Lead Cast: Shanaya Kapoor, Vikrant Massey, Zain Khan Durrani
Director: Santosh Singh
Screenplay: Mansi Bagla
Music: Vishal Mishra
Producers: Varun Bagla, Mansi Bagla, Vipin Agnihotri
⭐ Review by Savvy World
Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan is a visually rich, emotionally tender romance that explores connection in its purest form — when sight is taken away and all that remains is the heart.
Drawing gentle inspiration from Ruskin Bond’s timeless short story The Eyes Have It, the film reimagines a fleeting train encounter as a full-length love story between two visually impaired artists — Saba, a blindfolded theatre performer aspiring for the big screen, and Jahaan, a soft-spoken songwriter with a quiet strength.
Plot Overview
When Saba (Shanaya Kapoor), a blindfolded theatre actress chasing Bollywood dreams, boards a train from Delhi to Dehradun, she finds herself seated across Jahaan (Vikrant Massey), a visually impaired musician who speaks more through melodies than words. What begins as a brief encounter soon unfolds into a quiet, soulful connection — a love story not built on sight, but on shared silences, emotional intuition, and vulnerability.
While the storytelling occasionally leans into heightened drama and stylized flourishes, the film’s emotional core remains sincere and intact. It’s a poetic journey where love is not seen, but deeply felt.
Performances: Shanaya Stuns in a Dazzling Debut, Vikrant Shines with Soul, Zain Impresses with Quiet Power
Shanaya Kapoor, in her debut as Saba, is an absolute delight to watch — not just for her luminous screen presence, but for how deeply she pours herself into the character. She essays the role of a visually impaired theatre artist with conviction, delicacy, and heart. There’s a sincerity in her performance that feels unforced, and a freshness that lights up the screen. She’s not just promising — she excels, embracing the emotional range of Saba with a maturity far beyond a first-timer. Shanaya looks lovely throughout, but it’s her emotional transparency that makes her truly stand out.
Vikrant Massey, as Jahaan, offers a quietly powerful performance — grounded, soulful, and emotionally rich. Playing a blind musician, he captures the inner world of a man who listens more than he speaks, and loves with both restraint and depth. His ability to communicate pain, poetry, and purpose without theatrics is one of the film’s core strengths. Vikrant inhabits the role completely, reminding us why he continues to be one of the most dependable actors of his generation.
Zain Khan Durrani, portraying Abhinav, brings a poetic stillness and quiet ache to the love triangle. As the man silently devoted to Saba, his performance is filled with restraint and emotional nuance. Zain, an actor and poet in real life, brings layers of dignity and longing to Abhinav – in many ways, he provides the emotional anchor to the story.
Music & Cinematic Experience
Vishal Mishra’s music acts as a narrative companion, with soulful tracks that echo the film’s inner sentiment. The sound design delicately underscores the theme of experiencing life through senses beyond sight.
The film takes its inspiration from Ruskin Bond’s short story The Eyes Have It and expands it into a full-length narrative that blends quiet romance with emotional introspection. While the original tale was a brief, poignant encounter between two blind travelers, the screenplay by Mansi Bagla broadens the premise into a layered love triangle, exploring ambition, longing, and connection beyond sight. Santosh Singh’s direction captures the poetic stillness of Bond’s world while adding cinematic scale and emotional flourishes. Visually, the film offers a dreamy, stylized take on everyday moments — with train compartments, hill stations, and silences rendered with thoughtful production design and effective VFX.
Verdict
Anchored by a memorable debut from Shanaya Kapoor, a grounded performance by Vikrant Massey, and a heartfelt soundtrack, this is a film worth experiencing — preferably with your heart wide open.
The film opens to a theatre release on 11th July, 2025.
