Kamal Sadanah, the not-so-successful Bollywood actor, turns producer
with "Victoria No. 203". The film, which releases Friday,
is about a diamond heist and how several lives get intertwined over
the priceless stones.
A remake of Sadanah's father's super hit movie of the same name, "Victoria
No. 203" is also a launch vehicle for Sonia Vinod Mehra, daughter
of well-known actor Vinod Mehra who appeared in hits like "Ghar"
and "Bemisaal".
The film, directed by Anant Mahadevan, opens with an exhibition of
diamonds worth Rs.3 billion. Bobby Bombata (Javed Jaffery), a rich industrialist,
and his moll Devyani (Preeti Jhangiani) are smitten by the diamonds
and want to buy them.
But the owners refuse to sell the gems. Their refusal hurts Bobby's
ego and he hires a cat burglar called Tora, who succeeds in stealing
the diamonds. But she has a hidden agenda and plans to double cross
with her brother Karan (Rajesh Khera).
Unfortunately, her plan is disrupted when she bumps into Ranjit (Kamal
Sadanah) while escaping with the diamonds. He stabs her. Injured Tora
somehow escapes from the clutches of Ranjit and falls next to Victoria
No. 203 in which she hides the gems.
When Raman, the Victoria driver, spots her bleeding beside his vehicle,
he decides to rush her to hospital. But he gets arrested for attempted
murder.
Raman's arrest forces his daughter Sara (Sonia Vinod Mehra) to ride
the Victoria to earn money for her father's trial. She is unaware that
she is riding around the city with precious diamonds.
One day Jimmy (Jimmy Joseph), an expert on diamonds, hires Sara's Victoria
and instantly falls in love with her.
Here enters Raja (Anupam Kher) and Rana (Om Puri), small time crooks
who have just come out of jail. When Raja and Rana hear about the diamond
heist, they are impressed and hope that one day they will be able to
do something this big.
All the characters meet in an unbelievably hilarious climax and none
of them know where the diamonds actually are.
In the original, Ashok Kumar and Pran played the two crooks and audiences
enjoyed their on-screen chemistry. Navin Nischol and Saira Banu were
also liked in the romantic lead.
In the new version, a lot depends on seasoned actors like Om Puri and
Anupam Kher who disappointed their fans in their recently released film
"Buddha Mar Gaya".