Hindi film by Rajat Kapoor
Venue: India Habitat Centre
Date: 4 July, 2015

The Indian Express Film Club held a screening of the film Ankhon Dekhi to a packed house at the Gulmohar Hall at IHC. This 2014 film has evoked a lot of discussions in the recent past. Hence we looked forward to watching this film.

The story revolves around Bauji (Sanjay Mishra), a middle aged man living with his family in Old Delhi. In the course of his middle class existence, he adopts the principle “Seeing is believing” and this turns his mundane approach towards life on its head. The remaining story is a flight of fantasy of Bauji and people around him who initially mock him, but very soon become his followers. Fortified by his new approach, he resolves issues like his daughter’s love marriage, son’s gambling debts and conflict with his brother.

The cast has a plethora of artists from television and parallel cinema, Kapoor himself being one of them, but the film belongs to Sanjay Mishra. While Mishra assays the character of Bauji skilfully, there are shades of his role in Dum Laga Ke Haisha that we see in this film. It seems he is being typecast for playing the middle-aged-middle-class Indian family man roles.

The remaining cast provide able support. However, we felt that Bauji’s wife played by Seema Pahwa was over the top and gave this character a caricaturist feel. On the other hand, Saurabh Shukla, in his blink and you miss it role, manages to leave an impression.

The film also has various side stories which consumed substantial reel time (the boy who went on speaking; the long depiction of the daughter’s wedding, Ranbir Shorey shot etc.). These additional events, although enjoyable on their own, do not add to the story but make the film unduly long.

At the end, it seems as if Bauji falls of a cliff. The climax is indeed haunting and is free for interpretation to viewers.

While the film has its flaws, it is a new age experiment which is overall an enjoyable experience. It also reiterates some home truths that we tend to forget during the hum drum of life.