ANDHADHUN (2018)
Directed by : Shriram Raghavan
~~~~~~NO SPOILER ~~~~~~~~~
“Don’t miss the Beginning” claims the subtitle of this thrilling black comedy layered with dollops of suspense and mystery. They’re right, the “Hare” hunt in the beginning is beautifully woven in the story leading to that shocking unexpected climax ! So don’t miss the beginning.
The story is based in Pune and revolves around a young blind piano player Akash (Aayushman Khurana) who despite his visual disability is a master of playing the musical instrument that attracts a lot of attention-good, bad and ugly. Akash gets inadvertently entangled in the web of crime and passion when he “witnesses” a cold blooded murder. Soon there is another murder and the witness this time is - yes you guessed it right Akash again! Now he has to run away from the chasing unfriendly cops as well as the octopus clutches of the murderer. As the story progresses the viewers get to watch how Akash outwits his detractors to solve the mystery.
For viewers expecting candyfloss and toilet jokes there is none of that business here, the humour is strictly and largely in the black comedy genre, whether it is the chase sequences or the murders they will give you the edge of the seat shock as well as an wholehearted laughter! Raghavan has intellectually woven a taut and sleek script with generous humour. Screenplay, story, cinematography, dialogues everything is a clear winner except for the editing, it could’ve easily been an 2 hour thriller with the extra 20 minutes (read - romance) chopped off. Music is passable but the lovely piano interludes of famous 70’s Bollywood songs is a delight. It’s interesting how Raghavan has used props which help the thriller to pace forward like the Puneri Rickshaw, Laughing Buddha, Wine and off course the hero of the story- The Piano.
Aayushman Khurana gets an author backed role and expectedly does complete sincere justice to it, Zakir Hussain as the surgeon and Manav Vij as the Police officer are apt in their respective roles, it’s a delight to watch yesteryears forgotten actor Anil Dhawan in a wonderful cameo playing an aging faded but cheerful former Bollywood star, he plays his role gracefully.
The delicious Radhika Apte is wasted considering her immense talent, Ashwini Kalshekar as Vij’s nagging wife is repetitive and gets on the nerves. Chhaya Kadam is fantastic and delivers a knockout performance. Tabu seems to be getting wilder and adventurous with age and experience, playing Dhawan’s wife she has invaded all possible territories through this role that an artist would’ve yearned for. Playing a woman who is mentally strong even in the most challenging situations and who is unapologetic about her materialistic as well as sexual desires, she scores high with her bravura performance.
One must credit Raghavan for the way he has picturised and depicted the first murder, it has that Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie kind of vintage crime flavour to it. Raghavan also pays homage to 70’s Bollywood music and songs from Dhawan’s old classics like Honeymoon(1972) and Hawas (1974) are played during important sequences in the movie. There is no doubt the director is excellent in this thriller genre considering his earlier outings like Ek Hasina Thi (2004), Johnny Gaddar(2007) and Badlapur (2015), ouch! he also directed Agent Vinod (2012) but then who doesn’t falter in life, it’s human to err.
A must watch for off-beat cinema freaks and a big NO if you follow stereotypical Bollywood masala films, Raghavan doesn’t disappoint and yes one must thank that notorious Hare who proves its worth at the right time !
⭐️⭐️⭐️
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