Why Andhadhun is Totally Worth Your Time. So, I blame Barry for this one! Barry, from thisisbarry.com – and my co-host over on the Film Exploder podcast – is the one that put this particular bug in my ear… and I’m glad that he did. I had started giving him a hard time about a horrible Indian movie called Fighter over on Netflix – sort of a Bollywood/Top Gun knock off – and it was just atrociously horrible. It’s right up there (down there?) with Jennifer Lopez’s atrocious movie Atlas! Yes, that bad. Barry then recommended the movie Andhadhun which was meant to counter the really awful taste in my mouth that Fighter had left. And I’m really glad he did. This was a clever international caper type film that had me intrigued from moment #1.
Andhadhun Movie Walkthrough
Akash is a musician. A pianist to be exact, and he really wants to get better. How can a musician, hoping to get better at his craft, get better? I know! He should live as a blind person. He figured that shutting down one of his main senses will help him to heighten his hearing. (Never mind the fact that the skill he needed to expand was in his hands… but I digress.)
On his way across a street, he is run into by a woman named Sophie. She intervenes on his behalf and next thing we know he has a job playing piano at her family’s restaurant, but they also begins a romantic relationship together. Continuing his blindness ruse, he keeps working there at the restaurant when one day, he’s invited by Pramod Sinha to perform for himself and his wife Simi for their anniversary.
But when Simi allows Akash in to her home play, he sees that Pramod is actually lying there dead in the dining room. He forces himself to be calm and to play regardless. When going to the bathroom he sees Manohar, and realizes that Simi and Manohar were having an affair and must have killed Pramod. And while Akash continues playing, the duo get rid of the body and clean the crime scene. Because definitely that would happen. hahaha. When Akash goes to the police department to tell them about the murder, he realizes that Manohar is a police inspector and quickly shuts up. Simultaneously, Simi realizes that her neighbor saw an unknown man going into her house. And that the police’s perspective of who went in when was all upside down… so what does she do? She goes to Mrs. D’Sa’s flat and pushes her off her balcony. Akash, coincidentally witnesses this murder as well… and is forced to continue feigning his blindness in order to save his own life.
Realizing that Akash is probably onto her and Manohar, Simi goes to Akash’s home and hands him a delectable treat. Obviously he eats without giving it a second thought. Because yummy! But when she pours him a drink he watches as she spikes the drink. And when he knocks it on the floor “accidentally” she KNOWS that he can see… that he actually isn’t blind. She pulls out a gun.
At the same time, a child in the neighborhood who was suspicious of Akash’s “blindness” shows a video of Akash not acting like a blind person to Sophie. Which causes her to realize that he can actually see. As she goes to confront Akash, Simi has staged the scene to make it look like she and Akash are sleeping together. Sophie who is furious with Akash, leaves. And when Akash wakes up, he realizes that he is blind. How? The delectable snack he mindlessly ate when she arrived. Stupid, I know.
When Manohar arrives to kill Akash, Akash barely makes it out alive. But after hitting a telephone pole he is injured and unconscious. Unbeknownst to him, Akash has been “saved” by the members of an organ harvesting clinic. Dr. Swarmi, Murli, and Sakhu are all part of an illicit crew that are determined to make millions via a super rare cornea transplant for a Saudi Prince. (Yes, yes, the screenplay is a bit all over the place.) Determined to blackmail Simi, they kidnap her and then stage her suicide. Informing Manohar that they have her, and the only way for him to see her alive again, he will have to bring them millions in cash. But when Murli and Sakhu double-cross Akash and leave him tied up with Simi the duo work together to get free. Simi double-crosses the double-cross, and Swami intervenes and the duo knock out Simi and they take her to sell her organs because of her really rare blood type. (???)
TWO YEARS LATER
While in Krakow, Sophie randomly stumbles upon Akash while he is playing a gig. Akash tells her the entire story and he explains that when he took off with Simi in the trunk, she awoke and began making a ton of noise. In his attempt to sedate Simi overpowered him and started driving without Akash’s realization of what was happening. (Because obviously she smells EXACTLY like Swami.) Dropping Akash off, she attempts to run him over… but when a nearby hunter shoots and errantly hit the car’s windshield, she causes Simi to lose control and is killed.
Sophie, having heard the totality of Akash’s story, tells him he screwed up. Why? Because he should have accepted Swami’s offer of cornea’s and harvesting Simi’s organs. And as Akash is leaving Sophie, he uses his cane to smack a can that is in his path. Oooooh! Is the top spinning? Did it fall? Is he blind? Can he see? Better question – does it matter at all?
Thoughts on the Movie Andhadhun
Overall I thought it was a fun movie. I liked the characters and their mustache-twirling evilness. And I even found myself enjoying counting up the number of coincidences necessary to tie up loose ends and pull this overly elaborate plot together nicely at the end. Think about it. The plots morph numerous times as the film progresses:
- (Prologue) Blind Rabbit getting hunted story
- Humorous mistake-driven romantic comedy (whooops, he’s not blind!)
- Murder investigation (whoops, blind guy saw a murder)
- Organ-Harvesting blackmailing attempt
- Double-Crossing Organ Harvesters
- (Epilogue) Blind Rabbit causes accidental death
- Humorous romantic comedy coincidentally resolved
- But is he actually blind?
There is a LOT going on in this screenplay. And lots of this story are speedily glossed over. “What did you use to blind him via that sweet?” “You can find anything on the internet these days.” Or when Manohar accidentally shoots and kills himself in the elevator via a ricocheting bullet. The only movie with more plot lines than Andhadhun is the movie Pirates of the Caribbean – if you’ve seen the I Am Ninja movie review for Pirates you will know what I am talking about here. This movie was committee’d into oblivion! But you know what – about a third of the way into this movie, I just decided, this is going to be a fun “What The Hell” sort of experience and decided to just enjoy the ride. And I will say, from this vantage point, the movie really reminded me a LOT of the movie Noises Off.
And once I realized that?! It was a hoot. Murder mystery? Blackmail? Organ harvesting? Accidental elevator suicides? Romantic comedy? Hunting accidents? Give it 10 minutes and it’ll be something entirely new, trust me. And at that point I had a blast with it. It was ambitious, that is for sure… you gotta give it that!
Edited by: CY