewarding
Heist dramas in Bollywood have been relevant for years and now as Crew hits theatres we revisit some good ones.
Last Updated: 08.27 PM, Mar 29, 2024
The abundance of content, most of it rewarding, especially in the first quarter of the year, has already charmed us in 2024. While we continue to obsess over the songs and trailer of Netflix’s Amar Singh Chamkila and the grandeur of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, there is one movie that has hit the big screen and is garnering decent reception. Crew, starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Tabu, and Kriti Sanon in the lead, has been making headlines for a long while now and is finally hitting the big screen today. But while it revolves around three women at the center of it all, the movie has brought back the heist drama to the mainstream.
Heist dramas have been at the heart of the Hindi film industry, aka Bollywood, for years and have been quite beloved by audiences. Whether blended with humor and comedy or packed with tension, the genre has always been enjoyed. Remember Farah Khan’s Happy New Year? Well, it's just one example of how Bollywood has embraced it. As Crew brings back the genre, it reminds us of the many entertaining movies that came before it.
So today, as we celebrate the release of Crew on the big screen, we don’t want to leave behind those who are not going to the theaters to catch the Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Kriti Sanon starrer. Below is a list of 6 heist dramas that are well-made movies that you must watch this weekend.
Special 26 (2013)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, and Kajal Aggarwal.
Director: Neeraj Pandey.
Streaming On: YouTube (rental).
Any list of heist dramas in Hindi cannot be complete without mentioning Special 26. The Neeraj Pandey directorial taught us all how it is done and the movie was a brilliant piece of entertainment. The underlying humor and tension in Special 26 is what made it a movie with layers and worked in more ways than one.
Don 2 (2011)
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, and Kunal Kapoor.
Director: Farhan Akhtar.
Streaming On: Netflix.
While the first Don film featuring Shah Rukh Khan was trying to find itself until that ace climax that established the star as the worthy successor to the franchise, the second part was a film that stamped him as the new successful Don. The sequel was about flipping the card as Shah Rukh Khan took over his grey character bloomed in a drama where a bank robbery was turned into a rescue mission where the police needed Don to make it successful. A movie that has something for everybody.
Aankhen (2002)
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen, and Arjun Rampal.
Director: Vipul Amrutlal Shah.
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video.
Aankhen walked into the world with a whole lot of potential. It was a true heist drama with the heist at the core of it. Three blind men are hired by an influential man who sends them to train under an expert. They are supposed to carry out a bank robbery without getting caught. One can imagine the potential of such a concept if it were made today with the resources we have.
Jewel Thief (1967)
Cast: Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, and Tanuja.
Director: Vijay Anand.
Streaming On: Google Play (rental).
A cult classic, Jewel Thief, as the title suggests, is about a thief who has stolen a prized jewel. The movie can be labeled in multiple genres because it soon becomes about an investigation where an accused is on the hunt for the real culprit. Dev Anand’s movie is a classic that came decades ago but is still fresh and entertaining.
Bunty Aur Babli (2005)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Amitabh Bachchan.
Director: Shaad Ali.
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video.
The most poetic of them all, Bunty Aur Babli, with Gulzar and the partners in crime who grow to be lovers, decided to sell the Taj Mahal, a monument of love. Bunty Aur Babli was a film that deserved more than it got, and we are not talking about it enough. The film was about the dreams small-town folks enter Mumbai with, the wrong turns that feel right, and the consequences. The golden era of YRF.
Johnny Gaddaar (2007)
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dharmendra, Vinay Pathak, and Rimi Sen.
Director: Sriram Raghavan.
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video.
Sriram Raghavan wrote one of the most complex movies Hindi cinema has ever seen when he placed multiple characters in a very complex setup and pitted them against each other while a bag was a common thread between them. Johnny Gaddaar is an experience better had than read about. Go and watch it right now.
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