Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha are two small time criminals who duplicate mobile phone SIM cards and sell them for a handsome amount. However, one such SIM card lands them in trouble with a don, played by Mahesh Manjrekar. Luckily for them, the don realizes their potential and hires them to work for him, collecting money from people defaulting on loans.
To pay for the damage caused to the don, Kunal and Cyrus agree to co-operate and begin their careers as collection agents. Meanwhile, one of the defaulting customers, Boman Irani, is heavily into betting and manages to rope Kunal and Cyrus into betting on cricket matches, claiming he has inside information. Then follow some hilarious events which, instead of making them rich, land them into further trouble. How Kunal, Cyrus and Boman extricate themselves from this mess forms the rest of the story.
This is probably one of Kunal's best performances to date with Cyrus and Boman lending able support. Cyrus is his typical self, with one-liners that make you laugh. His dumb hulk act is quite convincing and funny at the same time.
Directors Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK do an able job of keeping you glued to your seats, although the script does falter in places, especially with Boman's messed up love life which isn't really crucial to the storyline. Manjrekar, with his Shivaji get up, beard et al, goes nicely with his character, and the actor again delivers an impressive performance. Wish he would do more roles, though.
Soha Ali Khan comes up with a refreshing performance opposite Kunal. Vinod Khanna is impressive with his bleary eyed act as the betting kingpin with inside information. Amit Mistry is also good.
99 does a decent job of entertaining and is funny in parts. However, the lack of a big starcast could hamper it chances of enticing the audience into theatres. Coming at a time when there is a lack of releases, though, could well turn the tide in its favor at the box office. Collections should be well above average.
By Dominic Ferrao
