Aankhen (2002 film)
Aankhen () is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language heist thriller film directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen, Paresh Rawal and Aditya Pancholi. The film is an adaptation of Shah's own Gujarati stage play Andhalo Pato (Blindman's Buff). The film tells the story of Vijay Singh Rajput (Bachchan) a hard-working but temperamental man, who has spent all his life working for a bank. When he is unlawfully fired, he decides to take vengeance by organising a heist, and having the bank robbed by three blind men (Kumar, Rampal and Rawal), as no one will suspect them. Aankhen had its worldwide premiere in Malaysia at the 3rd IIFA Awards ceremony on 5 April 2002. Upon release, Aankhen received universal acclaim for its concept, storyline and direction. It turned out to be the fifth highest grossing Hindi film of 2002. Plot Obsessive, temperamental and schizophrenic bank manager Vijay Singh Rajput (Amitabh Bachchan) loses his job for badly beating up a bank clerk who tried to embezzle money. Enraged at losing his job, he plots revenge on the bank by intending to stage a heist. He employs three blind men – Vishwas (Akshay Kumar), a person who after becoming blind in an accident, gains a powerful sixth sense, Illyaas (Paresh Rawal) and Arjun (Arjun Rampal) — when, after passing by school for the blind, he understands that blind people can be trained to do things like sighted people. He blackmails and enlists the help of Neha (Sushmita Sen) who is a teacher at the school to train the trio to do the seemingly impossible heist. He chooses blind people because they, as thieves, would never be suspected as no one would believe blind people can rob a bank. The bank robbery is successful, with the jewels safely captured by the three. However, in the process of robbing the bank, Illyaas' face is exposed by a nearby civilian, captured in footage and prompting citywide posters with his face. Meanwhile, Mr. Rajput anxiously tries to extort information from Vishwas and Arjun regarding the jewels and their location. Unable to answer, as they did not collect the items, they try to defer the answer by changing subjects. Ultimately, it is revealed that Illyaas is the one with complete knowledge of the box's belongings. Meanwhile, tensions rise between Rajput and Neha; the latter resists the abusive nature of Rajput and his obnoxious harassing of Vishwas and Arjun. Arjun confesses his love to Neha, who reveals that she is associated in the plot only for the well-being of her younger brother, Rahul, who has been kidnapped by Rajput, and she cannot kill him even if she has any weapon in her hand. In a furious attempt, the police try to locate Illyaas. Illyaas lands up at Rajput's place after getting drunk. Rajput tries several ways to force Illyaas into revealing the location of the box. Unable to generate an answer, he slams Illyaas, who falls on the ground and injures his eyes,