Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Review: In the competition to play blind, unfortunately, the makers win

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Review: Despite Vikrant Massey, Shanaya Kapoor, and a Ruskin Bond adaptation, the film’s execution is not just criminal, it’s downright offensive.

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Movie Review

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Review: Story - Saba Shergill (Shanaya Kapoor) is a wannabe actor who is preparing for her first screen test for a movie where she is set to play a blind lady. For this, she blindfolds herself and goes on a trip to Mussoorie. Here, on the train ride, her manager abandons her. But Saba decides not to take off the blindfold (because method acting) and trusts a man with whom she gets along on the train. But little does she know that the guy, Jahaan Bakshi (Vikrant Massey), whom she is trusting to protect her, is actually visually impaired. They spend time together, save each other, bump into each other, kiss, and fall in love. But when Saba is about to take off her blindfold, he disappears—because how else do you extend the plot? Only to again run into her “somewhere in Europe” three years later. Will they end their little blindfold game? Who exactly is blind here?

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Review:

Every single week since I took up this job, my fellow critics enter the dark cinema halls wanting to love the film we are about to see and surrender to the magic of 70 mm. There are good days and decent ones, but the bad ones make you question your choice of profession. No, I am not ranting, I am warning you, because the next 10 minutes of your life reading this will be me telling you why exactly our community comes across as prude people who have no heart. Enter Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, a movie that is not just testing patience but also making sure logic is not just left to suffer in a corner, but also ignored completely. It is hard not to like something that has Vikrant Massey and has Ruskin Bond written over it, but the impossible has happened, and we must discuss.

The art of telling stories about blind people has to be one of the trickiest and difficult nuts to crack. The fact that the actor on screen is not really visually impaired, but is playing a part. So you know they can actually see, but then they also have to make you believe they can't. Remember, some actors use the white contact lenses so they can feel the claustrophobia of darkness? Well, there are methods. But I can guarantee none include going on a week-long trip to a remote location in the North of India blindfolded, and that too with a stranger. How genius someone has to be to believe in it, and how dumb the people around them have to be to let them do this. Saba Shergill in Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan does exactly that.

But maybe that is the least offensive decision that she takes in the course of 140 minutes because not once but at least thrice, or maybe five times, she refers to a blind man and tells him to see. Two of the five times are after she has taken off her blindfold. I am sure Jahaan was not heartbroken but offended. Back to the story. Written and created by Mansi Bagla, directed by Santosh Singh, and adapted from a short story by Ruskin Bond called The Eyes Have It, Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan wants to tell an unconventional story between two people with unconventional situations in their lives. The guy lives with PTSD, the girl wants to ‘prove’ herself, and in between is the mess that can be called a competition to play blind. And not Vikrant or Shanaya, but the makers win the competition.

Also Read: Kaalidhar Laapata review: Abhishek Bachchan gets lost at Kumbh Mela, and the film in the script

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan does not even try to be convincing, even when Kapoor is busy giving a decent and impressive-in-parts debut performance. First, it chooses the wrong era, and second, it alienates logic completely. Of course, you would want me to suspend my disbelief, but you want me to believe a person who has force-closed her eyes will not open them even after a full-grown man has crashed into her and fallen on her and is now kissing? Okay, I would even believe in that. But how do you explain that a girl born to a tech-savvy world with a smartphone in her hand did not even try looking for the guy on the internet after he just disappeared one night, post they confessed their love to each other? He is a music composer, it should not be so hard to find him and know how he looks?

How does one brush that under the carpet? No one is bothered about continuity or having some glue between the scenes. Most of the second half seems like the makers were done and bored to death with shooting the patchwork, so they decided to go without it. Talking of patchwork, Vishal Mishra composed the music album and songs, every single song making all of them sound the same. It feels like you are listening to the same track again and again for over two hours. I understand Jahaan is a singer, and having a single voice gives a better edge to the character, but that doesn't mean everything should sound the same.

Add to it, the dialogues are so pretentious that even the most romantic and emotional ones end up churning out chuckles from the audience. It is like someone read a couple of poetry books by Gulzar Sahab and tried to replicate them. You know nothing is going right in that case. Vikrant Massey tries too hard to make sense of this visually impaired character, but also loses grip a lot of times. At moments, it feels like he is making eye contact with the actors, and that pulls you out of the experience.

It’s an interesting concept, but the execution is so lazy that nothing makes sense. Case in point: Saba’s boyfriend kisses her on the cheek and dances with her to make Jahaan jealous. JAHAAN IS BLIND. Not jealous — he should be offended.

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan Review: Final Verdict:

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan could have ended in five minutes if Shanaya Kapoor took off the blindfold, but she and an entire crew decided to continue only so some odd 100 people in a cinema hall could roll their eyes at her character’s life decisions. This is a guideline video on why one must not take any trip blindfolded (if someone is actually that clever).

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan releases on July 11, 2025. For more reviews like this and everything else from the world of entertainment, stay tuned to OTTplay.

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