Ankhen: The sanskari spy who shunned martinis and saved India

India Today

25-05-2025

As part of our Retro Review series, we revisit 'Ankhen', the 1968 spy thriller that outgrossed every Bollywood film of its year, blending James Bond swagger with desi Dharm-endra.Film: Ankhen (1968)Cast: Mala Sinha, Dharmendra, Mehmood, Kumkum, Nazir Hussain, Jeevan, Madan PuriDirector: Ramanand SagarMusic/Lyrics: Ravi, Sahir LudhianviBox-office status: Super HitWhere to watch: YouTubeWhy to watch: For tacky gadgets inspired by 007; wacky villains inspired by Hitler; and trendy women's fashion inspired by LebanonMoral of the story: Duty over desire, because India's enemies don't stand a chance against a sanskari spyadvertisementWhat do you get when Ramanand Sagar takes off on James Bond? A 007 who doesn't smoke, isn't bothered about Martinis - shaken, stirred or bugged; and runs away from gorgeous women hitting on him. In short, a sanskari spy - a satyugi avatar of the kalyugi secret agent of drinks, dames, seduction and destruction.In 'Ankhen', the man who gave us Maryada Purshottam Ram two decades later on Doordarshan, gives us Sunil (Dharmendra), a globe-trotting spy who just wouldn't cross the Lakshman Rekha of maryada. Two beautiful women literally stalk him. But every time they snuggle up to him, Sanskari Sunil lectures them on desh, duty and dharma. No wonder one of them prefers death to the company of a spy who, unlike Mike Myers' Bond avatar, just wouldn't, well, shake a leg.advertisement
'Ankhen' is the antithesis of Bond's nocturnal games. But not his diurnal gadgets. Like the arrows that kiss each other to the sound of hissing snakes before falling off in 'Ramayana', Sagar conjures some really tacky gadgets. One of them, like a compass, goes tu-tu-tu whenever Sunil is around. Another, a stethoscope clone, picks out bugs in the (aforementioned) liquor bottles in a Lebanon hotel. In one scene, Sagar beats the future Tom Cruise with a mask that turns a deshbhakt into a traitor. Pity he didn't apply for a patent - the revenue from 'Mission Impossible' would have widened Sagar's 'Ankhen'.
Photo credit: IMDb
Ankhen's script is both pretentious and prophetic. It features a Kingsmen-like network of saviours - in this case retired INA officers - ready to rid India of its enemies.The enemy is a curious herd. The head is Dr X, Jeevan, who barks orders through clenched teeth and a voice fraying at the edges, suggesting that he could benefit from a prescription of laxatives. Dr X, who dresses like Hitler in khaki and answers to the call sign of Napoleon, runs a den somewhere in the northeast of India. His goal: destabilise India for the benefit of you-know-who. (Hint: Not Pakistan).advertisementHis most ominous asset is 'Madam', Lalita Pawar. In one scene, the diminutive Pawar slices through a group of men, slashing them with karate chops. For this run alone, 'Ankhen' deserves a rewind.Sanskari Sunil is dispatched to Lebanon to find out who this mysterious Doctor X is. The task is a cinch. Everyone in Lebanon speaks Hindi, and two women, the ones who whisper sweet nothings into his dispassionate ears, are ready to help.One illogical thing leads to another. And Sanskari Sunil completes his mission.GARAM DHARAM SERVES COLD Halfway through, you wonder why Dharmendra signed up. His Sunil enters in a Jodhpuri coat, looking like a groom ditched at the mandap, not a suave spy. No dhai-kilo dialogues, no steamy escapades - just a yawn-inducing sanskarism that leaves Garam Dharam ice-cold.But the penny drops: 'Ankhen' isn't his film. It's Mala Sinha's show. A box-office titan in the late 60s, Sinha owns every frame.
Photo credit: IMDb
advertisementShe fits into hairstyles, kimonos, sarees, skirts, and Arabian dresses with equal flair. She stalks Sunil through Japan in a made-for-her intro, belts out Ravi-Sahir's songs in a dramatic platter of emotions, and guns down baddies in the climax.This isn't just a spy saga - it's a feminist fest with Sinha kicking stereotypes as deftly as she does villains.Dharmendra gets his moment, though. In a scene made for him. Locked in a cage with a tiger guarding it, he doesn't just escape - —he saws through the bars and wrestles the beast, setting the template for Bollywood's macho showdowns in the 70s, when tigers were in huge demand.With its wild gadgety jugaad, 'Ankhen' is a time travel to the 1960s Bollywood - outrageous, earnest, and illogically entertaining. Rewind it for the nostalgia, stay for the sheer audacity of a sanskari spy who makes 007 look like a rebel without a cause, and women.No wine, no women, only desh. That's 'Ankhen' for you.