Movie Review - Saand ki Aankh: Bhumi and Tapsee make it a compelling watch

Johnson Thomas

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Tushar Hiranandani’s directorial debut, shown as the closing film in the recently concluded 21st Jio MAMI Film Festival, is a biographical, about Chandro and Prakashi Tomar – real-life sisters-in-law from Johri village in the Baghpat district of UP, who took up a successful competitive shooting career in their 60s (way back in 1999) – played by the considerably younger pairing of the 30-year-old Bhumi Pednekar and 32-year-old Taapsee Pannu, respectively, goes through the motions of telling the story but it doesn’t feel inspired or dramatic enough to curry instinctive fervor.

Issues dealing with patriarchy and gender, though represented in by-the-numbers fashion, are not presented effectually enough here – instead we get male characters behaving rather toonish and the two lead characters presented in cursory form with montages ineffectually representing the hardships they undergo. They gain steadiness, strength and composure from hard-work and endurance and eventually get discovered by young Dr Yashpal (Vineet Singh), who leaves behind his practice to set up a shooting range so that he can inspire the village brats to pursue some form of excellence. Eventually the two win over 300 medals in state and national level championships and even manage to inspire their grand-daughters to take up the sport and excel.

The scripting and dialogue fail to underline the gritty drama inherent in this true life story while the characterisations appear rather flat and underdeveloped. Even the music, though ethnically crafted, feels rather out-of-place. The lack of convincing prosthetics and rather shabby, inconsistent make-up hampers the look but the two excellent performers Bhumi and Tapsee don’t allow those deficiencies to hamper their performances. As bulls-eye shooting daadis, the two bring conviction and empathy to the characters. Their arresting presence and performances obliterates the many infarctions in this telling – enough to mesmerise the viewer into rooting for them. That’s what makes this film a must-see.