Movie Review: Saand Ki Aankh

Producer- Anurag Kashyap

Director- Tushar Hiranandani

Star Cast-Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Chawla, Vineet Kumar Singh, Prakash Jha, Pritha Nakshi and Sara Arjun

Genre- Social

Rating- ***1/2

Exemplary and exhilarant

Jyothi Venkatesh

The biographical film traces a certain part of the lives of India’s oldest sharpshooters, Prakashi Tomar and Chandro Tomar, and sets out to deliver an awe inspiring social message on women empowerment in a cute way. The film revolves around two senior citizens, who live in Johri village (Uttar Pradesh), with their big family, accidentally discover at the age of 60 that they have a flair for shooting. With some help from doctor-turned-shooting instructor Dr Yashpal (Viineet Singh), who sets up a shooting range in the village, they participate in various competitions and win medals. While they are busy honing their skills, the men in their house who live off the earnings o the women in the household, are oblivious to the new happenings in the lives of these ladies. What’s more, the two old women also succeed in inspiring their granddaughters to follow suit.

While the kind of prosthetics used on Taapsee and Bhumi leaves a lot to be desired, as far as acting is concerned, I should concede that Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu are really in great form as grandmothers, who go to any extent to do anything to inspire their granddaughters. They carry the film on their shoulders effortlessly.  Whether it's sipping on many glasses of champagne or standing up when they are bullied by a bunch of teenagers, the two walk the road hand-in-hand and prove to be equally competent and even succeed in eliciting a few whistles from the audiences. At a few places, Taapsee even steals an edge over Bhumi, though it does not mean that Bhumi is inferior to her in acting. Filmmaker Prakash Jha, who turns antagonist here, does an extremely good job and looks menacing enough to evoke fear and contempt and scores as an actor. In fact, among all the actors other than Taapsee and Bhumi, it is Prakash Jha who has a tailor-made choice for the character of Rattan Singh Tomar and carries the ‘unfriendly’ vibe on his shoulders and perfectly suits the baddie of the house, though Viineet Kumar Singh has been wasted as his potential has not been explored fully. Editing by Devendra Murdeshwar ought to have been slicker since the movie goes on and on without any major dramatic moment for almost around 2 and a half hours of the duration and reminds you of movies like Paan Singh Tomar, Sultan & Dangal.

All said and done, never mind the flaws which are inherent in the film, the exemplary and exhilarant film scores with its unbridled performances, perfect casting and manner in which it brings to the fore a pertinent message on women empowerment in today’s society which has double standards and ends up extracting a tear or two from your eyes when you walk out after the screening is over. It is a big feather on the cap of director Tushar Hiranandani and also producer Anurag Kashyap

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Movie Review, Saand Ki Aankh, Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Chawla, Vineet Kumar Singh, Prakash Jha, Pritha Nakshi, Sara Arjun