Bandish Bandits Review : A middling hotchpotch of ideas and situations.
There is a beautiful moment in Bandish Bandits when an ailing patriarch of the family recognizes the genius of his grandson’s voice by the trembling of a glass of water, as he experiences an escalating hearing impairment, marking music as a spiritual, aesthetic medium, and not just an audio experience. Sadly, moments like these stand in punctuated isolation in the muddled Prime series that is never too sure of what it wants to become.
Bandish Bandits, the new Amazon Prime show, promised to be a musical romance set against the picturesque backdrop of Rajasthan. Sadly, this is exactly where it disappoints. The love-story involving Radhe (Ritwik Bhowmik), heir of a traditionalist family of singers, rooted in the classical mould, and Tamanna (Shreya Chaudhry), a YouTube sensation who stands for the more westernized, tech-y music, is the weakest link in the narrative.
Peppered with dry clichés, a clumsy episode of role-playing and a subplot involving a Krrish-like mask, the love-story between Radhe and Tamanna is repetitive, and eventually half-baked. This is sad because of the early interactions between the two, which promise some spark. Despite being designed and dialogued with the starkest clichés that define a “sanskaari” boy and a modern, opinionated girl, these characters nonetheless seem to share a sweet juxtaposition that our mind is programmed to see fall in love over a series of (hopefully) endearing confrontations.
This is where the love-story takes its first hit. The bond that Radhe and Tamanna share feels constructed, not organic. There are moments here that feel designed and deliberate, not a matter of destiny. Further, the conflict of different musical styles (which could have grown into an ideological conflict in a better narrative), seems to vanish, making this a love story that is neither passionate nor palpable enough to care for.
Thankfully, there is more to Bandish Bandits than what it promised, and it is in the domestic domain that it finds its best moments. Characters and conflicts that should have been the sole presence in the narrative are voiced in the silenced chaos of the Rathore clan, before being inevitably halted by scenes of a scruffy love-story, breaking the tension that is never given a chance to reach its full potential.
To get through Bandish Bandits, one needs to look at it chiefly as a family drama, with the love-story only giving an added color to the narrative. This side of the narrative is led by the patriarch of the family, Pandit Radhe Mohan Rathore (Naseeruddin Shah), who lends the household a curfew-like existence, with the only sound that can exist belonging to that of classical singing. This side of the show has some wonderful performances by the likes of Atul Kulkarni, Rajesh Tailing, and a subtly wonderful Sheeba Chaddha.
Here the show seems to have a structure, a purpose, both things that are missing in the love-story. The competition of Sangeet Samrat, placed against an ailing old, arrogant man’s obsession with his legacy, and a lonely, deprived man fighting for his rights, paves way for a fascinating final episode, the journey to which is a turbulent, inconsistent one.
The biggest winner in Bandish Bandits is its music. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy give a memorable, mouth-watering soundtrack here that may not always be used ably in the show, but finds a fitting crescendo in the final act when music looms large over the narrative, carpeting under it all the conflicts that preceded it. The classical songs are particularly wonderful, giving the show a depth that its writing does not. The music often makes up for the irregular narrative, that is too confused about where it wants to lead the story.
Bandish Bandits is a poor execution of a cross-genre story. It wants to be at once a love story, a family drama, a coming-of-age story, and a commentary on different philosophies of music. Ultimately, it becomes a middling hotchpotch of ideas and situations, never dedicated to one string for long enough to make it work.
The series could have been a wonderful exploration of the juxtaposing musical philosophies, both rooted together and yet driven away from one another. It could have been a memorable love-story set against a fantastic album. It could have been a dedicated family drama that explored the complexities of relationships entangled with music and a misogynistic quest to be the man on the pinnacle of the mountain of melody. But all it is, eventually, is a show that shows sporadic promise, but falters in its inability to find a consistent tone, despite some stellar performances and a fantastic soundtrack.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime.
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