People say that wine grows better with age and same is the case with this film. Having been written over four years back, this film seems to have grown better in content. Even Rajat Kapoor’s directorial skills have grown better with the passage of time. Read on to know the full movie review…

Actor-director-writer Rajat Kapoor‘s latest offering Ankhon Dekhi, all set in Purani Dilli, is one of those films which will make you go into introspective mode. The movie is based on a simple concept of ‘Seeing is believing’ and Sanjay Mishra’s characterbauji has brought it out in a fantastic way.

Bauji‘s sudden epiphany causes an outrage in the family and makes him a butt of jokes among the neighbours and their friends, but bauji is unflinching and stands by his resolve. Very soon there is a motley of characters who surround bauji and start following him as his disciples.The movie is rock solid in the first half but in the second half slackens a bit but delivers with solid comic punches like bauji wetting his pants after hearing a tiger roar, and jumping with joy after getting a job as a gambler.

 Rajat Kapoor's story is crisp and doesn’t wander a lot from its main agenda. It is witty although wry at points, but for the intellectually sound the film is a laugh riot. The sarcasm and pun laden dialogues are make you guffaw in your seats. Rajat directs this ship with an ensemble of characters and takes it towards the right direction with zest. His direction abilities have grown and he makes you think of Woody Allen or Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Rafey Mahmood’s cinematography is real and intimate and makes you relive the lanes and bylanes of Purani Dilli. The shots in itself are quirky, although cosy, and yet very picturesque. The look and feel that Rafey brings to the film is that of the late 80s and early 90s. Most of the shots are taken in real life locations. Many a times the props look so real that they give you an impression that they might have been just borrowed from the locals and neighbours for the day’s shoot.

Coming to the best part of the film, the music, is absolutely mind blowing. Sagar Desai‘s tunes are apt and situational and create the necessary effect to the best of their abilities. Not just the songs, but even the background score is fantastic. Oscar winner Resul Pokutty’s sound design gives takes you to a new high.

Performances

Sanjay Mishra as always was flawless, and is absolutely marvellous playing the the caring, muddled father, who also aspires to be the brooding rationalist. Rajat Kapoor, himself playing the younger brother to bauji, has delivered a commendable performance. Although he has less screen presence he ably portrays the character of the brother who feels suffocated always listening to whatever his bhaiya says. Namit Das plays the young lover of bauji‘s daughter and he has also performed well especially in the initial scene where he is seen crying. It is because of his character that bauji gets the epiphany and the story begins. Finally coming down to the best performance of the movie, Seema Pahwa, as Amma. It is her character which makes you remember your own mother and makes you realise what sorts of problems a lower middle class housewife goes through. The rest of the characters have done their bit commendably.

The Plot

It all starts when bauji interacts with her daughter’s boyfriend and he gets to know that everyone in his family had misunderstood the boy. Thus he has an eiphany and decides that , henceforth he would believe only those things which he believes and wouldn’t trust on anything else. The situations and problems faced by his family because of this decision forms the crux of the story.

Verdict: Ankhon Dekhi is a perfect mixture of and experimental art film and offbeat cinema, which gives you the feel of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee or a Woddy Allen film. The simplistic story and the even simple ideals of a common family have been portrayed to the best. The balance although shifts at times and makes you lose the entertainment quotient but maybe for a couple of minutes at the max. The story is meaningful and the presentation is entertaining. BollywoodLife suggests it to the cinemagoer who loves watching classy films and abhors watching the masala Hindi film.

src: bollywoodlife.com