“Pahli baar pop aur classical mein pyaar hoga, is pyaar ka naam hoga Bandish Bandits.”
If you haven’t guessed yet, this line from the trailer is pretty much the synopsis of Amazon Prime Video’s latest series Bandish Bandits.
The musical series, that marks the debut of composer trio Shankar Ehsaan Loy in the OTT space, on one hand talks about this unique band that’s born out of a marriage between classical and pop, and on the other focuses on the love story of Radhe and Tamanna who are just the proverbial opposites and how they get attracted and fall in love with each other hopelessly.
So here’s the story of Bandish Bandits as per the official synopsis. Radhe is a singing prodigy determined to follow in the classical footsteps of his grandfather. Tamanna is a rising pop sensation desperate to become India’s first international popstar. Radhe’s world is turned upside down when he falls in love with Tamanna. Torn between helping her achieve superstardom and staying true to his own music and his family’s legacy, will he succeed in juggling both at the risk of losing everything he has?
The series is set in Jodhpur and tells the story of two young musicians, hailing from contrasting backgrounds. They are as different as chalk and cheese and initially Radhe and Tamanna are an unlikely pair but as the story progresses they find a bit of themselves in each other. Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhry took their own time to get into the skin of their characters as they interacted in a workshop and helped each other portray their roles.
In a virtual press conference of Bandish Bandits organized by Amazon Prime Video, the lead pair told Top Lead India how they prepared for their roles and worked on their chemistry. The two also talked about how similar they are to their reel selves.
‘I am more Tamanna in real life’
Talking about the similarities with his character, Ritwik Bhowmik said he thought there were hardly any when he was offered the role, but along the way he discovered he was a lot similar to his character Radhe. “I live in Mumbai and Radhe is from Rajasthan. Initially when I came to know about the role, I didn’t think it matched with my real self at all. But jaise jaise I started working on my character and I discovered who the boy really was, there were so many things that resonated with me. And now I feel the character is very similar to me,” says Ritwik.
Interestingly, Shreya who plays the peppy and energetic Tamanna also thought that her character was quite in contrast with her real self. She, however, found she shared a lot of attributes with her. She also learnt from her on-screen character as she was quite impressed with her outgoing and confident personality.
“Tamanna was quite different from me. But Anand (Tiwari) guided me through the role and things started to fall in place. She is very passionate about her work, very focussed, a go-getter and career oriented. I have learnt a lot from Tamanna. She is such confident and well-turned out all the time. She has to be, afterall she is a YouTube star, a composer. Her confidence level is something else. While Shreya in real life would be sitting without makeup in a ponytail. As of today, I am closer to Tamanna than I was at the beginning as I have learnt a lot from her,” says Shreya.
“When we first read the script we both joked how Shreya is more Radhe than me and how I am more Tamanna in real life,” laughed Ritwik.
About their chemistry
Shreya did not know Ritwik from before though she had met him once for an earlier project that didn’t happen, and actually wanted her other friend to land Ritwik’s part. But clearly destiny had other plans.
“The first time I got to know that they were auditioning for Radhe, I was rooting for another friend to get the role. We (She and Ritwik) had met for another project that hadn’t worked out. It was only after we attended workshops together that I felt and I told him that I was so glad to have actually worked with him. It was really a great experience. Our method of working was quite similar and we helped out each other while preparing for our roles. We were very comfortable together and that went a long way in building chemistry,” Shreya told us.
Working with Naseer
It is anybody’s dream to share screenspace with the one and only Naseeruddin Shah and when Ritwik and Shreya came to know that they Naseer Sir was part of the series, naturally their joy knew no bounds.
“The series was the happiest thing that ever happened to me and the icing in the cake was somebody who inspired me to follow this profession was the one with whom I would do my first project. I was very nervous, and whenever I used to say that Naseer Sir would say ‘shut up’. He was very sweet and nice to me and was supportive in every possible way. He was not only there for me, he helped me better my performance. I can’t articulate this in words. It’s an honour to be working with Naseer Sir. I am lucky to be alive in this era,” said Ritwik sharing his experience of working with the veteran actor.
“I was supremely excited and super-proud of myself and priviliged to be working with the legend like him. I didn’t get to share screen space with him but it was a great learning experience observing him act,” said Shreya.
Naseeruddin Shah, however, feels it’s not a compliment for him when somebody says they are nervous to act with him.
“That’s not a compliment. If my presence makes a person uneasy, it’s not a good thing. I don’t remember feeling nervous working with Dilip Kumar, Sean Connery and such legends. I deeply admired them, but never felt nervous,” says Naseer.
“As for the chemistry thing, it’s a matter of appreciating each other and being helpful to each other in portraying it on scree that works,” adds Naseeruddin Shah about how actors should work on their chemistry on screen.
Bandish Bandits will start streaming from August 4, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.
It is produced and created by Amritpal Singh Bindra and directed by Anand Tiwari. The ten-part series stars Ritwik Bhowmik as Hindustani classical performer, Radhe, and Shreya Chaudhry as popstar Tamanna, alongside veteran actors including Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Sheeba Chaddha and Rajesh Tailang.
Watch the trailer: