Saand Ki Aankh (transl. Bull's Eye) is a 2019 Indian biographical drama film directed by Tushar Hiranandani and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Reliance Entertainment and Nidhi Parmar.[4] The film features Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar and Prakash Jha[5] in the lead roles, it also features Pawan Chopra, Vineet Kumar Singh and Shaad Randhawa in the supporting roles. It is based on the lives of sharpshooters Chandro and Prakashi Tomar.[6] Filming began on 10 February 2019 in Baghpat. Some parts were filmed in Hastinapur and Mawana.[7] It was released on 25 October 2019, coinciding with the Diwali festival.
Saand Ki Aankh (transl. Bull's Eye) is a 2019 Indian biographical drama film directed by Tushar Hiranandani and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Reliance Entertainment and Nidhi Parmar.[4] The film features Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar and Prakash Jha[5] in the lead roles, it also features Pawan Chopra, Vineet Kumar Singh and Shaad Randhawa in the supporting roles. It is based on the lives of sharpshooters Chandro and Prakashi Tomar.[6] Filming began on 10 February 2019 in Baghpat. Some parts were filmed in Hastinapur and Mawana.[7] It was released on 25 October 2019, coinciding with the Diwali festival.
Development and casting[edit]
Initially the film was titled Womaniya with Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles. But due to controversy over legal rights of the title which is held by Pritish Nandy Communications, the film was renamed as Saand Ki Aankh.[8] Later on, Prakash Jha was also included in the cast to play a vital role.[5] In the last week of February 2019, Vineet Kumar Singh was added to the cast.[9] Giving details of the film, the co-producer Anurag Kashyap stated that the film is a biopic based on the life of the oldest sharpshooters, Chandro Tomar and her sister-in-law Prakashi Tomar.[6]
Filming[edit]
Filming began on 10 February 2019 in Baghpat. The second part of the film is to be shot in Hastinapur and Mawana.[7] Pannu trained in air pistol and rifle shooting to reprise the role of a sharpshooter in the film.[10] The filming was completed in the last week of April as Pannu shared the news on social media.[11]
Promotion and release[edit]
On 14 February 2019, the lead actors shared the first look of the film from the location.[12] Giving wishes on the Holi festival, Pannu shared another look from the film on Twitter on 21 March 2019.[13] A short video introducing Chandro and Prakashi Tomar, on whose life the film is based were released by Reliance Entertainment on 14 April 2019 on YouTube.[14] First look posters of the film were released on 16 April 2019. In the posters, Pannu and Bhumi are posing with their pistols. The poster gives the release date as Diwali.[15]The official teaser of the film was released on 11 July 2019 by Reliance Entertainment.[16]The official trailer of the film was unveiled by Reliance Entertainment on 23 September 2019.[17]The film was theatrically released on 25 October 2019.[1]
Directed by
| Tushar Hiranandani | ||
Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
| Balwinder Singh Janjua | (Screenplay) | |
| Balwinder Singh Janjua | (Story) |
Cast (in credits order)
 | Taapsee Pannu | Prakash Tomar | |
 | Bhumi Pednekar | Chandro Tomar | |
 | Prakash Jha | Rattan Singh | |
 | Vineet Kumar | Dr. Yashpal (as Vineet Kumar Singh) | |
 | Pawan Chopra | Jai Singh | |
Critical responsePriyanka Sinha Jha of CNN-News18, praising Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar for their 'endearing' performances, rates the film with three and a half stars out of five. She writes, "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." Concluding, she opined, that the simple storytelling, with good background score and suitable production design the film has hit the bullseye.[19] Sonal Gera of India TV gave three and a half stars out of five and noted that Saand Ki Aankh is a 'compelling feminist statement'. Criticizing make-up and prosthetics used on Taapsee and Bhumi she felt that they looked too young to be 60-year olds. Nevertheless, praising the performance of Pannu, Pednekar and Prakash Jha, she concluded, "The films need to be watched but for powerful performances by inarguably two of the best actresses of recent times, Prakash Jha's baddie, an inspiring narrative and for the sheer joy of watching a good female-centric movie".[20] Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave two stars out of five and concluded: "This feels like a waste of rich narrative possibilities, as mechanically feelgood as those two dozen Britflicks that have cast Dames Dench, Smith, et al as old dears who shoot from the lip".[21] Box officeSaand Ki Aankh's opening day domestic collection was ₹48 lacs. On the second day, the film collected ₹1.08 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹91 lacs, taking a total opening weekend collection to ₹2.47 crore.[3] As of 7 November 2019, with a gross of ₹23.87 crores in India and ₹2.13 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of ₹26 crores.[3] Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
 | Raunakk Bhnder | Young Bhawar Singh | |
| Vicky Kadian | Rakesh Sharma | |
 | Trupti Khamkar | Young Bimla | |
| Nikhat Khan | Maharani Of Alwar | |
 | Shaad Randhawa | Rambir Tomar | |
 | Ankur B. Saraiya | ||
| Yogendra Vikram Singh | Young Rattan Singh | |
 | Navneet Srivastava | Farooq | |
Produced by
| Ghanteshwar T. Guru | line producer | |
| Anurag Kashyap | producer | |
| Nidhi Parmar | producer | |
| Ajay Rai | co-producer | |
| Vinay G. Rai | line producer | |
| Rahul Rawat | line producer | |
| Ankur B. Saraiya | executive producer | |
| Sahil Singh | Chandigarh / line producer (Chandigarh) |
Music by
| Advait Nemlekar | ||
Cinematography by
| Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti | (Director of Photography) |
Casting By
| Gautam Kishanchandani | ||
Production Design by
| Ravi Srivastava | ||
Art Direction by
| Vilas Kolap | ||
| Yashashvi Shah | (Assistant Art Director) | |
Makeup Department
| Dhananjay Prajapati | makeup designer | |
| Pallavi K Shroff | Prosthetic Artist |
Production Management
| Kuldeep Mehta | production manager |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
| Jatin Bajaj | second assistant director | |
| Diisha Danait | third assistant director | |
| Kunal Gupta | first assistant director | |
| Aditya Thakre | Director's Assistant |
Art Department
| Jiyaul Ansari | Art Department | |
| Pramod Chauhan | Head Carpenter | |
| Junaid Khan | Art Department | |
| Mohammad Salim Khan | Typist | |
| Shane Ali Khan | Asst. Art Director | |
| Rajesh Maurya | Art department | |
| Yashashvi Shah | Onset Dresser | |
| Divakar Singh | property master | |
| Nigappa Yaranal | Head painter |
Sound Department
| Mohammad Aaquib | Associate Foley artist | |
| Sarit Chatterjee | sound editor | |
| Dattaprasad Desai | foley recordist | |
| Kulkarnisayali12 | assistant recordist | |
| Yogesh Nehe | Premix Engineer | |
| Mohammad Iqbal Paratwada | foley artist | |
| Anish Poduval | assistant re-recording mixer | |
| Karan Sanchala | sound effects editor | |
| Saptarshi Sarkar | Dialogue Editor | |
| Akash Sengupta | Premix Engineer | |
| Amandeep Singh | foley engineer |
Visual Effects by
| Raghav Rai | VFX Project Head | |
| Rajeev Kumar Rastogi | visual effects producer |
Camera and Electrical Department
| Shafi Khan | Still Photographer | |
| Devkaran Nivergi | focus puller |
Casting Department
| Deepak Mehrotra | casting Agency: Dm Stars India | |
| Amit Tharwani | casting assistant |
Editorial Department
| Prashant Kajale | associate editor |
Music Department
| Advait Nemlekar | musical director | |
| Raj Shekhar | lyricist |
Script and Continuity Department
| Keshab Raj Paudel | script supervisor |
Other crew
| Lipsa Acharya | Choreographer | |
| Abhijeet Chauhan | dit | |
| Vaibhav Gaur | Marketing Executive: Reliance Entertainment | |
| Shane Ali Khan | Asst. Art Director | |
| Akshay Menon | Assistant Editor: Visual Promotions | |
| Fatema Nagree | AGM Marketing: Reliance Entertainment | |
| Sagar Sawarkar | behind the scenes: Videographer | |
| Such s Seksaria | motion graphics artist: title animation | |
| Bhavyanshu Singh | behind the scenes director/producer / still photographer |
Saand Ki Aankh (2019) Hindi Full Movie
