Ankhon Dekhi

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.

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.

'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.

(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..)

It is an excellent flick that is on my favorite list, like Sadma, Simon Brich, Hachiko, Lawrence of Arabia, Gangoobai, Iqbal, etc. Its is kind of flick I prefer to watch. It is a logical drama masterpiece of Rajat Sir, I am big fan of your film, long ago. There are very reality based scenes in film that I can only imagine, like when the younger brother moving out the transfer of luggage from roof top to the new house is amazing, the body languages of all characters in whole movie was marvelous, the Shadi scene when all sitting in pooja and the son of pujari came back and forth telling the current events in tents happened at that real time was outstanding, even pujari's son character has a real existence in our society. It took a long and intense kind of observation and create a plot on these kind of happenings is a great achievement. Finally, hats off. Also, in the end, its an excellent recommendations from IMDb to let me know what should I deserve to watch. Thanks for this wonderful art work.