21 years of 'Aankhen': Vipul Shah says he regretted changing the ending

Vipul Amrutlal Shahrsquos debut Hindi directorial lsquoAankhenrsquo completed 21 years of release on April 5 The film was the biggest hit of 2002 The heist thriller starred Amitabh Bachchan Akshay Kumar Arjun Rampal Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Sen in pivotal roles It narrated the story of three blind men who rob a bank after being trained by Sushmita Sen under the mastermind that is Amitabh Bachchanrsquos characterAs the film completed 21 years director Vipul Shah spoke to Midday Online about the reception to the film the negative buzz around it the alternate climax and working with Akshay KumarFor the early 2000s the plot of Aankhen was unique How did you come up with the idea and was it difficult to convince people to get on boardlsquoAankhenrsquo was based on a Gujarati play that we had done That was my first play as a director called lsquoAndhalo Patorsquo which means blindfold Aatish Kapadia and I had done the play and the same team did lsquoAankhenrsquo The play was a huge successhellip we used to joke when we were doing the play that one day we will make this as our first film and that is how that happened So the idea came from the fact that I had seen a film called lsquoThe Doberman Gangrsquo and I thought how unique is the plot and what can we do which can be even more unique and thats how the idea was developedHow did the lead actors react to the scriptThe reaction to the script was surprisingly fantastic When I met Akshay I didnt know how he would react because he didnrsquot have a heroine in the film and when I met Amit ji I was not sure if he would want to play a negative character or a gray character Paresh I was very sure that he would love the character and he had seen the play also When I called him he said that you are doing your first film I am on board and rest we can discuss later With Amit ji and Akshay we had one full night of narration each They both loved the idea and script and the same night after the narration of the film they agreed to do it When I met Sushmita she was on board immediately and same with Arjun They were all the first choice and came on board the same day they heard the scriptAlso ReadAkshay Kumar Im not a race horseAankhen was your debut Hindi directorial and became the biggest film of 2002 What did the success of the film teach youWhen lsquoAankhenrsquo was being made there were bets in the industry that this film would not work There were too many things against this film One Amitabh Bachchan the biggest star of India was playing a negative character All the heroes were blind Akshay Kumar did not have a romantic track in the film Three blind guys robbing a bank who will watch this film in the interiors of India So there were a lot of bets and a lot of people discouraged the actors from doing the film But when the film succeededhellip actually no one knows what works It is only the audience who knows and they are ready for everything that is new and unusual Its only our fears and theories that we make in our mind The audience does not look at any film through the lens of theory If they like a film they go out and tell others when they like something they make it a successWhat made you question the original ending of the film despite there being several new aspects to the filmWe had one trial I wonrsquot be able to name where it was held In that trial there were some very intelligent people with whom I had long arguments the whole night where they all felt that the film itself was so new and unusual and on top of that an open ending is not a good idea Eventually the whole team discussed and at 6 in the morning decided that overseas we will keep the open ending and in India we will end the film where they find the jewellery in the harmonium owned by Paresh Rawal That is how we went ahead with it The only person who was against this decision with me was Abhishek Bachchan AB never wanted it to be changed and after the release we all regretted doing it But AB was the only one who found the ending brilliant and said lsquoDonrsquot changersquo But a lot of people convinced us otherwiseThe original ending hinted at a sequel Have you ever considered going ahead with itWe did consider a sequel but the idea did not go beyond that point at least for me The film was well received Hollywood had shown interest in remaking it but the deal did not materialise for some reason But there was a genuine interest from Hollywood in remaking the film But I was not the producer of the film I regret it as we missed a great opportunityWhat was the most memorable part of shooting this film for you Something that stays with you even after 2 decadesThere was a sequence in the film where we wanted to shoot in the middle of thousands of people and we shot it on one of the streets of Goregaon where Amit ji is supposed to beat up a bank staff for being dishonest We wanted a shoot where you cant see the road only see people and amongst all of that Amit ji is beating that guy up We had done a lot of planning for that We literally filmed that entire sequence in 2 hours We started at 930 and by 1130 we were done Amit ji did it in one take We had a threecamera setup we changed the lenses and got another cut and were done in 2 hours There was so much crowd and for Amit ji to do it in one shot was absolutely stunning and amazing After the shoot was over Amit ji was very happy and he took us to an impromptu lunch at his houseWas it difficult to rope in such a cast back thenWhen I started the film I did not understand the workings of the Hindi film industry I did not know how multiplestar cast films are done I was just going ahead with the script that I had It is my surprise today that in those days actors were very happy to work in a multistarrer film Today it seems to be a big issue It was wonderful to get so many actors in every film At that point of time we could write those scripts Today it is very difficult to get two heroes to work in a film Things have changed now but in those days it was not soMajority of your films have starred Akshay Kumar How is it working with himAkshay and I have a great working relationship We made so many successful films together We made lsquoAankhenrsquo then lsquoWaqtrsquo lsquoNamaste Londonrsquo lsquoSingh is Kinggrsquo lsquoAction Replayyrsquo which did not do so well then lsquoHolidayrsquo So its been a terrific working relationship and I have enjoyed every moment of it He is a very funloving actor on set He wants the sets to be very happy and pleasant and he works hard to keep it that way Over the years he has emerged as a huge superstar and a complete actor who can do any genre with complete easeMany films are struggling to get people to the theatres As someone who has many successful films to his credit what in your opinion could be the reasonRight now the industry is facing challenges to get the audiences to the theater but lsquoPathaanrsquo got a lot of people to the theaters and lsquoDrishyam 2rsquo got a lot of people in theaters Its not that all is lost sand I believe this is a phase and we will with better content better marketing and bettermounted films be able to get the audience back Today I believe that audiences want to see a tremendous subject or a hugely mounted extravaganza for them to go to the theatre So if the film has any of these qualifications it will attract a lot of people