{"id":3422,"date":"2016-03-27T05:12:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T23:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3422"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:02:08","slug":"andhadhun-review-sriram-raghavan-ayushmann-khurrana-tabu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422","title":{"rendered":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U<\/span>ntil <\/p>Andhadhun<\/span><\/i>, my favourite Sriram Raghavan moment was <\/span>\u201cRaabta\u201d<\/span><\/a> from <\/span>Agent Vinod<\/span><\/i>. The three-minute song shot in one surreal take evokes the feeling of a love ballad, but looks nothing like an archetypal Hindi love song. Instead, it\u2019s a surrealistic, heavy-duty action sequence: A number of things unfold simultaneously while an ensemble of people flit in and out of the frame. One of them is a blind female piano player, an unconcerned, silent witness to the mayhem, who also supplies it with a background score. Whether she was really blind or pretending to be indifferent, was left unexplained.<\/span>\n\nFive years later, Raghavan offers a darkly comic rejoinder with <\/span>Andhadhun<\/span><\/i>, headlined by another seemingly blind piano player. Like \u201cRaabta\u201d, the film has a riveting sequence shot in one take, where Aakash (<\/span>Ayushmann Khurrana<\/span><\/a>) isn\u2019t just a mute witness to a murder, but also accompanies its cover-up with a piano-themed background score. It\u2019s an ambitious sequence, assembled with a comic nonchalance and meticulousness that has long become Raghavan\u2019s trademark. <\/span>\n\nEvery moment, expression, prop, and gesture feels indispensable to the (almost wordless) proceedings, including a hilarious gag about a dead man\u2019s watch. And the murder is hardly the big reveal \u2013 it\u2019s the window to bigger deceits. The entire sequence \u2013 easily the film\u2019s best \u2013 throbs with urgent details: There\u2019s a clean-up, a breakdown, a near-confrontation in a cramped bathroom space, a widow playacting conversations with her dead actor husband, and some wine-infused blood. At the risk of doing injustice to <\/span>Andhadhun\u2019s<\/span><\/i> overall brilliance, it\u2019s this wicked, comic, and existential scene that could probably redefine genre tropes in <\/span>Hindi cinema<\/span><\/a>. It also neatly encapsulates <\/span>Andhadhun\u2019s<\/span><\/i> intent \u2013 to force the audience into heightening their senses for a film about blindness. <\/span>\n\nAs is the case always, the irony is alive and thriving in a Raghavan film.<\/span>\n\n\"Andhadhun\n

\n

Ayushmann Khurrana and Tabu are perfectly cast in Andhadhun<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Viacom18 Productions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nSimilar to this sequence, much of <\/span>Andhadhun<\/span><\/i>, officially inspired from Olivier Treiner\u2019s <\/span>L\u2019accordeur<\/span><\/i>, a 2010 French short film, is plot-driven: A blind pianist who accidently witnesses a murder keeps getting enmeshed in it. An urban noir thriller, <\/span>Andhadhun<\/span><\/i> is underlined by the usual Raghavan motifs: ample conning, kidnapping, fleeing, and <\/span>killing<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nUnlike the Hrithik Roshan-starrer <\/span>Kaabil<\/span><\/i>, where the lead\u2019s impairment was used to evoke victimhood and eventual heroism, Aakash\u2019s disability elicits the most quotidian comic scenarios. Like his love-interest Sophie (<\/span>Radhika Apte<\/span><\/a>) saying \u201cSee you\u201d and instantly regretting it, or almost running him over right after mocking a driver with an \u201cAndha hai kya?\u201d <\/span> For Raghavan, Aakash\u2019s blindness is also a metaphor to expose the moral depravity of a society that can conveniently turn a blind eye to crime or conscience.\n\nAs much as <\/span>Andhadhun <\/span><\/i>examines the greed and criminal bent of mind in ordinary people, it\u2019s also a meditation on whether justice can exist at a time where revenge is the preferred currency. The film begs a pertinent question: Is justice the same as punishment or fate? And if the justice meted out isn\u2019t uniform for everyone, is it justice at all? Raghavan explores these subjective interpretations of justice by painting the offender as a victim and makes us wonder if humans, who are default conmen, can ever be trusted to do the right thing. He brings alive this predicament in <\/span>Andhadhun <\/span><\/i>through an explosion of genres: It\u2019s at once a<\/span> comedy<\/span><\/a>, a suspense thriller, and an existential tragedy<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> I especially guffawed when the film insinuated that Aakash\u2019s blindness is an intrinsic part of his \u201cartistic process\u201d. Trust a Raghavan film about crime and justice to make you ponder on whether a good artist is mandated to be a good human being. It\u2019s an apt theme for a film where nothing can be taken for granted. <\/span>\n\nAndhadhun <\/span><\/i>is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors. As the seasonal blind artist, Ayushmann Khuranna, gives a performance that articulates everything without really doing anything. Anil Dhawan is a riot as a yesteryear actor still obsessed with his popularity. And as the femme fatale aka Pune\u2019s \u201cLady Macbeth\u201d, Tabu is the film\u2019s anchor, playing the strong-headed selfish woman, feigning victimhood with aplomb. It\u2019s the kind of role that exists to do justice to her versatility.\n\nAnd Andhadhun<\/span><\/i> is the kind of film that exists as a reminder of what giving your undivided attention to a cinematic experience really feels like. If only we had more of these. \u00a0<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":3425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[6552,6553,6554,6555],"class_list":["post-3422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood","tag-andhadhun","tag-andhadhun-review","tag-ayushmann-khurrana-tabu","tag-sriram-raghavan"],"yoast_head":"\nAndhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Poulomi Das\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Poulomi Das\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Poulomi Das\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\"},\"headline\":\"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422\"},\"wordCount\":774,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1538727786.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Andhadhun\",\"Andhadhun Review\",\"Ayushmann Khurrana. Tabu\",\"Sriram Raghavan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bollywood\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422\",\"name\":\"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1538727786.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\"},\"description\":\"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1538727786.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1538727786.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3422#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\",\"name\":\"Poulomi Das\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Poulomi Das\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=103\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots","description":"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots","og_description":"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Poulomi Das","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots","twitter_description":"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Poulomi Das","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422"},"author":{"name":"Poulomi Das","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679"},"headline":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots","datePublished":"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422"},"wordCount":774,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","keywords":["Andhadhun","Andhadhun Review","Ayushmann Khurrana. Tabu","Sriram Raghavan"],"articleSection":["Bollywood"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422","name":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-26T23:42:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T15:02:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679"},"description":"Sriram Raghavan\u2019s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary \u2013 but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3422#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Andhadhun Review: An Excellent Dark Comedy with No Blind Spots"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679","name":"Poulomi Das","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Poulomi Das"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=103"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1538727786.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3424,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions\/3424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}