OK, I will admit that the name of the film puzzled me at first – before I watched the trailer of Saand Ki Aankh. However, after watching the trailer, it became a clear – saand ki aankh is the literal translation of ‘bullseye’ and this is a film about shooters. While it’s a cracker of a trailer and promises an unusual, absorbing film based on a real story, the film has attracted its share of criticism – from veteran actors such as Soni Razdan and Neena Gupta.
They hit bullseye every time. What do you eat they are asked. Gaali (abuses) they answer. Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu play two badass older women with an unerring aim and oodles of attitude. The film also stars Prakash Jha and Vineet Kumar Singh. Directed by Tushar Hiranandani, the film releases this Diwali.
The film is based on the true story of the lives of sharpshooters Chandro and Prakashi Tomar.
The film was earlier titled Womaniya but later changed. Pednekar and Pannu have been seen in innovative promos; including arriving atop a tractor to the launch of the trailer;.
Some liked the fact that it is going to be a film about girls with guns. To be sure there are several other reasons why the film seems very promising to me.
Women breaking free of their shackles. Women supporting each other. These are the themes close to my heart; close to many hearts looking forward this film, it would seem.
While the two women in the lead roles are excellent choices, there are many older actors in the industry of that actual age who could have played those ‘Shooter Dadi’ roles.
The charge of ageism is one that older actors seemed to agree with. Neena Gupta herself also thought that the filmmakers should have cast older actors for the roles. Soni Razdan also expressed this view – why make films on 60 year olds, if they cannot cast 60 year olds, she asked.
Tapsee Pannu tweeted out a reply where she listed a bunch of actors who had played people of a different age, gender and so on convincingly and successfully. This is about an actor venturing outside their comfort zone to bring about change and do something different according to her.
Some thought that it was silly to say that only older women should play older women and pointed out the many times that male actors had played old men.
Yes it is certainly the prerogative of the filmmaker to cast who they think is best for a role. It is also a personal challenge for any actor to play a character decades older than their actual age. So Tapsee Pannu’s argument is sound in itself. However, we do have to think about the number of times Amitabh Bachchan has played his age (and the many, many times he played characters younger than himself in the past) and then ask – how many women have roles written for them the way that Bachchan does. The answer is telling.
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