Long long ago (all right, I'm dramatising this a little, it was not all that long ago), a tiny, innocent tot called Raj Lalwani entered his alma mater, Utpal Shanghvi for the first time. All right, it's difficult to believe that I was ever innocent, but I was just four then!
''All right, children, today we will learn numbers.'' Now, I might have been innocent, I might have been merely four, but yeah, even then, I was a pain. I butted in and told my teacher, ''Miss, the all numbers I know. (I hadn't learnt grammar then!) Raj Kapoor is 420, the daadhiwala uncle is 007 and when you wanna do, it is number 1 and 2!''
Now, it was the poor teacher's first day. Flustered at the audacity of a four-year old kid to talk about movies and toilet habits when she wanted to teach numericals, she changed her mind and taught us a wonderful nursery rhyme, ''Three blind mice ... three blind mice ... see how they run ... see how they run ...''
Fast forward. Believe it or not, my younger brother is twelve years younger to me. Last year, I remember him coming from his first day of school and telling me, ''Bhai, teacher taught us a song.'' I searched my memory and tried to remember my first day of school. ''Oh, did she teach you 'Three blind mice' ?'' It turned out that my brother's teacher was an Amitabh Bachchan fanatic. Consequently, the rhyme she had taught my brother went something like,
Three blind men ... three blind men ... see how they rob ... see how they rob ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
Wacky. That's how I would describe Gaurang Doshi's 'Aankhen'. Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who is (in)famous for (mis)directing Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka was in charge of the directorial reins. Now, please do not be confused by the title. This Aankhen is not about Govinda in an orange shirt, with pink trousers, a yellow belt and fluorescent green shoes (!). I was keenly waiting for Aankhen to hit the silver screen. An impressive star cast included Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Sushmita Sen, Arjun Rampal. Moreover, the mention of Bipasha Basu was enough for me to have my tongue hanging out. Er ... did I forget someone? Oh ya, some chap called Amitabh Bachchan ... aka one of the best actors in the history of Indian cinema.
Fame Adlabs - a multiplex which is not my second, but first home. But, I was apprehensive of going for Aankhen at Fame. The reason? The only film I had seen prior to Aankhen at Fame was a confusing flick called 'Neither do I know, nor do you.' Do you know? You don't? Neither do I ... Na Tum Jaano Na Hum!
After that ghastly experience, I had sworn not to visit Fame. It was only at the insistence of a friend that I tagged along. Thank God I did ...
Aankhen is based on the Gujarati play 'Andhalo Pato', which was incidently directed by Vipul Shah himself. This happened before he decided to subject the television viewers to a THOUSAND episodes of torture (But then, Ek Mahal Ho Sapna Ka wasn't all that bad ... because it didn't begin with a 'K' !)
Released with controversies galore (Arjun, Akshay, Bipsy and Vipul Shah upset with the producer), Aankhen has an ingenious concept. A schizophrenic, Vijay Singh Rajput (Amitabh Bachchan) devotes his entire life to a bank. As one of the bank owners reminds us, ''Usne shaadi bhi nahin ki.'' Wonder why our Hindi film directors equate bachelorhood with devotion! However, due to an impetuous rush of blood, he is fired. Now, Rajput is a Dharmendra buff. So, he vows, ''Kuttey, kamine, I'll take revenge ...'' (Alright, he didn't abuse ... only Dharmendra has the right to)
Apart from Dharmendra flicks, Rajput was fond of nursery rhymes (what a contrast in tastes!). Inspired by the nursery rhyme which I learnt on the first day of my school, he blackmails Neha (Sushmita Sen) to train three blind men, yeah, you read that right, three blind men to rob the bank. Let's meet the three blind mice ... er ... men :
Akshay Kumar is Vishwas Prajapati ... aapka bin bulaaya mehmaan. Blessed with a sixth sense, Vishwas turned blind in a bus accident. It's rumored that the accident was caused by John Abraham, so that Bipasha would ditch Vishwas ... Akshay Kumar comes of age in Aankhen. I was never a great fan of his and his performance in Aankhen was a pleasant surprise. Since Aankhen, of course, he has never looked back ...
Arjun Rampal is Arjun. All right, Arjun is Arjun. The guy with the conscience, Arjun falls in love with Neha and fractures his heart. (Fractures because he 'fell' in love). Arjun Rampal is competent. Although he is wooden in some scenes, he is good in others. Watch out for his back-slapping chemistry with Paresh Rawal.
Paresh Rawal is Eliyas. The laughter package of Aankhen, Rawal is a riot. As usual, he steals the show under the nose of the big stars (except Amitabh).
''First class hai to gaana bhi first class hai ...''
''To stop the train, pull the chain!''
''Tujhe cancer hoga ... uska ilaaj karte karte AIDS hoga ...''
Simply hilarious is his role, but Rawal truly excels when he tells Vishwas and Arjun about his past. Throughout the film, he makes you laugh and in that particular scene, you have tears in your eyes with sypathy.
Bipasha Basu sizzles in 'Gusthakiyan'. Surprisingly, she has worn a few clothes. Only a few though ...
Sushmita Sen acts well. She proves that models can indeed act (Are you listening, Ash? Please stop being trash ...). She excels in her interactions with Amitabh.
Amitabh ... Oh, Amitabh ... After watching him jump about in Major Saab and sermonize ''Parampara, prathishta and anushaasan'', I thought that the versatile Big B of yore has lost his touch. How hasty I was in forming my assumptions! Back with a bang, this has to be his finest role in his second innings. If looks could kill, India's population would have diminished ... he speaks little in the first half, yet steals the show with those brilliant glares and expressions. Throughout, he has a menacing look and behaviour. Hats off to him ...! And if you are not wearing one, buy a hat and take it off ...
Thankfully, there aren't many songs. The Amitabh Solluiqui (which is actually a dialogue) is addictive, with his trademark baritone informing us that truth is often stranger than fiction. Gusthakiyan is pretty peppy, with a good video. Kuch Kasmein is a brilliant number, which hasn't been shown in the actual movie.
The film can be divided into three major parts: pre-robbery (Training), post-robbery (Bhaago!) and the actual execution of the daring heist. While most people enjoyed the training sequences the most, I simply loved the actual robbery. Thrilling ...
Contd. in the comments section. Do check out the conclusion and an invaluable suggestion ...
