Ankhon Dekhi

Ankhon Dekhi

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rajat Kapoor
Produced by Manish Mundra
Written by Rajat Kapoor
Starring Sanjay Mishra
Seema Pahwa
Rajat Kapoor
Music by Sagar Desai
Cinematography Rafey Mahmood
Edited by Suresh Pai
Production
company
Mithya Talkies
Release dates
  • 5 December 2013 (2013-12-05) (SAIFF)[1]
  • 21 March 2014 (2014-03-21) (India)
Running time
 108 minutes[2]
Country India
Language Hindi

Ankhon Dekhi (English translation: Through My Own Eyes) is a 2013 Indian Hindi drama film written and directed by Rajat Kapoor[3][4] and produced by Manish Mundra. The film stars Sanjay Mishra and Rajat Kapoor in lead roles. The movie was released on 21 March 2014.It was the opening film at the 8th annual Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF) 2014 to be held in Toronto from 7 August. It is Rajat Kapoor's 5th feature film, and was dedicated to his idols and teachers, filmmakers Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani. At the 2015 Screen Awards ceremony, the film won the awards for Best Supporting Actress for Seema Pahwa, Best Story and Best Ensemble Cast.[5]

Plot

Raje Bauji (Sanjay Mishra) is a man in his late fifties, living out a dreary but eventful life in a small house in old Delhi, where he lives with his extended family. The movie starts with Babuji narrating his dream where he sees himself flying like a bird free from all the worldly affairs.A random incident is going to change his life in a dramatic way, though he does not realise at the moment. Bauji's daughter has been seeing a boy of ill repute. When that fact is revealed to the family, after much deliberation they decide to lock up the girl and go beat the willful boy.

When they actually confront the boy, to Babuji he seems like a very nice person. This event radically changes his life & he decides that he will believe only what he is able to see, hence the title of the film Ankhon Dekhi. Over a period of time he refuses to worship god & treats prasad as just another sweet. He is working as a travel agent & refuses to book tickets to Amsterdam since he has not seen Amsterdam. To uphold his ideals he quits his job. He resorts to a very idealistic mode & takes things to extreme levels to explore his theory. At first his neighbours consider him a lunatic old man, but over a period of time they start admiring his logical reasoning & start blindly following him.

Once while intervening a petty loan issue with a loan shark he refuses to believe the bad reputation of the loan shark. He concludes that he is a good person, based on his observation. Over a period of time he forms a rapport with the loan shark & is recruited by him in his illegal gambling den. His followers also start. He gives consent to his daughter's marriage to the boy she loves & almost sorts out all the emotional issues with his estranged brother. Now free from all responsibility, he leads a life where there are almost no blind spots and a lot of clarity in his life and he takes his wife for a vacation. While chatting he narrates to his wife that he feels very light, just like a bird flying in free skies. His wife jokes about his experience, inadvertently challenging his own theory that he doesn't know how a bird actually flies. In the middle of the night he walks towards the cliff & we see Babuji narrating his dream which we had seen in the beginning. Now that he has experienced everything, he is yet to experience flying. As the film ends, Bauji can be seen flying down a cliff.

Cast

Critical response

Aankhon Dekhi opened to immense critical appreciation. Most critics praised all the performances in the film, and the deeply rich philosophical undertones of the movie's script.

Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 3.5/5 stars stating, "Through the wonderfully whimsical Ankhon Dekhi, writer-director Rajat Kapoor shows us how the journey could be more meaningful if we lived life the way we choose to."

Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave the film 3.5/5 and mentioned, "the strands come together with such a heave of emotion that I found myself wiping away tears. Ankhon Dekhi is a lovely respite from the formulaic fare that clutters our multiplexes week after week."

Independent film scholar Bharadwaj Rangan praised the acting and casting of the film stating "Watching Rajat Kapoor's marvellous Ankhon Dekhi, you may find yourself wishing that we had one of those "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture" awards. The casting is perfect, the performances exquisite. It's a cliché to say that an actor has "lived" his role – but that sense of not-acting-but-being is all-pervasive here."[6]

Sukanya Varma of Rediff went with 4/5' stars, saying "For all its existentialism crisis, Aankhon Dekhis heart lies in Kapoor's affectionate depiction of humdrum living, the tender father-daughter relationship between Bauji and Rita (Maya Sarao), the unspoken attachment between him and his younger brother and the concerned anxiety of his rock solid wife."

Shubra Gupta of Indian Express usually a very harsh critic, gave the film a surprising 4/5, mentioning in regards to the central character, "He is fool, clown and man, all in one. He is us. I have seen it with my own eyes, and I can tell you that Aankhon Dekhi is a fine , fine film."

One of the few differing voices on the film was Madhureetha Mukherjee of India Today who gave 2.5/5 stars stating "What doesn't work for the film is the fact that it borders on abstract at regular intervals and lacks continuity, making a few scenes and conversations seem out-of-context." However, she still recommended that people watch the film.

Awards

Filmfare Awards
Screen Awards

Music

Ankhon Dekhi features a unique soundtrack combining Indian classical melodies with modern rhythms. The score was composed by Saagar Desai, and the lyrics written by Varun Grover. The soundtrack was well received with many calling it a 'breath of fresh air' due to the melodies being composed with classical instruments.

Song Singer Composer Lyricist
"Aaj Laagi Laagi Nai Dhoop" Kailash Kher Saagar Desai Varun Grover
"Aayi Bahaar" Kailash Kher Saagar Desai Varun Grover
"Kaise Sukh Soyein" Ronkini Gupta Saagar Desai Varun Grover
"Yaad Saari Baari Baari" Kailash Kher Saagar Desai Varun Grover
"Hakka Bakka" Shaan Saagar Desai Varun Grover
"Dheeme Re Re" Mansheel Gujral Saagar Desai Varun Grover

References

External links

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