How V Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath became a cult classic

As 1957 rolled by, V Shantaram made Do Aankhen Barah Haath (literally meaning two eyes, 12 hands), a film that soon became a cult classic and compelled society to rethink how to treat convicts and prisoners. The opening shot shows two eyes full of hope that occupy the upper half of the screen and look at the world through prison walls. The lower half of the screen depicts 12 bloodstained hands and reveals the credit titles of the film on the prison walls. This visual motif is also what ends the film - teary eyes staring down at the prisoners with a look of satisfaction while 12 hands are raised to the sky as a sign of loyalty.

The basic premise of the film is that six hardened criminals are put under the care of an idealistic and ambitious jailer (played by Shantaram himself) who believes that they can and must be reformed and not punished. He seeks permission from his superiors to try an experiment. They agree but very reluctantly. In the process of teaching these criminals a better and sensible way to live, the jailer himself dies. However, his wishes are fulfilled by the prisoners who adopt his peaceful and virtuous way of living. In the beginning, all of Shantaram's friends and colleagues, including the technicians, were against making of a film like Do Aankhen Barah Haath. Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje was a technicolor musical and a huge box-office hit.

Also read: Did V Shantaram really change Indian cinema?

They wanted Shantaram to continue this streak by making a film that was of a similar nature. But Shantaram had no fondness for convention and chose to make this serious film instead. And if that weren't enough, he'd decided that the movie had to be in black-and-white. When I asked him why, while writing his autobiography, he replied in a single sentence: "It was the need of the subject." Tyagraj Pendharkar, Shantaram's cameraman, recollected one memorable incident while shooting the film. The scene involved the prisoners tilling a barren piece of land to turn it into a fertile place to grow vegetables.

They were anxiously looking to the skies for rain. Shantaram saw dark clouds amassing in the distance and immediately ordered the unit to be ready to shoot once it began pouring. It paid off and the final shot caught drops of water hitting the camera head-on as the prisoners jumped with happiness. It was an authentic scene that captured nature in all its beauty.

Each and every scene in the film was meticulously conceived and executed, with all the characters coming up with convincing performances on the screen. The interactions between the jailer and the prisoners have been depicted very effectively, especially in the sequences when he tries to convince the convicts to mend their ways and follow the straight path.

(Reprinted with publisher's permission.)