Before it unfolds, Johnny Gaddaar identifies its roots in the James Hadley Chase paperback and the films of Vijay Anand (Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam, Ram Balram), plunging one into nostalgic reminiscences of those yesteryears potboilers with their tales of impossible heists and double-crosses. As it progresses, Sriram Raghavan's second feature film proceeds to surpass its forbears, proving itself one of the most tightly executed crime thrillers Hindi cinema has seen by far, and one that stands tall with the world-class examples of this genre.

Right from the opening credits sequence, a racy and colorful affair showing snippets from the film against a booming brassy Burman-esque score, FTII alumnus Raghavan (if you can, try and catch his brilliant short film The Eight-Column Affair, a wildly imaginative affair about two people featured in the first and last page of a newspaper trying to meet, plowing through all the other events covered in the news), signals his tribute to the 70's Bollywood thriller legacy. That he does, but without losing his film's unique identity; this is genuine homage, not aimless parody.

The layered plot centers around a group of associates – Seshadri (Dharmendra), Prakash (Vinay Pathak), Shardul (Zakir Hussain), Shiva (Daya Shetty) and Vikram (debutante Neil Mukesh) - who indulge in smuggling in Mumbai, scraping together capital of 5 million rupees each to purchase contraband to sell for heavy profit. The money is to be delivered to their seller and associate in Bangalore, the corrupt inspector Kalyan (Govind Namdeo). It is arranged that the robustly built Shiva will take the money by train. However, Vikram has other ideas: he is involved in a passionate tryst with Shardul's wife and wants to make off with her and the entire money to far-off lands and happiness. Taking inspiration from a yesteryears Bolly-thriller Parwana, Vikram hatches a plan to intercept Shiva en route and make off with the cash. In doing this he sets off a chain of events that spin increasingly out of control, leaving a messy trail of betrayal and blood in their wake. I wouldn't want to spoil more plot details for you but suffice to say you are in for a non-stop breathless ride with enough brilliantly served volleys to warm the cockles of any thrill-seeker.

And the movie has style in spades. In snatches of song and television clips, it makes constant references to its roots in a wholly non-obnoxious manner; in fact, excepting the use of mobile phones, the film could well have been set in the late 70's. Apart from a terrific visual sense in general, which makes use of but doesn't overly rely on flashy jump-cuts and freeze-frames, Raghavan shows a special gift for capturing gritty action scenes with “Ow, that must have HURT!” moments. Dialog is punchy and clever, and almost always appropriate to the situation. As for the performances, apart from the lead pair, everyone is simply wonderful. Perennial he-man Dharmendra glows in a role that respects his years while still harking his macho image. Govind Namdeo, Vinay Pathak and Zakir Hussain make for a sparkling combo, exuding comedy and menace in heady mix. OK, so about the lead pair...they're alright if somewhat expressionless, but even this does not serious harm the film, given that they play characters who remain under everyone else's horizon.

All in all, Johnny Gaddar does for the 70's Bollywood thrill-fest what Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction did for the American gangster film and Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects for the backwoods brutality genre – gives it new life. Go see this!