Film

Aankhen

Name: Aankhen
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Released: 2002
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Paresh Rawal, Sushmita Sen

Other titles called Aankhen: the 1993 film.

A stylish heist thriller where a disgraced bank manager recruits three blind men to execute an audacious robbery. Aankhen is sleek, witty, and built on a clever high-concept premise that drives the narrative with surprising intelligence. It's for anyone who loves a well-orchestrated crime caper with charisma to spare.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy caper films where the fun is in watching a meticulous scheme come together, with a crew of mismatched professionals sizing each other up and a heist plotted with more patience than panic.

Skip it if you want lean, tightly edited crime and find a three-hour-plus Bollywood film with songs, melodrama and broad comic turns more of a chore than a treat.

What it asks of you: It runs close to three hours, so settle in for a long, leisurely build with song breaks and big emotional swings, and plenty of patience before the plot fully opens up.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Dhoom2004

Fast-paced heist energy with charismatic leads, spectacular set pieces, and genuine wit. Like Aankhen, it's slick Bollywood crime cinema that treats its audience as smart and wants them entertained.

But The sequels overshadowed it and the plot twists aren't as clever on a second viewing. Relies heavily on star power carrying you through stretches of thin logic.

Rang De Basanti2006

Aamir Khan vehicle with a heist structure and a young ensemble cast with real chemistry. Mixes urgency, humour, and moral complexity while maintaining that propulsive narrative drive you get from Aankhen.

But Shifts tone sharply in the third act in ways some find jarring. Runs nearly three hours and asks a lot of patience for a few sequences.

The Italian Job1969

The original heist caper template: clever premise, lovable criminals, ensemble charm. Gold bullion instead of bank notes, but the DNA is identical—style, wit, and a team pulling off the impossible together.

But Dated in ways that pull you out if you're used to modern pacing. The ending will frustrate anyone who wants narrative closure.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Aankhen

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Requiem for a Dream2000

Both films hinge on a meticulous plan executed with precision, but Requiem asks the question Aankhen never does: what if the plan destroys everyone involved, including the architect?

A story about plans gone catastrophically wrong, where every character's scheme—heist-adjacent in motivation if not in action—collapses under the weight of their own obsession. Same structural DNA as Aankhen's central theft, but turned inside out to show you the cost of that kind of drive.

But Brutally, relentlessly bleak. Uses repetitive editing, distorted sound design, and montages as weapons. Not entertainment in the traditional sense; it will exhaust you deliberately.

Ocean's Eleven1960

Effortless cool, an impossible job, a team of specialists, and genuine fun. The Rat Pack original has the same lightness and the same belief that a good heist is entertainment first, drama second.

But At nearly two hours it meanders more than Aankhen. The gender politics are stuck in 1960 and haven't aged well.

Sholay1975

The Bollywood film that proved Indian cinema could be everything at once: thrilling, funny, romantic, mythic. It's the blueprint for ensemble caper energy with character depth and a willingness to take risks.

But At nearly three and a half hours, it demands real investment. If you're not in the mood for slow-burn storytelling, the early stretches will lose you.

Inside Man2006

Clive Owen as a bank robber with a plan so intricate you're still untangling it. Denzel Washington as the cop trying to stay one step ahead. Chess game tension that rewards attention without ever becoming tedious.

But The twist, when it comes, divides audiences hard. Some find it brilliant; others feel cheated by a final reveal that changes the game.

Hell or High Water2016

Modern heist structure dressed as a Western. Chris Pine and Ben Foster robbing banks across Texas while Jeff Bridges hunts them. Tense, intelligent, and genuinely surprising about who you're rooting for.

But Slower burn than Aankhen, with stretches that prioritize mood over action. The ending is ambiguous in ways that may frustrate you.

Johnny English2003

Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling spy who accidentally succeeds. The same year as Aankhen, it shares that confident comic timing and the notion that watching incompetent people bumble toward success is endlessly watchable.

But Relies on slapstick in ways that feel dated now. If you don't find physical comedy funny, there's very little else here to grip you.

Andhadhun2018

Both films make blindness central to their mechanics—but Andhadhun weaponizes it as a cover for chaos, while Aankhen uses it as the secret architecture of order.

A blind pianist unwittingly becomes entangled in a murder plot. Like Aankhen, it uses disability as a narrative engine and a lie—but where Aankhen builds a heist around perception, this film makes blindness a weapon of deception and survival with Hitchcockian plotting.

But Plot twists pile up in the final act to the point of self-parody. If you need character motivation to feel earned rather than just sprung on you, the ending may feel cheap.

Léon: The Professional1994

Both films find warmth and humour in the relationship between specialists executing a dangerous plan. Both treat their ensemble—whether thieves or assassins—as found family bound by execution rather than blood.

A contract killer mentors a 12-year-old orphan in the art of precision assassination. It's a character study wrapped in a heist-adjacent structure: meticulous planning, a specialized skill set, a team dynamic built on mutual need and surprising affection.

But The premise is deliberately provocative and the violence, though stylized, is unflinching. Contains a contentious romantic subplot that will turn many viewers away entirely.