Saand Ki Aankh, the dramatised story of real-life champion sharpshooters Chandro Tomar and Prakashi Tomar who blossom in their 60s, played earnestly by Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu isn’t always bang on target, but it still manages to tear your defences down.
The leading ladies of the film Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu (in their early thirties) drew much ire from senior actors for taking up a role that required them to play 60 years old grandmothers! For anyone who has watched the film would agree that the young ladies have carried the film ably on their shoulders. They capture the feistiness of sharpshooters Prakashi and Chandro Tomar well, adding to the story their own joie de vivre.
What sets apart Saand Ki Aankh is that director Tushar Hiranandani frames the issues of patriarchy and gender discrimination within the structure of a family drama which is heart-wrenching and triumphant in equal measure.
Pannu and Pednekar are both endearing, their performance marked by a chutzpah that more than compensates for the prosthetics and age inconsistency.
