Bottom line for Badmaash Company - go watch it. Your money’s worth guaranteed. It’s fun, zippy and racy and only occasionally takes itself too seriously. That much we can forgive, given the love we Indians harbour for a ‘moral of the story’ sorta thing. Crime never pays, sure we all know that. But then films like Ocean’s Eleven (Twelve and Thirteen) and directors like Guy Ritchie and Steven Soderbergh have shown us that crime and con can be a cool thing as long as you are not ripping out people’s innards or leaving them to die on a highway with a slit throat. Conning people is amusing for the people who do it and if it’s a film then for the people who get to watch them do it.

So four friends in a mad bid to get rich do just that. Successfully con people. Karan (Shahid Kapoor) is at the helm. The others are Bulbul (Anushka Sharma, smoking hot), Chandu (Vir Das, extremely competent) and Zing (Chang, aptly cast). Their capers pay off and they all get rich. Karan gets smug and arrogant too along with rich and things start to go downhill. Finally when Karan learns that ‘izzat dene se izzat milti hai’ he sets off on a path of redemption and self-discovery (albeit with a ‘my best friend died’ face) and finally rises in his own esteem and that of his friends too. This phase is the bit where the film drags its feet but then the denouement is as fun and racy as the first half.

The slightly apologetic moral undertone notwithstanding Badmaash Company is a wonderful debut by actor turned director Parmeet Sethi. His writing is confident and his direction has composure. And his casting is bang on. This is undoubtedly an ensemble cast film with Shahid getting a slight edge over the others (how else can it be, he is the ‘hero’) and all the actors do a fabulous job. Anushka Sharma is one to watch out for, as not only does she look pretty darn hot, she can actually act too. Shahid Kapoor is marvelous as he usually is when he seems convinced about a role (Jab We Met, Kaminey) and the way he surrenders completely to become his character is always a pleasure to watch. So coming back to the bottom line - sure place your bets on this one. It’s pretty decent cinema.

Rating: 4/5