Tabu

(Netflix Streaming, February 2021) While I have much nicer things to say about the Hollywood formula than you’d expect, there are times where I yearn for a film that escapes the obvious confines of the three-act structure, the familiar genre formulas and the usual characters that mainstream cinema loves to showcase. I’m not going to suggest that the answer is always to be found in foreign films (Hollywood can break its own rules, and others can follow them more slavishly than it does), but Andhadhun does, at times, exemplify what happens when a seasoned filmmaker sets out to entertain audiences according to their own whims. Andhadhun does place the originality bar high from its first few moments, as we meet a blind pianist who reveals himself to be not-so-blind, but faking it in order to connect more deeply to the music and practise his skills in anticipation of a competition in Europe. That’s unusual enough, but things quickly escalate as our not-so-blind blind man ends up witnessing the aftermath of a murder and has to keep playing the pretence of not seeing what’s going on. Ironies soon pile up when his attempts to extricate himself from the situation get him in deeper trouble, as suspicious characters keep testing his blindness, and as fakery becomes real even as it becomes known as fake. The collision between dark humour and criminal suspense makes Andhadhun of particular interest to anyone looking for later-day Hitchcockian efforts — it helps that writer-director Sriram Raghavan knows what he’s doing behind the camera, and that he was able to find good actors in the key roles. Ayushmann Khurrana is quite good in a difficult lead role, but Tabu arguably makes an even better impression as a ruthless murderess. While the film is a bit too long for its own good and consequently suffers from a few dips in interest throughout its 138 minutes running time, its second half is more suspenseful than the first, and builds up to an interesting fillip of a coda that makes the entire narration very suspicious. It’s quite a bit of fun, and a welcome thriller at a time when I feel a bit bored with the usual formula: this one zigs and zags through expectations, playing with savvy viewers who think they know what’s going to happen next. While there are a few strange, unlikely and even ludicrous plot developments, it’s all done with some playfulness and a thorough understanding of what a powerful tool dramatic irony can be once it gets away from conventions. Andhadhun has a much higher profile in the west than many other Indian films and it’s easy to understand why: this is a top-tier thriller by any measure.