Lucky Baskhar

Story Line

A cash-strapped cashier working in a bank launches a risky investment scheme and soon gets into the nefarious world of money laundering.

Plot

One morning in Bombay in 1992, Baskhar Kumar was suddenly taken for questioning by CBI officials to magadh bank’s Colaba branch for questioning about the alleged misappropriation of its funds during his service to commit securities fraud. The real story unfolds through various flashbacks in which Basker regularly breaks the fourth wall to provide additional commentary.

Three years ago, Baskar was a cashier in Magadh, one of the few remaining private banks in India after nationalisation. On the other hand, he helps illiterates write cheques and banking forms for a fee.

He lives with his wife Samathi, who left his wealthy family to live with him and is keen to start a household food business, his young son Karthik, and Prahlad, Baskhar’s father, a former chartered accountant who suffered a stroke and voluntarily fell silent after the fraud. in a bad business deal. Their financial conditions are tense and Baskar owes money to many lenders.

One day, her biggest lender takes her scooter and the promotion she always hoped for is given to someone else. Humiliated and frustrated, Basker steals Rs 2 lakh from the bank’s deposits and gives it to a smuggler Anthony to leave an illegally imported television at the port after his previous financiers backed out.

As assistant general manager, Baskhar detected discrepancies in the bank’s receipts for interbank loans to Katari Bank, knowing that businessman Harsha Mehra used the money to manipulate the stock market and paid the bank to remain silent. Initially ready to whistle, his son mistakenly shows him how profitable the collaboration will be to achieve his family’s dreams. And he strikes a deal with Katari Bank broker Suraj to clear receipts in exchange for deductions and stock tips.

The business is on one front to listen to Samathi, to avoid it altogether. After being more humble, Basker turns around and wins it back. He ponders his life further after bailing out Samba, who was caught and arrested, having lost all his earnings.

Baskhar learns that Harsha had prepared fake bank letters to get more money from Katari Bank, due to which his general manager Hariharan died of a heart attack in his office. He instigated Biskar to stop cooperating with Suraj, despite pressure from his superiors who wanted to keep him as a customer, and despite reporting the fraud to the Reserve Bank of India. After the general manager threatened Baskar for refusing to sign, he resigned.

Basic Detail

Lucky Baskhar Casting

Dulquer Salmaan as Baskar Kumar, cashier and later assistant general manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
Meenakshi Chaudhary as Samathi, Baskhar’s wife
Tinu Anand as Rajbir Lokhande, Chairman of Magadh Bank
P Sai Kumar as CBI officer Laxman Rao
Ramki as Anthony, import dealer
Raghu Babu as a fake politician
Mansa Chaudhary as Mona, a dancer
Sarodaman D. Banerjee as Prahlad Kumar, Baskhar’s father
Kalyani as Ramya Dixit
Sachin Khedekar as Vinod Bhosale, General Manager, Magadh Bank, Colaba
Kasi Vishwanath as Atish Kulkarni, former Assistant Regional Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
Sudha as Sumathi’s mother and Baskar’s mother-in-law
Rajkumar Kasreddy as Samba, Bhaskar’s best friend
Prabhas Srinu as visa consultant
HyperAudi as a broker
Sivanarayan Naripedi as Narayanan, Wallet Manager, Magadha Bank, Colaba
Gayatri Bhargavai as Latha K., Baskhar and Narayanan’s associate Magadha Bank, Colaba.
Mathew Varghese as S Hariharan, General Manager of Katari Bank
Srinath Maganti as Sun
Mickey Makhija as Himanshu Roy, Regional Manager, Magadha Bank, Colaba

• Dulquer Salmaan as Baskhar Kumar, cashier and later Assistant General Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Meenakshi Chaudhary as Sumathi, Baskhar’s wife
• Tinnu Anand as Rajbir Lokhande, Chairman of Magadha Bank
• P. Sai Kumar as CBI Officer Laxman Rao
• Ramki as Anthony, Import dealer
• Raghu Babu as a fake politician
• Maanasa Choudhary as Mona, a dancer
• Sarvadaman D. Banerjee as Prahalad Kumar, Baskhar’s father
• Kalyani as Ramya Dikshit
• Sachin Khedekar as Vinod Bhosle, General Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Kasi Viswanath as Athish Kulkarni, ex-Assistant Regional Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Sudha as Sumathi’s mother and Baskhar’s mother-in-law
• Rajkumar Kasireddy as Samba, Bhaskar’s best friend
• Prabhas Sreenu as a visa consultant
• Hyper Aadi as a broker
• Sivannarayana Naripeddi as Narayanan, Vault Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Gayatri Bhargavi as Latha K., Baskhar and Narayanan’s colleague at Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Mathew Varghese as S. Hariharan, General Manager of Katari Bank
• Srinath Maganti as Suraj
• Micky Makhija as Himanshu Roy, Regional Manager of Magadha Bank, Colaba
• Srikanth Reddy
• Manava Koteshwar Rao
• Lab Sharath
• Ram Sandeep Varma Jampana
• Anji Chodapaneedi
• Rahul
• Mahesh Achanta as a stock market analyst
• Manik Reddy as Patel Bhai
• Mukhtar Khan as Captain George
• S. P. Prabhu
• Krishna Kamal as Anwar, Accountant of Sumathi Home Foods
• Shashidhar as Sumathi’s elder brother
• Ananya Sharma as Baskhar’s younger sister
• Rithvik as Karthik, Baskhar and Sumathi’s son
• Charan Lakkaraju as Baskhar’s younger brother
• Surya Sreenivas as Sandeep, Baskhar’s brother-in-law
• Jayasri Rachakonda

Analysis

Lucky Baskhar’s debut is quite captivating, presenting a story that Telugu cinema has rarely explored. Financial frauds and scams are the fresh foundation for the industry, and director Venky Atluri expertly incorporated elements like money laundering, bank scams, and stock brokerage scams into the plot. Its main character is also morally complex, adding depth. At the script level, Lucky Baskhar avoids the usual formulas and delivers a relatively fresh narrative.

However, it is a challenge for a mainstream Telugu director to slip into familiar tropes without telling a story around stock broking and bank fraud. Venky Atluri handled the first half well, but as noted, the momentum slows down in the second half. The narrative loses its grip and takes the formulaic route for much of the latter.

The first half, which showcases Baskar’s financial struggles and the circumstances that lead to his misguided choices, comes an impressive turn with the interval. The plot introduces the Harshad Mehta scam after a break. Although well executed, this setting may seem repetitive to those familiar with the web series Scheme 1992.

Money laundering – a complex and illegal business – is presented very simply in the film, while the Kasiraj incident fails to engage. These aspects could have been handled more closely.

Theatrical

Lucky Baskhar was released worldwide on October 31, 2024, with dubbed versions in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi on Diwali. It was initially reported to be released in the month of July 2024 but was postponed to release on September 27, 2024. Additionally, it was co-introduced on September 7, 2024 along with Vinayaka CHAUI but was postponed again.

conclusion

Overall, Lucky Baskhar is a reasonable move on the bank and stock brokerage scams, which have been described with some conspiracy. The unique theme of the film and the great acting of Dulquer Salmaan are its major strengths. In summary, Lucky Baskhar is intended for an adult audience who have a primary interest in stock market and banking scams.