Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar: Different And Excellent
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-05-31 07:23:14
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Dibakar Banerjee's Sandeep and Pinky Faraar opens with one of the most exciting and intriguing opening sequences in Hindi films in a long time. A car is racing down Delhi roads at night with its three Jat-type youngsters in a jolly (?) mood and looking for some action. When they pass another car which carries Sandeep Wakia aka Sandy (Parineeti Chopra) and is driven by Satinder Dahiya aka Pinky, a suspended Haryana cop, they utter profanities. Pinky gives them a mouthful. But later when his superior asks him for the number of the vehicle he is driving, Pinky thinks something is amiss and gives the number of the car of the boys. Later, as they near the police barricade, Pinky and Sandy are shocked to see that the boys' car is sprayed with bullets and all boys are killed. Pinky confronts Sandy and asks her who wants to kill her so desperately that Pinky's boss is even willing to treat him as expendable.
What unfolds later in the film shows how highly-placed bank officers collude with politicians and officers in the finance ministry to float dud schemes to loot the people and deny promised remuneration to their subordinates who carry out their bidding. Sandy is the henchwoman and lover of the top honcho of a private bank and is now pregnant. When she demands her share for doing the dirty work, the MD calls him for a dinner date and later sends the unknowing Pinky to take her to her death. But when they are saved by Pinky's presence of mind and alertness and when both realize that they are doomed, after initial hesitation they stick to each other to get out of the mess. They travel to Pithoragarh to try and cross over to Nepal. The film enters the slow burn mode but the elderly couple, played brilliantly by Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav, who help them by letting them stay in their house, make things interesting. There are many twists and turns as Pinky has many changes of heart but a gruesome incident when Sandy loses her baby turns him around. But by that time Sandy has changed her mind and says will not go to Nepal and will expose the scandal. With the bank officers and the police looking for them, they make their escape - Sandy back to Delhi and Pinky to Nepal.
Parineeti Chopra does well in a role that allows her much footage. Arjun Kapoor is also good as the tough cop who has a soft side. Jaideep Alhawat as the crooked cop has nothing much to do and is wasted. Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav are brilliant and keep the film gong in its slow burn period. The film is shot brilliantly and both the night scenes in Delhi and the Pithoragarh landscape rest easy on the eye. But it is a different kind of running away film and is not likely to pass muster with the normal Hindi film viewers.
