21 Years of Aankhen Exclusive: Director Vipul Shah recalls changing the open ending for Indian audience; says, “I should have gone ahead with it in India”

On the occasion of Aankhen’s 21st anniversary on April 5, director Vipul Shah shared his thoughts on the film having two endings.

By Jiya Chulet -

April 6, 2023 - 2:36 PM IST

The Vipul Shah directorial Aankhen was among those few films which not only impressed the audience but also set a benchmark in its respective genre. The stellar cast and power-packed performance are still fresh in a section of moviegoers’ memories. As the film clocked 21 on April 5, in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Vipul Shah opened up on having two endings, one for Indian audiences and the other for overseas.

21 Years of Aankhen Exclusive: Director Vipul Shah recalls changing the open ending for Indian audience; says, “I should have gone ahead with it in India”

When asked to comment on it, Shah asserted, “I always thought that the open ending was a very cool idea for a subject, which was so unusual. But then we changed it for an Indian audience. And so the film has two endings, one of which we released overseas, which is an open ending. And, in India, we release the end where they find jewellery in Paresh Rawal's harmonium and that's where the film ends. But today I feel that I should have gone ahead with an open ending even in India.”

As the conversation progressed further, Vipul also discussed one of the vital scenes from Aankhen, the bank robbery sequence. When asked how he and the cast prepared themselves for it, he explained, “So the bank robbery sequence is a very interesting thing. Actually, when I was about to shoot the bank robbery sequence, one of the artists who was supposed to play the character of Delnaaz Irani, got a film as the main lead. So she decided to not do this film. And we are set up and running. And we had all our combination dates for that.”

He added, “So actually, I have shot this sequence in the order, where, firstly, I shot the seventh page. Then the second day I shot the second and third pages because we were searching for an actress to replace her. And we could not waste those dates. So I have shot this sequence in the most fractured manner. But at the same time, we never rehearsed in those days, workshops were not a norm. But it was all in my mind.”

He concluded by saying, “I knew exactly how the choreography of the scene was. I shot it in the most fractured manner. And I was very tense. But eventually, when we edited it, I was extremely happy with the way it turned out. It looks like a very well-rehearsed and very well-choreographed scene. But in reality, it was exactly the opposite of this.”

Also Read: 21 Years of Aankhen EXCLUSIVE: Director Vipul Shah on the success of his debut film; claims, “Till date, I don’t know its actual box office numbers”