Film

Andhadhun

Name: Andhadhun
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Comedy
Released: 2018
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Manav Vij, Zakir Hussain

A blind pianist stumbles into a murder investigation he didn't witness, setting off a darkly comic chain reaction of deceptions and reversals. This Hindi thriller plays with unreliable perspectives and audience assumptions with genuine wit, building to shocking turns that reframe everything you've seen. It's for anyone who loves a puzzle that respects their intelligence.

TMDb rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a thriller that keeps tightening the screws with a sly, deadpan grin, where each twist of the plot doubles as a joke at someone's expense.

Skip it if you want a lean, straightforward whodunit, since this one is loud about its own cleverness and runs past two hours of escalating contrivance.

What it asks of you: Close attention, since the plot rewards anyone who keeps track; the mood swings from sly comedy to something colder over a stretch running past two hours.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Kahaani2012

Vidya Balan as a pregnant woman investigating her missing husband through Kolkata's chaos. A taut, intelligent mystery that trusts the audience to keep up and respects their time.

But It's deliberately low-key in tone; there's no heroic action or cathartic violence. Some find the restraint slow.

Mulk2018

Tabu and Rishi Kapoor in a searing film about a Muslim family fighting prejudice after their son is accused of terrorism. Sharp, angry, and morally urgent in ways that linger.

But The courtroom drama elements can feel schematic. Heavy-handed messaging in the final act undercuts some of the nuance.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Andhadhun

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Stalker1979

Both use a protagonist's special relationship to perception—blindness or spiritual blindness—to ask what reality actually is when everyone's lying, including themselves.

Tarkovsky's philosophical sci-fi about a guide leading strangers through a mysterious zone. It shares Andhadhun's fascination with perception, truth, and what we choose to see or ignore—but reaches for existential rather than criminal stakes.

But It's a 163-minute Soviet film in which almost nothing happens by conventional standards. Patience isn't optional; it's the whole point. Profoundly meditative to the point of inertia.

Pink2016

Three women take on a powerful man in court after a night goes wrong. Amitabh Bachchan delivers a career-best performance as their lawyer, and the script actually argues about consent and power.

But The ending tilts toward melodrama. Some of the legal logic doesn't quite hold if you think about it afterward.

Thappad2020

Taapsee Pannu's marriage fractures after one slap. A deceptively quiet film about how everyday violence normalizes bigger ones. Brilliant in its refusal to offer easy catharsis.

But If you need dramatic confrontations or clear villains, this will frustrate you. The pace is meditative, almost slow-burn.

Johnny Gaddaar2007

Five friends plan a heist. Everything goes wrong in the best way. A Hindi thriller that actually understands suspense and has genuine surprises in its structure.

But The middle sags a little, and the final act relies on coincidence. Some find the cynicism exhausting rather than refreshing.

Raees2017

Shah Rukh Khan as a crime lord, Nawazuddin Siddiqi as the cop hunting him. Pulpy, energetic, and unexpectedly thoughtful about power and morality in a corrupt system.

But It's more style than substance in places. The climax goes conventional when the film had earned something more complex.

Natrang2010

A Marathi film about a man obsessed with an ancient theatrical form. It's funny, tragic, and stranger than most Hindi thrillers—a lateral approach to obsession and performance.

But You need to accept a very different narrative rhythm. The ending will split opinions on whether it's poetic or frustrating.

The Guard2011

Both are crime thrillers that use comedy as a structural element rather than seasoning—the humor comes from character contradiction and moral ambiguity, not jokes inserted into drama.

A small-town Irish policeman and a black American FBI agent pair up for a crime thriller that's genuinely funny without winking. Dark comedy where the darkness and comedy are equally weighted and true.

But The tonal balance means it never settles into pure thrills or pure laughs. Some find it tonally confused rather than clever.

Tokyo Story1953

Both films trust the audience to understand that the most important reversals aren't plot twists—they're shifts in how we see the people on screen, built through accumulated small moments rather than revelation.

Ozu's masterpiece about aging parents visiting their sons in postwar Tokyo. Sounds like a domestic drama; it's actually a profound meditation on perspective, truth, and how little we truly know the people closest to us—devastating and quietly funny.

But It moves at its own pace across 136 minutes with no plot in the conventional sense. The emotional power requires you to sit with emptiness and accept that nothing is resolved.