Andhadhun (Hindi, Blind Melody; 2018)
The movie starts with an empirical question “What is life? It all depends on the liver." At one look, it looked like an awkwardly constructed question. It may appear like it is grammatically incorrect. Or perhaps it could refer to how much one could hold his drink dependent on the neutralising effect of his liver. Maybe, it could refer to a time in Mankind's history when he was wondering where consciousness was situated. Some thought it was the brain while others placed it in the heart. Islamic philosophers gave credence to the liver for what we are. We are what we eat, and the liver plays a pivotal role in our digestion.
As it turned out, it was none of the above. In the context of this movie, it referred to the illegal organ harvesting trade! This is the gist for its viewers - a film full of double speaks. In fact, the title also could denote the blind rage that one experiences at the height of anger.
Andhadhun is based on a French short film, L'Accordeur (The Piano Tuner).
A blind pianist, Akash, with a sob story of how he was hit by a cricket ball which damaged his optic nerves. He goes by doing small gigs playing his music and has big plans to go off to the UK. He befriends a motorcyclist, Sophie, who almost knocks him down. The real truth is that he is not blind, and he is doing it for sympathy or for a social experiment, as he calls it.
Everything was going on fine. He had his cake and ate it. He had a beautiful girlfriend in Sophie, earned large tips, and everyone enjoyed his music. Until...
He came in to perform for a client's wife, Simi, to surprise her on her birthday, only to find the client sprawling in blood out cold, dead. The client apparently caught his wife in bed with her lover, and he ended up dead. Akash continued acting blind despite everything happening under his nose, the dead body being bundled by the lover etcetera.
The next day, he went to the local police station to report the murder. To his bewilderment, the lover turned out to be a police officer. Suspicious of Akash's movement, so started a cat and mouse chase -Simi and her lover hunting down Akash, Simi actually blinding him, Akash getting caught with a crooked doctor and his assistants who are keen to harvest his organ and a devious plan to outwit Simi of her money. The twist at the end of the movie where the ending of the story is left to everybody's imagination as Akash stays alive to narrate his life story to Sophie two years later in Europe.
As Akash walks away after telling Sophie about his life adventures, the audience realises that Akash is seen voluntarily hitting a crushed can. That is when we wonder, 'Hey, what is real and what is fake anymore?' Interesting storytelling.
The movie starts with an empirical question “What is life? It all depends on the liver." At one look, it looked like an awkwardly constructed question. It may appear like it is grammatically incorrect. Or perhaps it could refer to how much one could hold his drink dependent on the neutralising effect of his liver. Maybe, it could refer to a time in Mankind's history when he was wondering where consciousness was situated. Some thought it was the brain while others placed it in the heart. Islamic philosophers gave credence to the liver for what we are. We are what we eat, and the liver plays a pivotal role in our digestion.As it turned out, it was none of the above. In the context of this movie, it referred to the illegal organ harvesting trade! This is the gist for its viewers - a film full of double speaks. In fact, the title also could denote the blind rage that one experiences at the height of anger.
Andhadhun is based on a French short film, L'Accordeur (The Piano Tuner).
A blind pianist, Akash, with a sob story of how he was hit by a cricket ball which damaged his optic nerves. He goes by doing small gigs playing his music and has big plans to go off to the UK. He befriends a motorcyclist, Sophie, who almost knocks him down. The real truth is that he is not blind, and he is doing it for sympathy or for a social experiment, as he calls it.
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| Is that a blind rabbit? |
He came in to perform for a client's wife, Simi, to surprise her on her birthday, only to find the client sprawling in blood out cold, dead. The client apparently caught his wife in bed with her lover, and he ended up dead. Akash continued acting blind despite everything happening under his nose, the dead body being bundled by the lover etcetera.
 |
| This scene could hold the answer to the final ending. |
The next day, he went to the local police station to report the murder. To his bewilderment, the lover turned out to be a police officer. Suspicious of Akash's movement, so started a cat and mouse chase -Simi and her lover hunting down Akash, Simi actually blinding him, Akash getting caught with a crooked doctor and his assistants who are keen to harvest his organ and a devious plan to outwit Simi of her money. The twist at the end of the movie where the ending of the story is left to everybody's imagination as Akash stays alive to narrate his life story to Sophie two years later in Europe.
As Akash walks away after telling Sophie about his life adventures, the audience realises that Akash is seen voluntarily hitting a crushed can. That is when we wonder, 'Hey, what is real and what is fake anymore?' Interesting storytelling.
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Yeah, a good twist to the plot.Interesting movie.
ReplyDeleteYeah, not your usual fare.
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