Lucky Baskhar (2024)

After 'Sita Ramam' there are huge expectations on Dulquer Salmaan who's playing the lead as Baskhar in 2024 movie 'Lucky Baskhar'. The movie generated a good buzz as it involved Harshad Mehta scam from 1990's.The link between a family man, Baskhar and con star Harshad Mehta, and Baskhar's rise during the 1990's financial fraud, is what the movie set in. Let's see how the expectations turned out.

What is it about?

Lucky Baskhar is a gripping period crime drama set in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

The story revolves around Baskhar Kumar, a lower-middle-class man in the middle class areas of Mumbai, his wife Sumathi (Meenakshi Chaudhary), an ambitious business woman with a kid, Prahlad Kumar (Sarvadaman Banerjee) his father, resigned CA. His extended family includes his siblings (middle class burden),  Sumathi's arrogant family, his friends (partners in crime) and his colleagues (who likes Baskhar). Baskhar works in Magadha Bank a private Bank under RBI, run by Rajbir (Tinnu Anand) and Vinod (Sachin Khedekar). Although Baskhar works as a loyal cashier, he runs his side gigs with his friend outside the bank, at a cafe. He aspires to get promoted to Assistant Manager but his luck runs out. Baskhar, burdened by financial struggles and the weight of supporting his family, finds himself trapped in a cycle of debt and humiliation. Desperate to break free from his impoverished existence, Baskhar takes a perilous turn, delving into the murky world of financial scams. He gets an offer from Anthony, an imports dealer or simply a smuggler, to buy and sell smuggled TV sets from a stranded ship. Baskhar takes the chance and invests in it by defrauding his bank. He reaps profit and replaces the fraudulent sum in the Bank. They become partners in crime and continues this smuggling business, until Anthony leaves to America. He promises Baskhar that he would help him whenever he's in need. Fortune favors Baskhar he becomes Assistant Manager in the same bank as he desired. He thinks to end this murky business but he gets an offer in the form of Harshal Mehra. What begins as a desperate attempt to make quick money soon evolves into a calculated involvement in a larger stock market and money laundering scheme.

As Baskhar's schemes grow increasingly complex and lucrative, he becomes a puppet master, manipulating the financial system to his advantage. He understands the necessity of money in the present world, when he sees people's attitude towards a middle class in a gold shop. He setups a home foods business as his wife dreamt and uses it for his hawala business. However, with great power comes great risk, and Baskhar's actions have far-reaching consequences. Upon seeing the death of a fellow bank manager, he understands that he's toying with dangerous people in financial market and tries to expose them. He gets arrested by CBI officer (Sai Kumar) and the officer comes to know he's holding assets valuing over a billion rupees. He later comes to know that the officer is already involved in this scam and it is organized by his own bosses Rajbir and Vinod. He writes of his money to the owners of the bank as he complained against them to RBI. The twist in the tale arises when the bosses come to know that he already took his money out of the bank, and invested it in the US with Anthony's help upon his father's advise and settled his family, relatives and friends before complaining to RBI. All the scammers including Harshal Mehra gets caught by the police and he settles down in the US, purchasing a luxurious hotel.

Performances:

The life and soul of the film is, Dulquer. Lucky Baskhar is his one-man show. He’s just brilliant both as a struggling middle-class family man and an arrogant rich man. The good thing with Dulquer is that he’s ageless. In a couple of sequences in the film, he’s shown as a middle-aged man and a college student in two different frames one after the other and yet looks seemingly believable in both the looks. Meenakshi Chaudhary as Baskhar’s wife got a very good role and she did well. Unarguably, it is the most well-written character she played thus far in her career. Rajkumar Kasireddy as Samba, Baskhar’s friend is entertaining. Veteran actor, Ramki as Anthony did a good job. Sai Kumar and Sachin Khedekar did well in their limited and yet crucial roles.

Technical Front:

*Venky Atluri did a commendable job in writing and directing this flick. The way Venky Atluri used two different types of endings(i.e., an idealistic ending and a pro-conman ending), and clubbed them together without using unnecessary heroism-elevating sequences is worth a mention. It is as if Venky gives the option to the audiences to select whichever ‘Happy Ending’ they want Baskhar to live with for the rest of his life.

*G. V. Prakash Kumar came up with a very effective background score. His score elevated the thrills so well in many sequences, especially during the second half. His songs are good and go with the flow of the film. 

*Producers spent a good budget to recreate the 1980s Bombay and it looks good on screen.

*Cinematographer, Nimish Ravi’s work is first-rate.

*Navin Nooli as an editor did a good job.

My Analysis:

Lucky Baskhar is a thrilling rollercoaster ride, filled with suspense, twists, and turns. It offers a captivating portrayal of a man's rise and fall, and the devastating impact of greed on one's life. I saw the director interviews, in which he mentioned the title rhymes with the saying 'Lucky Bastard'. Indeed Baskhar is a lucky bastard, where he controls the financial market of India from a small private Bank without getting caught. The film explores themes of ambition, morality, and the corrupting influence of money. It delves into the psychological complexities of a man driven by desperation and the allure of wealth. As Baskhar's life spirals out of control, he is forced to confront the moral implications of his choices and the potential destruction of his family and reputation.

Bottomline: Extremely 'Lucky' Bastard i.e. Baskhar. Do watch it if you already didn't.