Two of Akshay Kumar’s under-production capers seem to bear more than a passing resemblance to one another.

Neeraj Pandey’s Special Chabbis (26) is about a daredevil daylight heist undertaken by a group of charlatans posing as government officers assigned to raid a jewellery shop in a busy area of Mumbai.

Khiladi 786 is about a family of con-persons who masquerade as cops to carry out brazen fiscal dupe plans. Essentially both films are about a large group of men using the official uniform to commit brazen thefts.

Akshay Kumar helms the cast of both the under-production heist capers featuring mainly male members in the cast.

Says a source familiar with both projects, “In theme there are striking similarities between the two. Both are comic heist capers where a closely-knit group of men carry out daring robberies in government uniforms. The difference is Khiladi 786 is more a fantasy comedy about con-jobs while Special Chabbis is based on a real-life heist that was carried out by imposters in 1987.”

While Special Chabbis features Akshay as super con-man Mon Singh who hit headlines in 1987 by recruiting 26 men to raid a well-known jewellery outlet in Mumbai, Khiladi 786 features Akshay as an British-Indin con-man named Tihattar (73) Singh.

Says an actor from the film, “Akshay’s father played by Raj Babbar is named Sattar (70) Singh. He is married to an angrez (Caucasian) Akshay’s uncle Unhattar Singh (71) is played by Mukesh Rishi (and old friend of Akshay). He is married to a Chinese. Akshay is the first male member in this wacky family to fall in love with an Indian girl. He’s egged on by the entire Singh clan to solemnize his relationship with Asin.”

Himesh Reshammiya plays the owner of a marriage-bureau holding a world record for failed marital alliances.