Emraan Hashmi becomes a conman in his upcoming film Raja Natwarlal.
And while we wait to see how well he's played it, the actor is in elite company. Bollywood's superstars have tried their hand at con films, and the genre has made quite a bit of money.
Here's looking at the Top 10 Hindi con movies.
1. The Dhoom series
The biggest con franchise in Bollywood is Dhoom.
The movies may have loopholes galore, but audiences have lapped up their world of cons, glamour and style. All the three Dhoom movies have been big hits.
From John Abraham to Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan, the con game has become cooler. And bigger.
Box office collections: Dhoom: Rs 29 crore, Dhoom 2: Rs 82 crore, Dhoom 3: Rs 284 crore.
Read the reviews here: Dhoom, Dhoom 2, Dhoom 3
2. Special 26
No one could predict what would happen next in this film by Neeraj Pandey, who reportedly studied a real life con and made a film on it.
Akshay Kumar was the right man for the job, and Anupam Kher surprised in a well-fleshed out role.
The surprise element of this chor-police tale was Jimmy Shergill.
The film was a semi-hit.
Box office collections: Rs 66 crore
Read the review here.
3. Bunty Aur Babli
Bunty Aur Babli had its moments but the biggest draw of the film was Aishwarya Rai's Kajra re item number, a huge, huge hit. The song also featured Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan.
A hit film, it also saw a good performance by Rani Mukerji.
Box office collections: Rs 35 crore
4. Bluffmaster
Bluffmaster had a slow start but it steadily gathered pace. It wasn't a straightforward all-India hit but for its target audience at multiplexes, it offered good entertainment.
The real con game was played superbly by Riteish Deshmukh and Nana Patekar.
The film fared average at the box office.
Box office collections: Rs 22 crore
Read the review here.
5. Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri
One of the best con films, Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri was low-brow entertainment.
Kadar Khan and Shakti Kapoor brought on the laughs and stole the show, despite Jackie Shroff's presence. It was one of the top grossing films of the year.
Box office collections: Rs 3 crore
6. Chocolate
Chocolate was accused of taking its inspiration from The Usual Suspects.
The similarities were obvious, but debutant director Vivek Agnihotri had provided a suitable twist in the plot.
The cat and mouse game was entertaining with its story-within-a-story format.
Chocolate was slickly made and stylishly narrated. Unfortunately, it was a flop.
Box office collections: Rs 7 crore
Read the review here.
7. Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
After Khosla Ka Ghosla, director Dibakar Banerji made an out-and-out con flick in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!.
The film was inspired by a real life chor, played by Abhay Deol.
The film did decent business and is a success on home video.
Box office collections: Rs 7 crore
Read the review here.
8. Badmaash Company
All was fine with this Shahid Kapoor and Anushka Sharma con flick until it got emotional towards the end.
This is yet another Yash Raj offering, and was a semi hit.
Box office collections: Rs 35 crore
Read the review here.
9. Phir Hera Pheri
A sequel to Hera Pheri, it did almost four times the business of the first film, but isn't half as remembered.
Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal were happy to reprise their act.
But one expected more from a brand like Hera Pheri.
Box office collections: Rs 41 crore
Read the review here.
10. Aankhen
If made today with higher production values and a crispy narrative, Aankhen would have done much better than it did when it released a decade ago.
With a star cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Paresh Rawal, this blind-men-robbing-a-bank tale was an edge-of-the-seat affair that warranted repeat viewing. The film was a semit hit.
Box office collections: Rs 18 crore
Read the review here.
