26 things you didn't know about 'Special 26'

New Delhi: 'Special 26' opened in India on February 8, 2013 with positive reviews. As expected, the film did a good business at the box office as well. Anupam Kher played a key character called PK Sharma in the film. He has tweeted a list of 26 lesser known facts about director Neeraj Pandey's commercially and critically acclaimed film. We are reproducing the list in the exact way.

1. Special 26 is Akshay Kumar's only thriller which he has no action combat sequences.

2. The film was shot across Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigargh and Mumbai but was completed in just 47 days.

3. However, the planning of this shoot took nearly 150 days.

4. Though a central character in the film, Manoj Bajpayee wrapped up his work in 10 days flat.

5. Akshay and Manoj met just once for two hours during the entire shooting to film the only sequence where they both feature together.

6. To deliver the 1980's look, the retro vehicles were sourced from as far as Gujrat for the action sequence in Connaught Place in Delhi.

7. Special 26 features Manoj's longest action sequence till date. His first shot was of him running and chasing and he ended up with a bad back pain after the first day of the shoot itself.

8. No scene was left of the film - there are no deleted scenes!

9. The superhit romantic song 'Mujh Mein Tu' was composed by M M Kreem in just 20 mins.

10. Neeraj Pandey disallowed all mobile phones on the sets to ensure that all actors lived 1980s style.

11. All men in the principal cast of the film were made to sport moustaches as part of their look.

12. Asli power dil me hoti hai - the theme of the film is actually a line that Neeraj Pandey used a lot even before he started writing Special 26.

13. The police jeep that Divya Dutt drives in the film is the same model that she learnt driving on when she was in college.

14. Divya Dutt mouths only one dialogue in the entire film. She repeats it thrice. This dialogue is now one of the most recalled from the film.

15. Late Bobby Singh, the cinematographer, executed as many as 45 set ups on one particular day.

16. Like Neeraj Pandey's first film 'A Wednesday', 'Special 26' is also touted to be remade in South Indian languages and in English.

17. Such was the film's buzz that the CBI officially requested the producers to carry the message 'Beware of Fake CBI' in all the film's promotional material.

18. Akshay Kumar lost a bet to Anupam Kher when the box office collections exceeded expectations. Akshay had to dance on top of a table to fulfill his side of the wager.

19. Anupam Kher got a call from a real interviewee who had unknowingly aided the raid which inspired the film's story.

20. Akshay and Anupam used to bet on how many takes would Neeraj take to say ok. On their friendly bets, Anupam made Rs 170 while Akshay made Rs 530. They treated the unit to sweets with their 'winnings'.

21. With more than 400 films to his credit, Anupam Kher rates Special 26 amongst his top ten performances till date.

22. Thousands of briefcases from 1980s were distributed as part of the film's promotions.

23. Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggarwal promoted the film in Benaras as an ode to the city historically known for its thugs and conmen.

24. Special 26 has already inspired an Amul ad, an Economic Times cartoon, and an actual but failed attempt to con a businessman in Delhi.

25. The music launch was held at the Regal theatre in Mumbai and the era of 80s was recreated in and around the cinema.

26. Following the success of the film, a book on the film's story was launched and is widely available across the country.