Ankhen (1968 film)

Ankhen
Ankhen
	Film poster
Directed by	Ramanand Sagar
Written by	Ramanand Sagar
Produced by	Ramanand Sagar
Starring	Mala Sinha; Dharmendra; Mehmood; Kumkum; Sujit Kumar
Cinematography	G. Singh
Edited by	Lachhmandass
Music by	Ravi
Distributed by	Sagar Art International
Release date	20 September 1968;
Running time	174 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Ankhen (The Eyes) is a 1968 Hindi spy thriller produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar. After the surprise big hit of Farz as a spy thriller, Sagar came out with a bigger budget film in the same genre, shot in many international locations. This was the first Hindi film shot in Beirut.

The film stars Mala Sinha, Dharmendra, Mehmood, Lalita Pawar, Jeevan and Madan Puri.

It was estimated to be the most profitable Indian film of 1968 in India.^[1]

Ankhen is considered to be a pioneer in Hindi spy films.^[2] It was initially planned to be shot when Dharmendra had just one film. But the director Ramanand Sagar had apprehensions of casting him since he was considered raw and was not yet a star; therefore, he recruited a huge star of the period, Mala Sinha, opposite him for marketing considerations. With the success of Phool Aur Paththar, Sagar decided to increase his budget and finalize Dharmendra as the leading man.

This film won Ramanand Sagar his only Filmfare award for Best Director.

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Sunny Deol is a spy with a heart". The Times of India.

[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] "Sunny Deol is a spy with a heart". The Times of India.

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