A JUGALBANDI OF MINDS

Bandish Bandits employs music, tradition and love to tell a contemporary story

- PRIYANKA BHADANI

Ever since they first met on the sets of Barfi! (2012) as assistant directors, Amritpal Singh Bindra and Anand Tiwari dreamt of collaborating on a show that would capture young love in all its glory and agony. “A story that was fun and young,” says Bindra. “That spoke about the conflicts that young [lovers] often face in their families.”

That is how Bandish Bandits on Amazon Prime Video came to be, with Bindra as executive producer and Tiwari as director. Apart from the duo, the show has two other writers, Adhir Bhat and Lara Chandni.

Bandish Bandits could be a first on a few counts. It is the first Indian web series to have music at its core. It also marks the digital debut of the composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and brings together acting stalwarts Naseeruddin Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Atul Kulkarni and Sheeba Chaddha, with two new faces—Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhry—as leads.

The 10-episode series starts with an interesting premise that juxtaposes Hindustani classical music and pop music in its storyline quite convincingly. Radhe (Ritwik), a singing prodigy from the Rathod gharana of Jodhpur, is torn between staying true to his legacy and helping his beloved—Tamanna (Shreya), a pop sensation—achieve the stardom she has always dreamt of.