'Victoria No. 203', a comical diamond heist flick

New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) 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'.