Initially the film was titled Womaniya with Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles. But due to controversy over legal rights of the title which is held by Pritish Nandy Communications, the film was renamed as Saand Ki Aankh.[8] Later on Prakash Jha was also included in the cast to play a vital role.[5] In the last week of February 2019, Vineet Kumar Singh was added to the cast.[9] Giving details of the film, the co producer Anurag Kashyap stated that the film is a biopic based on the life of the oldest sharpshooters, Chandro Tomar and her sister-in-law Prakashi Tomar.[6]
Filming
Filming began on 10 February 2019 in Baghpat. The second part of the film is to be shot in Hastinapur and Mawana.[7] Pannu trained in air pistol and rifle shooting to reprise the role of a sharpshooter in the film.[10] The filming was completed in the last week of April as Pannu shared the news on social media.[11]
Promotion and release
Pannu and Pednekar at an event of the film
On 14 February 2019, the lead actors shared the first look of the film from location.[12] Giving wishes on Holi festival, Pannu shared another look from the film on Twitter on 21 March 2019.[13] A short video introducing Chandro and Prakashi Tomar, on whose life the film is based was released by Reliance Entertainment on 14 April 2019 on YouTube.[14] First look posters of the film were released on 16 April 2019. In the posters, Pannu and Bhumi are posing with their pistols. The poster gives the release date as Diwali.[15]
Priyanka Sinha Jha of News18, praising Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar for their 'endearing' performances, rates the film with three and half stars out of five. She writes, "What sets apart Saand Ki Aankh is that director Tushar Hiranandani frames the issues of patriarchy and gender discrimination within the structure of a family drama which is heart-wrenching and triumphant in equal measure." Concluding, she opined, that the simple storytelling, with good background score and suitable production design the film has hit the bullseye.[19] Sonal Gera of India TV gave three and half stars out of five and noted that Saand Ki Aankh is a 'compelling feminist statement'. Criticising make-up and prosthetics used on Taapsee and Bhumi she felt that they looked too young to be 60-year-olds. Nevertheless, praising the performance of Pannu, Pednekar and Prakash Jha, she concluded, "The films needs to be watched but for powerful performances by inarguably two of the best actresses of recent times, Prakash Jha's baddie, an inspiring narrative and for the sheer joy of watching a good female-centric movie".[20] Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave two stars out of five and concluded "This feels like a waste of rich narrative possibilities, as mechanically feelgood as those two dozen Britflicks that have cast Dames Dench, Smith et al as old dears who shoot from the lip".[21]
Box office
Saand Ki Aankh's opening day domestic collection was ₹48 lakhs. On the second day, the film collected ₹1.08 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹91 lakhs, taking total opening weekend collection to ₹2.47 crore.[3]
As of 30 December 2019[update], with a gross of ₹27.86 crore in India and ₹2.84 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of ₹30.7 crore.[3]
