Only in a Dibakar Banerjee film, can a hero escape with his life, because he is a (Salman Khan) Bhai fan. A fellow Bhai fan saves his life. Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar (Sandeep and Pinky On The Run) was released theatrically in March, but is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Primarily an escape drama about a couple on the run, with a smidgen of romance, it acquires many layers. A deeply feminist film, it is also a powerful takedown of capitalism’s horrific ‘collateral damage,’ the patriarchy welded into Indian men’s DNA, and the corruption and Islamophobia of the police. It shows a well-
educated, wealthy banker cheating the lower middle class, as well as the generosity of small town, chaalu folk. And there is delicious humour.

The film opens with an arresting, long, single take, of Dilli low-lifes talking dirty in a speeding car, that is ambushed in a spray of bullets. Those in the car behind, Sandeep ‘Sandy’ Walia (Parineeti Chopra) and Satyendra ‘Pinky’ Dahiya, (Arjun Kapoor), realise the bullets were meant for them, and escape. The film grabs us right away, but it takes a while to establish why Sandy and Pinky are on the run—both are fleeing corrupt bosses. Sandy, an MBA and bank director, and her boss (and lover) have pulled off a massive bank scam, duping lakhs of small investors “to save the bank.” Pregnant by him, she wants to quit, but knows too much, so he wants her killed. Pinky, a suspended Haryana policewallah looking for a comeback, is assigned to get rid of Sandy by his boss Tyagi (Jaideep Ahlawat), and realises she has put his own life in danger. They try to escape to Nepal via Pithoragarh, a border town.