Ankhon Dekhi

'Ankhon Dekhi' is Sheer Brilliance! A powerful, symbolic, heart-breaking film, that is also blessed with incredible performances!

'Ankhon Dekhi' centers around Bauji, played by Sanjay Mishra, who, after a dramatic incident, decides that he will only believe what he sees with his eyes.

'Ankhon Dekhi' narrates Bauji's "see it to believe it" story, with strong emotion & poetic pacing. Writer/Director Rajat Kapoor delivers a human-story, that in many ways, narrates life. His Screenplay deals with faith, family bond, sadness & reality. Its blunt, but also beautiful. His Direction, on the other-hand, is simplistic. A Special Mention for the wonderful music.

Performance-Wise: Sanjay Mishra is mesmerizing as Bauji. The immensely talented actor delivers a knock-out performance, that in my opinion, deserves a National-Award! He's the life of the show. Seema Pahwa is outstanding. She compliments Mishra, marvelously. Rajat Kapoor, himself, pitches in a restrained performance. Maya Sarao is a talent to watch out for. She's superb. Brijendra Kala, Manu Rishi & Namit Das, are impressive, as well.

On the whole, 'Ankhon Dekhi' left me overwhelmed.

This is one of the most interesting movie i have seen in a very long time and trust me, i watch a lot of movies. I have always been a big fan of 'Sanjay Mishra' and he has proved it once again that he is one of the finest artists in Indian film industry.

Based on 'Life' as an experience, brilliantly portrayed, a fitting cast and amazing performances by the whole team. One can argue on the objective of the movie, perhaps there isn't any and this is the objective.

This is not a typical run of the mill Bollywood movie. Please watch it and decide for yourself. This may be a 'either you love or you hate it' type of movie. This has set a new standard in my book. A complete gem.

Thought provoking films have always been an important feature of our Regional Cinema since the beginning and Hindi film-makers have also delivered many worth watching gems in this particular genre in the past (especially before the 90s). But even then, very rarely we have seen a film which comes up with a fine blend of both entertaining as well as enlightening moments in its beautifully executed narration, reaching out to the audience individually in more than one unique manner.

Writer-Actor-Director Rajat Kapoor's ANKHON DEKHIis a perfect example of such rare, not to be missed precious cinema. And as suggested by its name, the film simply needs to be seen, felt and enjoyed at the earliest instead of just being read about, discussed or pre-judged by its various appreciative reviews written by different critics.

Actually films like ANKHON DEKHI should not be ideally reviewed in the usual manner since they are certainly going to have many distinctive meanings or interpretations for different viewers (as per their own viewpoints), which in fact can easily be stated as the film's real beauty too required to be kept intact. For instance where a few might enjoy it just as a light, feel-good comedy revolving around a lower middle class family, there for others it may turn out to be a highly transforming experience, giving them a new bright insight into their own struggling life, demanding many major changes.

So with many thanks to Rajat Kapoor (writer-actor-director), Manish Mundra (producer), Seema Mishra (Bauji's wife), the entire supporting cast, music, background score & art department along with the emotionally touching & exceptionally terrific Sanjay Mishra as Bauji, I would like to strongly recommend ANKHON DEKHI to one and all as a rare meaningful achievement not to be missed.

With a sincere wish that every reader of this honest write-up watches ANKHON DEKHI and many more movies like these like a true seeker, I would like to end here hoping that may you also find your own precious SATORI in those two meditative hours in the dark spent with Bauji. And may we all live a more contended, loving and thankful life in the future, forgetting this silly mad race for money, luxuries and power (to the extent they certainly deserve to be forgotten).

(Probably) Simplicity can never be a passé. A whole generation still connects to the "Ta Na Na Ta Na Na" of Malgudi Days. R.K Narayan Ki duniya talked about the real India, some simple people, their life & its ordeal.

Rajat Kapoor's refreshingly eccentric yet gimmick-less (even hype-less) "Ankho Dekhi" is kind of a dejavu of Malgudi Days. The film revolves around Bauji who lives in his own ideological world & believes in inherent goodness of people. But he isn't gullible person & believes only in "Ankho Dekhi". And in a moment of realization he literary sets on to a journey whereby he decides that he will only believe what he can see for himself. From religion to education to even science - Bauji seeks for his own truth, an experienced one. He will come across as a visionary to someone while others might outright reject him as a nitwit. Kapoor webs an authentic image of a regular middle-class household in the surrounding areas of urban India, the still-prevailing joint family & the ego dynamics. His execution is gentle traversing at its own pace much like the ways of Bauji.

Kapoor's narrative talks about many issues in subtle way & he webs in some brilliant situations to express his points. Like the scene where the priest gives "Prasad" (Godly offering) to Bauji, he takes it, have it & then says that the sweet is good totally unaware of the anger of the priest who kept on insisting that it's not a mere sweet, it is godly offering. Then in another accomplished sequence bauji kept on saying that he won't believe in gods until one of them comes & have tea with him which angers the religious fanatic ones. Going away from religion, he even pokes on the education system whereby he establishes the importance of knowledge beyond books. The debate with the maths teacher on how could one assume that two parallel lines would meet at infinity deserves mention. Then the sequence of visiting a zoo to check whether a tiger roars or meows was superlative.

Kapoor got able support from cinematography, editing & music department bringing out the essence of the narrative deftly. And as the masterstroke climax happened I almost jumped from my seat to applaud & that's when the end credit began with the following note – "Thanking my teachers Mani Kaul & Kumar Shahani" (two of the finest film makers of Indian parallel cinema); what a way to give back to his masters! This is indeed one of the finest films from Rajat Kapoor.

Otherwise typecast & wasted in loud comical characters Sanjay Mishra didn't let slip this opportunity & gave his career best performance as bauji. Hopefully his acting potential will be frequently utilized from now on. The supporting cast were tremendous comprising of Rajat Kapoor himself, Manu Rishi, Pahwa, Miya Sarao (who made a striking debut as the daughter of Bauji), Namit das, even stalwart Saurabh Shukla in a cameo.

Without being preachy the premise makes you (makes us) introspect – all of us, lost in the jungle of consumerism are losing our own thought prowess; the power of self experience. As bauji would have said which goes in English somewhat this - Whatever I am saying is my truth, my experience. Don't go by it only as your's experience & truth can be different.(For some reason IMDb is not allowing me to out the Hindi sentence thus have to give the translated version). In this way the film hits the consumerist (And media dominated) culture whereby people are losing their self identity.

Give this movie a try, you will probably come with a thoughtful grin & might set for your very own 'flight of fancy" (as Masand said).

(Sadly this witty original film got overpowered by ghostly baby dolls & their gang of marketing terrorists..)

This is one of the best movies in the year 2014. This movie proves that a good movie doesn't require hot item numbers or overpriced so called actors or overdone physics violating action scenes. The actors in this movie are simple yet each one has given an awesome performance. You can relate the characters with the people in your locality or someone you see in day to day life. In the beginning movie would seem a little slow but soon it becomes quiet interesting. It shows what happens when a person rejects the common rules and starts believing in only what he has seen. The climax is totally surprising and unforeseen. Sanjay Mishra has given an example of his diverse talent and played a very difficult role of being funny and serious at the same time. No wonders it won the award of Best Critic's Movie. The story is really good and it will leave you thinking and imagining for a few hours or may be days. Another different movie like this is Queen. You should watch that too.