Rampal but things didn't work out after Akshaye Khanna rejected Saif Ali Khan was approached to play the role but he was busy with Kal Ho Naa Ho. Vipul Shah once tickled his nephew to such an extent that he became breathless. This gave Vipul Shah an idea to tickle uncontrollably the character-Iliyas so that his life could be lost. Reception Aankhen opened well at the Indian box office. The film made Rs 471.9 million net altogether and was declared a "Hit". It was also the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2002. The film was also a success in South Africa, opening to packed houses and grossing $14,600 on the weekend, despite a limited release. Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by Aadesh Shrivastav and Jatin–Lalit. Lyrics were penned by Prasoon Joshi, Praveen Bharadwaj and Nitin Raikwar. Track listing Accolades 48th Filmfare Awards: 9th Annual Screen Awards: Controversy Aankhen broiled into controversy when producer Doshi did not give the director Shah any credit on the film's DVD. The fallout began between the two on the sets, after a number of creative differences, which led to allegations of plagiarism and counter-allegations. The DVD's front cover had Doshi's name on it and the back had the director's name as Vipul Doshi instead of Vipul Shah. Shah took legal action against Doshi, who refused to take responsibility for the director's missing credit. Copycat crimes Between 2004/05, two bank robberies occurred on Mira Road in Maharashtra by a man named Feroz Sheikh and several accomplices, who were said to have been inspired by the film. The robbers took several lakh rupees (100,000), and planned to use it to start a business. The culprits were eventually nabbed but not all the money was recovered. PC Game A computer game based on film was created for promotional purposes in a tie in with IndiaFM and Hungama.com (Now collectively known as Bollywood Hungama). It was launched at the IIFA press conference on 14 March 2002. Sequel The sequel was first announced in 2006 and has been in production since shortly after the release on Aankhen. The director Shah was dropped due to differences with producer Doshi, and directing duties will be taken over by Sachin. On 19 March 2016 in an interview with Anees Bazmee about his film "No Entry Mein Entry", Anees stated that he is working on a script for "Aankhen 2". In March 2019 Bazmee confirmed