Andhadhun | A Well Made Bollywood Thriller | Film Reviews

Do you love watching crime thrillers? We do. Actually, any well-made movie is good for us apart from a few exceptional genres like erotica, adult, zombie,…

Sriram Raghavan is a Bollywood movie director who brings in a new film every few years. And, most of them get critical acclaim and commercial success (mostly in moderate manner).

Ek Haseena Thi and Johnny Gaddar are two of his fantasy films. I love all of his films, none of them is below the marks, in terms of quality. And, we cannot judge the quality of a film by its box office performance.

We thought of watching his latest offering Andhadhun over this weekend. And, my friend Rahul Mitra (the author of – The Boy From Pataliputra) has watched it and affirmed that this film is worth watching. So I made it watch on Saturday. And, do you believe, I again went (with family) to watch the same again on Sunday, same time, same theatre!

Of course, I found the movie much more worthy than some of the films which entered the elite club of few crores!

Book Plot:

Let me try to make the bird’s eye view as many spoilers free as much possible. However, I will suggest you read with the consent that the rest of the article may contain some spoilers!

The story belongs to a young and aspiring musician who loves playing Piano. And, he is really good at it. His name is Akash and he lives at a place run by an NGO. It is thus affordable to him (He need to pay INR 500 only, as monthly rent). He is blind! His blindness is a limitation for him in many areas of life, but, not in the music. In fact, he can concentrate on his work more and keep away distractions. We can say that he has mastered the art of converting his (this) limitation to one of his strong points!

A young kid living in his neighborhood always keep an eye on him and try to do every mischievous thing he can, to keep troubling Akash. The kid is very smart (like many other kids who grew up in such an environment). And, he tries to snooping on Akash and try to make some money!

Pramod Sinha is a famous yesteryear actor. He is living a happy life with no activity in the film line now. Simi is married to Pramod since last three years! She is comparatively much younger than Pramod. So, on the first glance, it seems that she married Pramod for his money and fame. And eventually, we come to know that she is ambitious and keeps Pramod insisting to pull some strings in film line and make a film with her.

Sophie is headstrong yet pure at heart, a genuine, happy-go-lucky, no-nonsense typical girl. She is clear about her thoughts. One day when she was driving she bumped into Akash (literally).

The paths of all the prime characters are then started crossing with each other in some way or the other. And the things start taking unexpected turns till the last scene.

The movie ends in a way it reminds you one of the dialogs form the movie itself “somethings are better left incomplete, they are complete that way only”!

What I like the most about the film is its script. Of course, the execution of the script does matter a lot, but if the base is not very strong, one cannot build a mighty building over it :). It is as simple as that.

The script has everything that a thriller needs. The twists and turns coming at the regular interval will make you hooked to it.

Another surprising element is the comedy. When there are tragic situations explored in a specific scene, humor arises from the situation. And, more importantly, it is not dark always!

The casting director requires a special mention. He knows his job really well. Actually, a good director cannot bring something remarkable even with fantastic actors if they don’t look convincing. Choosing the right actor for the right role is a very challenging yet underrated job. The casting director didn’t miss any single point and you will find all the characters convincing.

In terms of performance, everyone tried remaining honest to the role he/she is playing. Of course, Ayushmaan got the meatiest role and he gave his best (as far as I’ve witnessed) performances for the same. The genuineness of his character comes out quite obviously and convincingly. He took some piano lessons and attended sessions to act as a blind person. He nailed it.

Tabu is no doubt an excellent actress, and she had proved it many times. Can you imagine that she is the one who danced on Ruk Ruk Ruk in Vijaypath and later gave films with Gulzaar, Madhur Bhandarkar, R. Balki, and many others? This year, it is her second remarkable role (after Missing. She is able to make alive her character with her convincing act. Her character has many shades, and she explored them all very effectively.

Radhika Apte does justice to her role. She has the looks which are often considered as non-traditional (in terms of typical Bollywood heroin), but she acts well. Though she looks quite thin in some of the scenes and we often find she can perform the scene in an even better manner.

Anil Dhavan is a surprise package of the film. His role is not much longer, but he does quite convincingly. The footages and songs from his old film are weaved nicely in the film. He is the perfect choice for the role of a yesteryear actor who is now a sugar-daddy of a much younger wife.

Ashwini Kalsekar makes her presence felt in a small yet important role. She has the caliber but is not getting more opportunities to justify it.

Who could have imagined Zakir Hussain in such a role?! He slips into the character quite easily and for not a single moment you will feel that he is not the character he is playing.

Gopal Singh as sub-inspector reminds you of Vijay Raaz at places. He is in sync with his character. Chhaya Kadam excels as Mausi. The actor playing Ismail requires a mention. So, does the kid. The old lady playing Mrs. Disa is convincing in her small role. She is firm (as she was a principal) and a fragile old lady in this film.

Acting is about reacting your co-actors convincingly, right? And, in that terms, Manav Vij performed really well. He underplayed his role very beautifully. See his expressions in various scenes and you will find him speaking a lot without uttering a word.

So, in terms of performances, we have no complaints. It is a Sriram Raghavan film all the way, and his stamp is shown on all the scenes. He played all the roles he involved in, in an excellent manner. Be it his involvement in script, dialogs or direction. He is the real hero of the film.

Music plays a very important role, especially in Bollywood movies. There was no scope of traditional film songs in the movie. However, some of the songs in the movie are really good. Like the dance tune of “Kya Kasoor” among the others. The background music is something which multifold the effect of a scene in a positive and a negative both the ways. It plays a positive role here and you will enjoy it.

The dubbing quality is good and so does the wardrobe. Pune and its surrounding are explored quite realistically. The middle class setup looks realistic. The wardrobe of the character(s) reflects their respective role(s) and is convincing. There are no “larger than the life” sets and special effects (of course, whatever is needed from a commercial perspective is there); and you will not miss it for a second also.

The character of the kid could have a scene or two in the last segment and the story could complete with a conclusion. But director mentions in the film, in early half itself, that some things are complete when they are incomplete. It is better to leave them that way.

And director thought of leaving some stuff for the viewers. Before we complete, we must mention – the dialogs. The dialogs in the movie are simple, uses day to day language, they are full of meaning and sarcasm at places, and are effectively written and delivered.

Summary:

If you love thriller with twists, you will enjoy it for sure. And, more importantly despite being a murder mystery where adultery is involved at places, the movie has nothing which makes it uncomfortable to watch with the family.

Around 7.5 to 8 out of 10.

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Over To You:

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