Saandh Ki Aankh Movie Review: Taapsee, Bhumi Have Surely Hit The Saandh Ki Aankh (Bull’s Eye) With This Marvellous Film
Sisters-in-law Chandro and Prakashi Tomar’s biographical film Saandh Ki Aankh stars Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu in the lead roles. Chandro is played by Bhumi and Taapsee is Prakashi! All their lives they have been part of the patriarchal society and mindset. They have completely coloured their mind and their thought process in the same colour too! They don’t have a choice but they do have opinions and a fair knowledge of right and wrong. They do have their own desires to fly high, visit the Taj Mahal, do something worthwhile for themselves. They know it for a fact that they have the mettle to even achieve it but they are forced by circumstances to be grovelling in the lowly dust. To perform the daily chores, work in the farms, carry bricks on their heads, cover their faces with a veil, make hookahs for their men, serve them.
However, they haven’t retired to their fates, yet. They have the balls to do something for a change, so what if they hide their doings from the men who have been responsible for the way things are in their part of the world!
The sisters-in-law are friends first and they have a bond that is unbreakable. They understand each other and what’s most important is, they are there for each other when the time requires! The film is based on the real-life incidents of Chandro and Prakashi who went on to be India’s oldest sharpshooters at the age of 60. The story follows them on their journey and how they accidentally discover their adeptness in sharp-shooting when a doctor turned shooting-instructor played by Vineet Singh returns to his native (which also happens to be Chandro and Prakashi’s homeland.) in a bid to bring about a change in the livelihoods of the people there.
He sets up a shooting camp in the village and wants people to come and join in so that the village can see some advancement! When Chandro and Prakashi come to know about this, unbeknownst to the male members of their family they make sure to impart the shooting skill to their daughters which would get a government job. In the process, they discover their impeccable skill of hitting the bull’s eye whenever they pull the trigger themselves! They start practicing in the wee hours of the morning, during the day before their husbands wake up, they return, do the regular chores, colour coordinate their dresses, work in the farms, prepare the food for the household and this continues. Their day starts off early and ends late into the night. This inspires their daughters and they begin harbouring the dream of a brighter future.
The writing is terrific, the direction is impeccable and the treatment is wondrous! What else can be said! The story of these octogenarian sharpshooters is kind of predictable but the way the film has been made deserves a pat on the back. No doubt, it is a content-rich film, no doubt it is an extraordinary film! Kudos to the director for making it because very few filmmakers would actually tread on that path. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a specimen of fine movie-making!
Coming to the performances, Bhumi and Taapsee shine in their respective roles! They play it to the T. So much so that all of it looks genuine. However, the fault lies in the make-up which seems to be a little inconsistent and also lacks a little something! The facial wrinkles could have a little more natural look to them instead of appearing made-up! The extras just over-did it at times - there were such absolutely miniscule issues with the film which can be completely overlooked.
Everything else about it was absolutely splendid! It was fantabulous! What a fantastically written film, what a stupendous treatment to it. In such films, I feel the writing, the treatment and the overall direction becomes more important because only these factors can uphold a storyline that is borderline predictable or known for that matter.
The director of the film Tushar Hiranandani and the writer of the film Balwinder Singh Janjua have done just that with an élan nonpareil. 95 percent of the film’s victory was already sealed by them. Pretty much everything was in perfect quantity. Neither was there any overdoing of the drama quotient nor was the attitude of the men towards the female characters in the film underplayed in a bid to emphasize on the women-empowerment stance! In other words, the characters were believable. There were little surprises that kept unfurling throughout the narrative which was another facet of the writing that made me marvel at it.
Prakash Jha as Sarpanch Rattan Singh was overbearing and intimidating. He once again displayed his marvellous acting chops. He is TOO GOOD! Vineet Kumar Singh as Dr. Yashpal who sets up the shooting range in the village and encourages the ‘Dadis’ to do what they do best too has been wondrous in the film. The emotions that welled up in his eyes, the tremor that he had in his voice while urging Prakashi to shoot in one of the scenes was something indeed! Shaad Randhawa comes back to the silver screen after a long time, he plays Chandro’s son who is an army officer. He comes to know about the laurels of his mother and stands up against the other men in the family to support her. He too has done a good job.
The songs in the film were situational and didn’t feel as though the pace of the narrative suffered because of them, in fact, it added to the emotional quotient in the film, the dialogues were quirky and absolutely apt for every scene.