Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Explores the romance between two visually impaired characters, navigating both the joys and complexities of modern love.

My Take – You know what the word needs? More Ruskin Bond adaptations. After all the Indian writer has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books for children, but with the exception of Junoon (1979), The Blue Umbrella (2005) & 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), his works have been largely relegated to short films and (passable) series formats.

Sadly, this Santosh Singh directorial, which is adapted from his short story ‘The Eyes Have It‘, doesn’t exactly make a strong case for more. Indeed, the film has its heart in the right place and initially promises a light-hearted romance between people who are challenged in different ways, with an aim to showcase the warmth of first chance encounters, the innocence of falling in love, facing betrayal and heartbreak.

Yet, the execution falters. In what seems like an unnecessary effort to connect to the masses, the script is littered with every kind of cliché and genre trope possible, turning the proceedings, despite a promising start, quite monotonous after a while.

Sure, its works as one-time watch, particularly due to the music, Vikrant Massey‘s impressive performance and Shanaya Kapoor‘s promising debut, but the film never quite comes together as the emotionally stirring experience it wants to be.

Beginning on a train to Mussoorie, the story follows Jahaan (Vikrant Massey), a visually impaired musician and a songwriter, and Saba (Shanaya Kapoor), a theater artiste who desperately wants to break into feature films, who find themselves opposite each other in a compartment.

Jahaan is on the verge of breaking through with his talent, but feeling low on inspiration is seeking a creative reset in the hills, on the other hand, Saba, unaware of Jahaan’s condition, has blindfolded herself and is determined to stay that way for the next few days, all in an effort to impress in an upcoming audition by showcasing the extremes of her method acting.

While the two get off to minimal sparring on normal things, their friendship grows with outings. And after spending much of their time together at the hill station love soon starts kicking in, despite the fact that the both are unaware of each other’s facial features. But when Saba finally removes her blindfold on Valentine’s Day, fearing rejection due to his condition, Jahaan simply whisks away, leaving her heartbroken.

However, destiny has something else in store, as the two once again coincide three years later, somewhere in Europe, where Saba is performing in a theater show directed by her loving boyfriend Abhinav (Zain Khan Durrani), who upon recommendation hires Jahaan as the new musician for their play.

Written by Mansi Bagla, the film starts off well. For all their awkwardness, the scenes in Mussoorie have an underlying sweetness and warmth, with merry stops for Maggi and sunset points, and some humor thrown in as well. But as the story moves forward, things begin to turn monotonous.

What started off as a breath of fresh air, things quickly run stale. Even the dramatic moments that usually elevate conventional love stories are missing. The second half particularly is stretched to absurd extents, especially in terms of runtime, and is as convoluted as the most predictable of love sagas in Hindi cinema.

Though the music, composed by Vishal Mishra, is soothing and perhaps the one element that truly works, a better, sharper, crisper script where the idea to recognize love as something to be felt deep inside and not just physically or superficially would have added great emotional dimensions to this story. It tries to tug at your heartstrings but ends up playing out of tune. You’re left wishing the film had seen its own potential more clearly. Instead, it stumbles blindly in search of a spark that never quite ignites.

Performance wise, Vikrant Massey brings his signature charm and sincerity, delivering emotions with a gaze or a pause. He grounds the film emotionally, even when the writing doesn’t give him much to work with.

Debutante Shanaya Kapoor (daughter of Sanjay Kapoor) captures attention with her screen presence and undeniable potential. There’s an innocence and sincerity in her presence that holds promise. While the role doesn’t challenge her much, she manages to leave an impression.

But the real stand out of the feature is Zain Khan Durrani, who brings in yet grounded turn, even though he appears only for a limited screen time. His portrayal as the green-flag Abhinav is another proof of why this brilliant actor needs to appear in more projects. On the whole, ‘Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan‘ is a humdrum romance steered by its performances but letdown by its stumbling execution.