From the director who makes movies for me-
ANDHADHUN
CAST- TABU,
AYUSHMAAN KHURRANNA, RADHIKA APTE (ON LOAN FROM NETFLIX), ANIL DHAWAN AND
OTHERS
DIRECTOR- SRIRAM
RAGHAVAN
Sriram Raghavan mostly likes making intense thrillers which credit the audience with a bit of intelligence, he likes using old hindi
movie songs, referencing old hindi movies, leaving a ton of easter eggs and
references to his favourite authors/directors and usually sets his stories in
or around Pune and Marathi characters….So yes, basically he writes and makes
movies for me. Because these are all the things I do when I write a story. In
fact, it was Raghavan’s Johnny Gaddar that inspired me to write my first novel.
In my opinion, he is the best director
working in Bollywood currently even a bit more than Anurag Kashyap. He knows
how to strike the perfect balance of entertainment and substance and thrill you
in a way you never knew Bollywood can. I have loved Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddar,
Badlapur and yes, even Agent Vinod. Bring it on guys, coz I honestly think
Agent Vinod was one of the best spy movies Bollywood has made. Also, that one
single uncut shot when Saif murders like 8 people while a blind pianist plays ‘Raabta’
(oh fuck just realized this….does Raghavan have a thing for blind pianists?) is
one of the memorable action scenes in recent times.
So, as you can expect when I first saw the trailer for
Andhadhun, even if I don’t particularly like Ayushmaan Khurranna (Ya I don’t care
much for Vicky Donor. Again Bring it on guys!), I said something to myself
which I don’t usually say for a Hindi movie – ‘I have to watch this one!’ But
since watching superhero movies has become my life’s sole purpose, I watched
Venom on the weekend. But I also couldn’t wait till next weekend to watch this
one and just had to watch this mid-week. And am really glad that I did.
When you see the trailer or the posters or hear about the
concept- a blind pianist in a murder mystery thriller- the first thing that
comes to your mind is that maybe the twist is that he isn’t blind…. And this is the genius
of Sriram Raghavan. As I said he treats his audiences as being an intelligent
lot and pretty much tells you in the trailer itself and if you fail to catch
that then in the first 40 minutes or so of the movie that he isn’t blind. Don’t
worry, I haven’t spoiled anything for you. The fact that he isn’t blind isn’t the
source from where the movie draws its suspense. Raghavan in all of his movies
knows that the audiences watch a lot of thrillers themselves and doesn’t really
believe in having the whodunit formula. He creates tension out of letting you
know that what you thought was the twist isn’t the twist at all. You know who
the murderer is, you know who the traitor is. It is all carefully laid out in
front of you. You already have most of the information but the characters on the
screen don’t. You are already aware of the motives of all the characters and
the risks they are willing to take. Since he creates an attachment to the
characters first and then takes you on a journey with them, the story is then
defined by its characters, not by the twists it creates.
Some movies conceal so much information off-screen and then
reveal it to you in the form of a twist – it sometimes feels like being cheated.
Even if the twist is shocking, there then remains no limitations on the twist
you can bring in. The best example is the 'Race' movies where people double and
triple betray each other so much that their backs should break with all that
twisting. I mean since you are concealing so much info off screen, don’t be
surprised if suddenly in the Race 4, one of the characters turns out to
be an immortal Naagin. (You know what…I wanna see that Race movie now! Bollywood get to work!) What Raghavan again does
here in Andhadhun is make it clear that a surprise twist isn’t the whole point of the movie. It doesn’t remain limited to a last minute
twist that is surprising only the first time around. Concealing off-screen info
only when absolutely needed and laying it clearly in front of you allows the movie to create natural tension. The difference between the way Raghavan creates suspense through
carefully setting up characters and scenarios instead of some random out of the
blue twist for shock value is the same between chess and snakes and ladders.
I am not going to get into the details but just going to say
that if you think you know where this is going, it may be is…but it isn’t…and
for a while you would be convinced that it isn’t…or maybe it is…but not in the
way you thought. If that sounds vague, it really shouldn’t because my friends
that is what suspense means! Creating tension in your mind…making you nervous,
excited, confused between multiple plausible outcomes is what the essence of suspense is. Raghavan manges to do it very very well here. As
a writer and an avid thriller reader myself, I love guessing how any story goes
and sad part is, usually I am right and then feel withdrawn from the story. But
man, this movie made me feel completely 110% engrossed in it. Everything about
this movie worked and it had me guessing unsuccessfully from one point onward.
Credit goes not only to the director and the script but also
to the performances. Even if am not a fan, I must say Khurana does quite well
in his role and displays the exact nuances necessary for it. His character is
the core of the story and if not done right, the movie would have fallen apart.
He is charming, sympathetic and also cheeky where he needs to be. Tabu is
fucking amazing as is expected from a veteran like her. Radhika Apte does quite
well, but the script doesn’t give her much to do.
The script does surprisingly make you laugh though. I daresay
the movie is more of a dark comedy than just an intense thriller. The ability
of the movie to make you laugh even at the most horrific events is commendable.
The music had to be good for a movie set around a piano player and Amit Trivedi gives serviceable melodies. Although ‘Naina da Kasoor’ sounds like the second line of ‘O
mere Sona re’ from Teesri Manzil, but it might be intentional too. Raghavan is an
avid fan of Vijay Anand, particularly Teesri Manzil. And also an R D Burman
fan. It may be a nod to Goldie and Pancham but am not completely sure. The movie also
acknowledges its inspiration in the end credits -- the 2010 French Short movie: L’accordeur. There are a few other references which I am sure I
will catch on the inevitable second and third viewings.
The movie is a bit slow to start with and takes a bit of
time to get going. The real tension doesn’t start until like 20 mins before the
interval but once it starts you won’t breathe easy till the end. Also the movie
references Pune more than Woody Allen references New York. Its always fun if a movie loves a city that you live in. This is honestly one of the best Bollywood
movies I have seen in recent times and perhaps the best one I saw this year. Do
give it a patient, uninterrupted watch.
The movie is Superrific!
PS – Usually for a
Sriram Ragahavan movie, I have a list of references and Easter eggs, but here I
do not have any more in the first viewing at least, other than Tabu being
called ‘Lady Macbeth’ once. She played the role of a desi Lady Macbeth in the
Indian movie adaptation of Macbeth- “Maqbool”. I will definitely find more in
further viewings.
