Aankhen

Aankhen is an Indian movie, the story tells of how three blind men rob a bank.The movie was absolutely fantastic.It had a lot of twists and turns along the way, and kept viewers on the edge of their seat never knowing what was going to occur next.

Vipal Shah did a great job directing this movie.The story was simple, yet how it was told was nicely done.Each character had an interesting story of how he lost his sight.

Great music, an exciting story, and great acting makes this a must see for people who understand Hindi and foreign movie lovers alike.

10/10

i believe that Vipul Amrutlal shah has done a great job on this movie i watched it 2 maybe 3 times i loved it the only painful part about this movie is the sadness which usually happens around Paresh Rawal(Illias) but i guess writer Aatish Kapadia who adapted shobana desai's andhalo pato into a hard packing screenplay really makes up for the sadness or the inability to do anything which he surpasses in the end it is not like a good ending or a bad ending it's the ending the type of ending which shakes the story and gives ti a whole new turn after unbelievable chaos has occurred thumbs up to vipul amrutlal shah for a slick thriller

A surprisingly good offering from Bollywood. A bank robbery is planned by a disgruntled ex-employee who is upset because he was fired. The plan involves recruiting 3 blind people, training them, etc. The goal, of course, is to rob the bank while making all the witnesses believe that the perpetrators were not blind. If they are caught, who would believe that they were the thieves, right ? But, twists, double crosses and love-twists abound. Understandably, filming such an intricate plot elegantly is beyond Bollywood writers/directors. The plot gets somewhat flimsy at places, where the director tries to forcibly insert some bollywood-ese sections. On the whole, a worthwhile film to watch. Amitabh shines. Paresh Rawal's melodrama is painful to watch. One gets the idea that this was an attempted copy of some Hollywood film.

That pretty much sums it up. As heist thrillers go, this is a pretty solid movie. The lengthy time actually works in its favor, because it allows the main characters to be fully fleshed out. Unless you're David Mamet, it's pretty hard to do a 90 minute heist movie and have you care about the people involved. From an American perspective, this movie is quite fresh, both in the concept and the lack of American stereotypes (there's no young punk, retired thief returning for one last score, or anything like that here.) Also, the tension level is excellently done. That said, there are some major credibility issues; you can buy something like "Heist" working, but "Aankhen" it's best to turn your brain off. This is more along the lines of something like "To Catch a Thief"; you don't buy it but the ride's so much fun you don't care.

The directing by Vipul Shah definitely deserves kudos on the visual end and with the actors; the director uses both the foreground AND the background, unconcerned with what's in focus and what isn't (and in fact drops in a few jokes), and the framing is quite precise. Even when he's constrained by the necessity of suddenly making a music video, he does his best. The acting isn't perfect, but the actors are convincing in their handicapped and Amitabh Bachchan comes off as one cold-blooded hombre.

This is definitely worth a look, a superior slice of dumb fun.

Just when you have given up on Hindi films after the last round of disastrous flicks like Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Durga and Vadh, there comes a film that restores your faith in Bollywood.

Aankhen has a Hollywood-style bank robbery plot executed without compromising too much on the three must-haves of Hindi films --- songs, three hours and gaping holes in the plot.

Vijay Singh Rajput (Amitabh Bachchan) is the manager of Vilasrao Jefferson bank. He has chosen celibacy to prove his dedication to his work. But his pent-up frustrations burst out against his employees --- the watchman caught sleeping on the job, the cashier who tries to siphon off a few notes before he hands it over the counter.

After he beats the living daylights out of the nincompoop sweaty cashier, Rajput is fired from the bank he has served for over 25 years.

The official reason for his behaviour is that Rajput has schizophrenia, which explains why he is obsessed with taking revenge on his employers and co-workers --- all of which some of us fantasize about through our lives. The only difference is that Rajput goes a step further and does what others only dream of doing --- get even with the bosses.

He decides to extract his revenge by robbing the bank and finds a cast of three blind men, Vishwas Prajapati (Akshay Kumar), Arjun Verma (Arjun Rampal) and Ilias (Paresh Rawal). Svelte teacher Neha Srivastav (Sushmita Sen) also carries out his bidding.

While the three blind men are in it for the money, Neha plays along because Rajput has her younger brother captive. Using her skills as a teacher, Neha simulates the bank's interiors and teaches the trio the tricks to pull off the heist.

After over 40 days of training in a simulated environment, the three blind men step into the bank to pull off the most novel bank robbery Bollywood has seen. How they do it forms the rest of the film.

Aankhen defies all the rules of commercial Hindi cinema. The heroes are blind and are actually listen to a woman who seems more intelligent and capable than all of them put together.

The plot doesn't lose sight of its goal -- the bank robbery -- and refuses to get side-tracked into mindless romance or songs. Conceived and executed like a taut Hollywood thriller, Aankhen is an impressive breakaway from the cliché ridden formula filmmaking that afflicts Bollywood.

The credit for this belongs to debutant director Vipul Shah and his team. Shah is in completely in control of the film, whether it is in the dramatic sequences or developing the chemistry among the cast.

The story of Aankhen has been adapted by writer Aatish Kapadia from his own Gujarati play, Andhla Pato (Blindman's Buff), first staged in 1992. Thanks to his experience with the theatre where taut scripts are necessary to hold the act together, Kapadia's screenplay is one of the film's strong points.

The other is the cast and characterisation.

As Vijay Singh Rajput, Amitabh Bachchan has turned in one of the finest performances of his career. He pulls off the most ludicrous situations with credibility and style. In a role that changes colours, starting as an upright bank officer morphing into a man obsessed with pulling off a bank robbery for revenge and finally turning into the villain who is prepared to go to any lengths to get his booty, Bachchan is glorious. He proves himself worth the sobriquet of the 'superstar' of Hindi cinema.

Not to say that the others are overshadowed by his presence. As the blind man with that extra-sensory perception, Akshay Kumar holds his own in every scene. He brush-offs with Bachchan are dramatic and he brings a quiet intelligence and depth to his role. Every time he senses the silent Rajput hovering in the background, the screen crackles with electricity.

The chemistry between him and Paresh Rawal is delightful. Akshay's thinking demeanor offsets Rawal's light-hearted quick-to-crack a joke countenance. With a role that is funny and irreverent, Rawal gathers the audience's laughs and proves his onscreen brilliance yet again.

Arjun Rampal looks good, has a good body and a goodr screen presence but falls flat, partly due to poor characterisation. His is the only role that appears half-baked and Rampal only makes it worse.

Sushmita Sen's role of Neha deserves an extra round of applause. Unlike most Hindi film heroines who come across as bimbettes and whose only aim is to get into the hero's way at the climax, Neha doesn't need a man to exist. She is intelligent and capable, even during the climax.

However, the film has its fair share of flaws. The pace tends to sag intermittently and the actual robbery comes as an anti-climax to the tension built during the training. Besides, the robbery also appears terribly tame.

The three-hour film tends to get you a little fidgety towards the end. Bipasha Basu and Kashmira Shah in 'item' numbers aggravate the cramped legs in an already stretched out film.

But in all, Aankhen is different from your usual Hindi flick. It is a fast paced, slick thriller, a species rarely encountered in the annals of the Hindi film industry.