498. Andhadhun; movie review

ANDHADHUN
Cert 12A
138 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, occasional bloody images

As the last few days of the everyfilm challenge arrived, I sought out the movies which have been recommended and missed so far.
So, thanks to a Twitter correspondent who suggested Andhadhun and came up with a challenger for a place in this year's top 20.
I can see why Sriram Raghavan's film is described as a 'comedy thriller' but I have to admit that it did not elicit any laughs from me.
However, neither do Alfred Hitchcock's movies - and the best compliment I can pay this is that it is carved out of the same stone.
The superb Ayushmann Khurrana stars as Akash a piano player who is pretending to be blind because he believes it will make him more at one with the piece of music he is writing.
However, what he intends to be a fun experiment becomes very serious when he continues the pretence with a girl (Radhika Apte) who falls for him.
This has a domino effect as a string of people take him under their wing, including her restaurant owner father and a regular movie star diner (Anil Dhawan).
The latter invites him to a private performance for his wife (Tabu) to celebrate their anniversary and this is when a shattering development leads to Akash's life being changed forever.
Andhadhun has more twists than a tornado, a few dollops of light comedy and a basket of red herrings.
Right up until its very last moment it keeps its audience guessing - actually, I still was as the credits rolled.
Khurrana is terrific but I was also impressed by how Tabu carried off her character's duplicity and Manav Vij weighs in as a cackhanded and hen-pecked villain.
However, direction is the key. Raghavan had whetted my appetite for his work on Badlapur in 2015. This is even better. It is beautifully written with a wonderfully taut finale.
Did I say I liked it?

Reasons to watch: Splendid Hitchcockian-style thriller
Reasons to avoid: Arguably too many twists

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 9/10

Director quote - I have read all of Agatha Christie’s books and many other authors. Christie’s And Then There Were None, which was adapted as Gumnaam (1965), was a fantastic whodunnit. In India, viewers get a lot of thrill from guessing who committed the crime. That does not interest me at all. Out of the 53 movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock, only one is a whodunnit.

The big question - What did that ending mean?

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