Aankhen (2002 film)

This article is about the 2002 film. For other uses, see Aankhen (disambiguation).

Aankhen
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVipul Amrutlal Shah
Screenplay byAatish Kapadia
Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Story byAatish Kapadia
Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Shobhana Desai
Produced byGaurang Doshi
StarringAmitabh Bachchan
Akshay Kumar
Arjun Rampal
Sushmita Sen
Paresh Rawal
Aditya Pancholi
CinematographyAshok Mehta
Edited byShirish Kunder
Music byJatin–Lalit
Aadesh Shrivastava
Nitin Raikwar
Production
companies
V R Films
Gaurang Doshi Productions
Distributed byShemaroo Entertainment
Release date
  • 5 April 2002 (2002-04-05)
Running time
165 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹17 crore[1]
Box office₹33.8 crore[1]

Aankhen (transl. Eyes) is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language heist thriller film directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen, Paresh Rawal and Aditya Pancholi. The film is an adaptation of Shah's own Gujarati stage play Andhalo Pato (Blindman's Buff).[2]

The film tells the story of Vijay Singh Rajput (Bachchan) a hard-working but temperamental man, who has spent all his life working for a bank. When he is unlawfully fired, he decides to take vengeance by organizing a heist, and having the bank robbed by three blind men (Kumar, Rampal and Rawal), as no one will suspect them.[3]

Aankhen had its worldwide premiere in Malaysia at the 3rd IIFA Awards ceremony on 5 April 2002.[4][5] Upon release, Aankhen was praised for its concept, story line and direction. It turned out to be the fifth highest grossing Hindi film of 2002.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Aankhen". Boxofficeindia. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  2. ^ Suresh Nair (24 May 2002). "It's playtime in Bollywood!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  3. ^ Sukanya Verma (19 March 2002). "A Game with no Rules". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  4. ^ "IIFA 2002 Malaysia". IIFA. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Looking IIFA". Rediff.com. 28 March 2002. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Vipul Shah on 15 years of Aankhen: Bollywood had its bets the film wouldn't work". Hindustan Times. 5 April 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.