Ankhon Dekhi

Plot

Rajesh Bauji (Sanjay Mishra) is a man in his late 50s, living a dreary but eventful life in a small house in old Delhi 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 it 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 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 can see, hence the title Ankhon Dekhi. After a while he refuses to worship god and treats prasad as just another sweet. He is working as a travel agent and refuses to book tickets to Amsterdam as he has never seen Amsterdam. To uphold his ideals, he quits his job. He resorts to a very idealistic mode and takes things to extreme levels to explore his theory. At first his neighbours consider him a lunatic old man, but over time they start admiring his logical reasoning and start following him.

Once while intervening a petty loan issue with a loan shark he refuses to believe the bad reputation of the shark. He concludes that he is a good person, based on his observation. He forms a rapport with the loan shark and is recruited by him in his illegal gambling den. His followers join.

He gives consent to his daughter's marriage to the boy she loves and almost sorts out 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. He takes his wife for a vacation.

While chatting he narrates to his wife that he feels very light, 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 a cliff. Babuji narrates his dream (as in the beginning of the story). He has yet to experience flying. As the film ends, Bauji is seen flying down a cliff.

Cast

Critical response

Aankhon Dekhi opened to immense critical appreciation. Most critics praised all the performances and the deeply rich philosophical undertones of the 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 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 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."

Sukanya Varma of Rediff went with 4/5 stars, saying "For all its existentialism crisis, Aankhon Dekhi's 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 about 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 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 it.

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 were 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.