Language : Hindi.
Director : Sriram Raghavan.
Writers : Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar, Sriram Raghavan, Hemanth M. Rao, Pooja Ladha Surti, Olivier Treiner.
Cast :Tabu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte.
Genre : Drama | Music
Streaming on Netflix and JioCinema.
I apologize for writing a review of this gem terribly late. There has been a flurry of people shaming and attacking Hindi Cinema, with the recent emergence of the Malayalam film industry to the national attention (with good reason; credit when it’s due) due to recent plaudits, critical acclaim and the emergence of OTT platforms with quality subtitles. I beg to differ actually, there are many quality Hindi Cinemas that have been released in the past decade or since 2000. The only issue is that probably your favourite superstar didn’t star in it and many people watch Hindi films to watch their favourite superstars. But looking objectively, there are gems like this that can be unearthed and some even cherished for a lifetime, if you care to put in the effort to search for them. This is coming from a person who is incredibly weak in Hindi and has been raised in Kerala. Quality films are everywhere, and yours to find if you seek them. There are geniuses who rebel and search for excellence in every part of the world, regardless of their surroundings and circumstances; search for the works of these people. Sriram Raghavan is one of them.
Coming to the movie. Andhadhun (translated to Blindly) is a place where style meets substance. Even if you are a common man, a regular film lover or a hardcore cinephile who loves complex, and thought provoking films, the chances are very low for you to not appreciate this gem. The film is rich in details and two animals are pivotal in the storyline. One more than the other.
What good is a story if it’s mundane and common? A story is only made into a film if it inspires many emotions out of the listener. A film is only good if the unbelievable is explained in a realistic fashion. Andhadhun has an excellent tale to tell, of 3 characters mainly, they’re all heroes in their head. Andhadhun is wildly rich in details, many of which are detailed in the trivia section and warrants discussion with your friends after you have watched it. There is more than enough to ponder and wonder. Fasten your seatbelts, and get ready for a ride once you have decided to give this film a watch.
It is very entertaining and may even ponder upon philosophical/existential questions like:
How important is luck in life? Can we control everything in life?
What is life? (The makers of this film give an opinion in the opening shot and a really good answer in the closing shot).
Andhadhun (2018) is an experience you should have had in the theatres. However it’s not too late and I’d still recommend it strongly. Probably, your opinions on Hindi films might change slightly after Andhadhun.
Verdict: 6/7 stars
Brilliant.
Trivia
Ayushmann Khurrana, who plays the piano player, trained for two months under Akshay Verma, a pianist based in Los Angeles.
Doctor Swami refers to Tabu as Lady Macbeth in a scene. This is an in-joke as Tabu played the role of Lady Macbeth in the Indian retelling of Macbeth, Maqbool (2003).
Khurana was given a special pair of lenses from London which, he said, impaired his vision “almost 80 percent.”
Director Sriram Raghavan initially did not think of Ayushmann Khurrana while writing the character Akash, all he wanted was an actor who has a sense of music, although he made the character of Simi keeping in mind the name of Tabu.
Earlier it was to be titled Shoot ‘The Piano Player’ but it was later changed to Andhadhun as no one was keen on having an English title.
The movie is inspired by The Piano Tuner (2010).
Khurrana called it the most challenging role of his career.
Ayushmann Khurrana is a musician in real life.
