Spoiler Alert: Please do not read the blog before seeing the film.
And one MUST see this film!
There are open ended films then there is
Andhadhun!
Pic Courtesy: Huffingtonpost.
Enough reviews have been written about the
film, the intricate and intelligent screenplay, clever and unexpected twists
and it being the time-tested edge of the seat thriller.
And at the end of the film, one stands in
awe and tips one’s hat in the general direction of Sriram Raghavan.
When Akash walks away, leaving Sophie
spellbound and speechless and confused behind, and as he takes that turn, your
senses are alert. You know something special is coming. And then you spot that
beer can slowly creeping into the frame.
And BANG!
Akash knocks it away, as nonchalantly as
one can, and you sit back smug with satisfaction at this most poetic of the
endings.
You sit there smiling like a moron and then
as the credits finish rolling with a brilliant montage of all that piano
playing scenes, you get up and start to think.
What happened?
Well, for starters, certainly Akash is not
blind.
You do not need to have your residence
address as 221B, Baker Street to guess that.
When did he gain his eye sight?
The film showed us the scenes of the fight
in the store room, Mrs. Sinha getting overpowered, bundled into the car, with
Akash and Swami driving away. Swami tells of the plan to send her to the Sheikh
and realize 6 crores, with a cut of 1 crore to Akash.
Akash asks him “Will she be killed for
this?” to which Swami replies that fantastic quote-card from the beginning of
the film “She will anyway die? What is Life? Depends on the Liver!”
And the scene pans to the Krakow city
square, two years later.
There had been discussions between
likeminded friends and after many unconvincing takes on “What is your take?”
and equally implausible explanations conceived on the spur of the moments, here
is my detailed take on what could have happened?
As best as I could.
As this is my version of what must have
happened, I am making it a seamless story with no “must have” or “could have”
in the narration.
(For starters, Akash is alive, and he knows
about the Rabbit and he has expressed his reservations about sacrificing Mrs.
Sinha.)
Akash gets out of the car, telling Dr.
Swami that he wants nothing to do with the scheme of trading her to the Sheikh.
The deserted road and the fear that Akash
could become an issue later, makes
Dr. Swami turn around and run him down to
leave no traces.
The jumping rabbit causes the accident
leading to the crash and death of both Dr. Swami and Mrs. Sinha.
The farmer from the cabbage field comes and
tells Akash about his lucky escape.
Akash leaves the place and approaches Sakku
and they approach the hospital and arrange for the cornea transplant of the
dead Murali.
Remember the lady doctor asking Sakku if
she would donate his organs!
Where did they get the money from to
arrange for the cornea transplant as well as to hush up the doctors from going
public with Murali’s death, obviously from a bullet wound?
Enter Danni! Akash and Danni develop a
liking for each other after Akash approaches her and tells her the whole story.
This describes Akash not contacting Sophie
again.
Akash gets his sight back, marries Danni
and they move to Krakow, where Akash continues the charade of being blind to
focus on his music and puts the rabbit on his stick.
He is unable to take Sophie out of his
mind; that reflects in the song he plays at the bar.
When Sophie meets him, he buys some time to
think of a plausible story and narrates a story that shows him guilt free.
The frustration and anger with which he
kicks the beer can away is due to his turmoil on whether he chose wisely
between Danni and Sophie.
Sriram Raghavan can tell me if he likes
this explanation or he can make Andhadhun 2.
