Bandish Bandits has been directed by Anand Tiwari. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video/Twitter)
Bandish Bandits is finally streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The web series stars Ritwik Bhowmik, Shreya Chaudhry, Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Roy Kapur, Sheeba Chaddha and Rajesh Tailang. The show revolves around Radhe, a classical performer, and popstar Tamanna. It follows with their budding romance as they collaborate professionally and the conflicts that arise from their union. The 10-part romantic-drama has been directed by Anand Tiwari of Love Per Square Foot fame. It has been produced and created by Amritpal Singh Bindra, known for YRF web series Bang Baaja Baaraat. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are also making their digital debut with Bandish Bandits.
The trailer of Bandish Bandits released on Naseeruddin Shah’s 70th birthday on July 20. Shah is seen as a patriarch and a celebrated Hindustani classical musician from Rajasthan in the show. He is also the grandfather to the young Radhe. Speaking about the web series, Ritwik told indianexpress.com, “It is about relationship dynamics, art vs exhibitionism, mediocrity vs genius among other things. The trailer is just one-tenth of the show.” Shreya also shared what drew her to the script. She said, “The script chose me. I was immediately sold when I came to know about the director and the cast. And things got even better when I read it. Tamannah is very different from Shreya, so that was exciting. Moreover, this is a romantic show woven around music and that aspect was very fresh for me.”
Speaking on how they developed their characters, Shreya told indianexpress.com that she did not refer to any one pop singer, instead watched a few legends perform on stage and added her own elements to Tamannah. Ritwik, on his part, added, “There were 10 blueprints that I had to go through in order to get Radhe right. It took time to understand him as he is very far off from who I am in my life.”
@spasarri1310 shared via Twitter, "Bandish Bandits. What a show!! Original, creative and musical..omfg. Music is <3"
@Karaboondi is in awe of Bandish Bandits' music. The Twitter user wrote, "Bandish Bandits hits the sweet spot mid way - Virah , Dhara Hogi and then Garaj Garaj . Absolute eargasm"
"The Classical Songs of the soundtrack of Bandish Bandits are soo soo good. Had some expectations from the album considering it's a musical web series. Garaj Garaj, Garaj Garaj Jugaalbandi and Labb Par Aaye stand out from rest of the tracks," wrote @ugach_kahitarii on Twitter.
Debutant Ritwik Bhowmik says it was a dream come true to shoot with Naseeruddin Shah in Amazon Prime Video's Bandish Bandits.
The actor opened up on how Shah helped him to get a scene right.
“To perform the sequence, I actually drenched my clothes in water and kept running across the set to look exhausted. However, Naseeruddin sir corrected me and told me that I actually have to run 3 to 4 kms to look like that. He then shared a very simple lifehack which will make me look exhausted in less than 10 seconds. He asked me to hold my breath, bend over and once the blood shoots up to my head come back to normal again. It made me look like I ran miles without displacing myself from the original position," Bhowmik said in a statement.
Music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have marked their digital debut with Amazon Prime Videos' Bandish Bandits. The trio, in a statement, spoke about the response to the music of the series.
“The album is a seamless amalgamation of classical and pop music and features some of the most extraordinary melodies from Indian classical music alongside some really peppy tracks. We are ecstatic with the reaction the soundtrack has received and are thrilled we get to perform some of the best tracks from the soundtrack at the Bandish Bandits concert,” said Shankar Ehsaan Loy.
To celebrate the release of their original series Bandish Bandits, Amazon Prime Video will organise a virtual concert, which will be headlined by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The concert, to be held on August 5, will feature acts by Armaan Malik, Jonita Gandhi, Prateek Kuhad, Shivam Mahadevan and Mame Khan among others.
The concert will stream live on Amazon Prime Video’s official Facebook & YouTube page.
In an interview with indianexpress.com, Bandish Bandits director Anand Tiwari opened up about the casting of the web series.
"We wanted absolutely fresh faces, who are capable of taking the weight of the show and a love story. After a long process of audition, Ritwik and Shreya were chosen. There is a sense that youngsters aren’t focused and don’t work hard. These two will prove everyone wrong. Also, we have some of the stalwarts of our industry. All of them came into the show because I think they liked the content and the fact that music is going to play an important role in the show. Lip-syncing wasn’t easy at all. Actors had to grab the sur, aalap, alankar and other elements of music," Anand Tiwari said. Read more