By Krishna Menon
Date: 31st August 2020
The official poster for Bandish Bandits on Amazon Prime Video
(Image source: Amazon Prime India)
Bandish Bandits holds a special place in the realm of web series' on OTT platforms. With its main focus on Indian classical music, it is a fresh new slice-of-life series, away from the norm of genres like murder-mysteries which now are trending among their target demographic. With the fusion of modern beats and classical ragas, the series portrays a delicate balance of emotions, relationships, family and unity that can be achieved through music. Bandish Bandits focuses on the relationships that thrive between characters that belong to different worlds of music, from modern pop music to traditional and conservative classical music
The premise of the story revolves around Radhe (Ritwik Bhowmik), a talented young musical prodigy, whose grandfather Pandit Radhemohan Rathod (Naseeruddin Shah) is the Sangeet Samrat (Music King) of Indian classical music, who holds immense respect for his position as the Sangeet Samrat. Radhe meets Tamanna (Shreya Chaudhary), a lively cosmopolitan girl, trying to make a mark in the modern music industry to fulfil her dreams of singing with Queen Eli. The romance then divulges into their lives and thus the story of their conflicting connection, and several ethical dilemmas bring about different challenges in front of the protagonists.
The stunning visuals of the series from Rajasthan, the stellar musical compositions by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, lip-syncing and gestures by the actors were pitch-perfect to the point, it felt like they were the real singers. All members of the cast have done justice to their roles, especially Naseeruddin Shah with his limited talks and gestures, made it look effortless. Ritwik Bhowmik and Atul Kulkarni have great presence and authenticity on-screen adding to the portrayal of this musical-drama masterpiece. Bandish Bandits is worth the recognition it receives and director Anand Tiwari has done fabulously in his directive stance. Bandish Bandits leads the classical way to your heart, with the undertones of catchy beats that keep you glued to the screen and engaged in the crescendo of voices coming to life.
Sources: The Times of India
The Indian Express
Edited by Sagarika Satapathy