Special 26

Special 26 Movie Details:

Also known as	Special Chabbis
Based on	1987 Opera House heist
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Genre	Period, Heist, Thriller
Release date	8 February 2013
Running time	2hr 24min
Certificate	U/A
Cast	Akshay Kumar Manoj Bajpayee Kajal Aggarwal Jimmy Sheirgill Anupam Kher
Directed by	Neeraj Pandey
Written by	Neeraj Pandey
Produced by	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Shital Bhatia Kumar Mangat Pathak
Cinematography by	Bobby Singh
Edited by	Shree Narayan Singh
Music by	Original Songs: M. M. Keeravani Guest Composer: Himesh Reshammiya Background Score: Surinder Sodhi
Production Company	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Wide Frame Pictures Friday Filmworks
Distributor	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Special 26 Movie Cast & Characters:

• Akshay Kumar as Ajay “Ajju” Singh / CBI Officer A. K. Vardhan
• Kajal Aggarwal as Priya Chauhan
• Manoj Bajpayee as CBI Officer Waseem Khan
• Jimmy Sheirgill as Sub-Inspector Ranveer Singh
• Anupam Kher as Pramod Kumar “P. K.” Sharma
• Rajesh Sharma as Joginder Khurana
• Kishor Kadam as Iqbal Ali
• Divya Dutta as Police Constable Shanti
• Vikas Shrivastav as Rajiv Gupte, Candidate 6 and Wassem’s partner
• Kharar Mukherjee as Abhay Roy, CBI Officer in Kolkata
• Deepraj Rana as Inspector Rahul Singh
• Ujjwal Chopra as Inspector Amit Solanki
• Tiku C. Talsania as Magentas, BSJ Jewellery shop owner (special appearance)
• Sachin Nayak as Vella boy
• Neetu Singh as Mrs. Khan, Waseem’s wife
• Vipin Sharma as ACP Bhushan Patel (fake)
• Abha Parmar as Minister Gupta’s wife
• Mukesh S. Bhatt as Minister’s PA
• Gurpal Singh as Telephone repairing guy
• Jarnail Singh as Telephone taping guy
• Ronika as Miss/Mrs. Sharma, P. K.’s daughter
• Sharad Shetty as goon chased by Waseem at Connaught Place
• Suraj Gupta as Informer Munna
• Neeru Bajwa in a special appearance in the song “Gore Mukhde Pe Zulfen Di Chaava”
• Heera Achra as a go-go dancer in the song “Kaun Mera Kya”
• Rahaao as Candidate 19

Storyline:

The film stars Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles with Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Bajpai and Anupam Kher are in supporting roles. The film is based on the real-life daring heist dated 19-Mar-1987 where an unknown man posing as CBI officer Mon Singh recruited 26 men and executed a daylight raid on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai, and disappeared with jewellery worth lakhs.

Special 26 Movie Box Office Collection & Budget:

Budget	₹30 crore (estimated)
Worldwide Collection	₹129 crore (US$16 million)

About Special 26 Movie:

The film takes its foundations from the robbery of 19 March 1987, when 26 people posing as CBI officials raided a jewellery store in Opera House, Bombay.

Manoj Bajpai was signed to play the CBI officer, and Anupam Kher plays a vital role. Kajal Aggarwal plays a specially-written role of Ajay Singh’s love interest.

Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan were reported to have been considered for the lead role. It went to Akshay Kumar as he was Pandey’s first choice. Kajal Aggarwal is playing the role of a school teacher. Akshay Kumar slashed his fee by half for Special Chabbis.

Shooting began on 23 February 2012 in Delhi. The first schedule of the film was shot in Chandni Chowk, following which the unit moved to Jama Masjid.

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 acclaim from the critics. Several critics called it one of the best films of the year. It became a commercial success, grossing ₹103 crore.

Special 26 was remade in Tamil titled Thaanaa Serndha Koottam (2018) starring Suriya and Keerthy Suresh in lead roles, and was directed by Vignesh Shivan. The film was released on 12 January 2018.