Nothing is what it seems to be, Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar wants to tell us. Promising young private bankers are actually bilking the system. Suspended cops and counterfeiters have hearts of gold. Sandeep is a woman while Pinky is a burly policeman.

A typical night in the capital city, buzzing streets and a car with three rowdy friends. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar opens up with a montage of road rage that has become part of everyday traffic but then segues into something darker straight away. And for a moment, you're hooked. You convince yourself a dark and twisted tale is slowly going to unfold and you can't suppress your glee.

"Tu lipstick wali leke jaayega, ke bina lipstick wali (Will you go on a one night stand with a girl who is wearing lipstick or the one without it)?" Dibakar Banerjee's new film starts with a couple of creepy guys discussing their fantasies while the one sitting in front tells the person driving to overtake one of the cars.

"Which girl would you like to pick up in a club, the one wearing lipstick or the one without it? I'd pick up the one without because she's not there with the plan of sleeping with someone" this conversation between two guys in a car intriguingly starts the film. The next thing we know, Pinky (Arjun Kapoor) from Haryana Police is at a hotel to escort a famous banker Sandeep Kair aka Sandy Walia (Parineeti Chopra).

You'd expect a suspense thriller or a dark comedy to keep you intrigued from start to finish, but Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar misses the plot despite having so much to explore. Unfortunately, its lazy writing and slow pace ruin its chances of clicking with the audience. Director Dibakar Banerjee's film touches upon bank scams and the elderly people who are victimised by them, an idea that had potential, but the narrative goes haywire.

SANDEEP AUR PINKY FARAAR is the story of a woman whose life is in danger. Sandy Walia aka Sandeep (Parineeti Chopra) works for Parivartan Bank at a very senior position. She has a fling with her boss, Parichay (Dinker) and also helps the bank get lot of investments by floating a Ponzi scheme. Sandeep gets pregnant with Parichay's child and refuses for abortion.

Artfully eccentric, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar gives Bollywood conventions a wide berth. It proffers nothing that one would expect from a tale of two fugitives yoked together by circumstances. It isn't a romantic road movie nor a bickering-pair-on-the-lam thriller. Suffice to say, it is a Dibakar Banerjee film. That is the only label one can pin on it.

The moment the film opens, you snap to attention. There's a car being driven at reckless speed. There are a few uncouth youth in it. Their words and diction can only belong to a certain class of repressed, entitled Dilli Jat boys who come out in the night, looking for some action. Your nerves thrum. Anything can happen on these roads, with these characters. Something does, and wham, the film has us by the jugular.

When a suspended Haryanvi police officer Pinky (Arjun Kapoor) saves a successful banker Sandeep Walia (Parineeti Chopra) from being bumped off by her own boss, their starkly opposing worlds collide. Will they be able to outrun the powerful and evil forces baying for their blood?