Yesterday I happened to binge-skip watch a new Amazon Prime series - Bandish Bandits. It was good to see that an entire series where music seemed to be the protagonist was created. However, the series never gets you totally hooked to it, nor does it leave a lasting imprint on your mind.
Ill not discuss the plot over here - but I will certainly say that it feels like a cocktail of various emotional, stylistic, musical, personal and ego conflicts. These conflicts could all have caused severe upheavals during the collision course of each- all are stories worth exploring in detail, but never fully explored. At the end of the season, It felt a lot of backstories had forced closures and it was hard to understand why.
In terms of the story, it comes across as a confused cacophony of well known stories all compressed into one tale. A large hint of the life of a great Pandit, mixed with elements of Katyar Kaljat Ghusali, the portrayal of classical music as being dependent on a wealthy patron(Kings), financial struggles of the protagonist,the opposites attract theory, with a healthy dose of emotional jealousy on the lines of Aashiqi series all coated with a dollop of the millennial relationship conundrums and you get a confused and confusing output.
In terms of acting, I read enormous praise for Naseeruddin Shah. I give him full marks for all the non-musical side of his role. However, when it came to portraying performances, they were not as intense as a "kaslela gayak" of the stature of Panditji would deliver. His portrayal of Ghulfam Hassan was far better. Atul Kulkarni felt more like an established stalwart and estranged singer that the script was demanding. The Viraha song on the last episode is probably the best song in the entire series and has been portrayed really well. In general his facial expressions when coming up with long taans, the effort that is needed for that, catching the sam looks on cue. I dont know what to make of the lead(Radhe). Hes acted OK - but his performance as a "Sadhak" of music does not stay with you. I think the lead who plays Tamanna does more justice to the role and is probably more suited to the character. The supporting cast of family members do a good job.
When it comes to the locations - I thought that the team managed to capture the essense of Jodhpur. Its a city I have enjoyed visiting and I could feel the vibe of the fort, the mirchi vada thelas and the havelis. It was refreshing to see the story set in a non-traditional music center(Gwalior, Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi etc). I have to give it to the cinematographers. Some of the shots of the riyaz sessions in the temple were fabulous.
However, my severest criticism for this show is reserved for the music. For a SEL production, the music is really not up to the mark. This coming from the same team that gave us brilliant music in Katyar Kaljat Ghusli is surprizing. Its probably the absence of a genius in shape of Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki which is the biggest differentiation between the two albums. Bandish Bandits at best is a mediocre music album. The new and upcoming singers selected for playback do not do justice to the egos and characters portrayed on screen. The worst part is at times the singing is extremely besura. If this was deliberate, I dont understand the reason for doing that. Overall, musically, the album feels lacking the X factor. Not a single song really captivates you, except for maybe the Marwa/Pooriya at the end.
Overall, I feel this was a really underwhelming series. It kept on moving goalposts on the quintessential ego clash and showdowns that are central to portrayals of the musical world. In the end the whole pitch was filled with a lot of unnecessary moving targets. The showdown at the end was not much of a showdown. Too much content was force fitted in space of 10 episodes which ultimately led to a total loss of interest to see each episode in full. Music, which is supposed to be the theme, ultimately loses out on the much needed screen space. Musically, the album fails to deliver. As an avid listener of classical music, the music is disappointing at best. The end result is a mashup of ideas which do not add up and does not live up to ones expectations.
