‘Maestro’ – the Telugu remake of ‘Andhadhun’ is expected to soon start streaming on the Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform. ‘Andhadhun’ was Sriram Raghavan’s black-comedy mystery film that instantly achieved a cult following amongst cinephiles globally. The film featured Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, and Radhika Apte in the lead roles.
Remaking a cult film like ‘Andhadhun’ is a double-edged sword mainly because, being a mystery film, the story heavily relies on the climactic mystery revelation. Let us explain in more detail why we think so.
Consider for example another cult mystery movie, say, ‘The Sixth Sense’ that boasted of a flabbergasting climax. After the film’s release, because of the well-deserved hype, most of the movie buffs including many of those who had not even seen the film, became inadvertently aware of the climactic revelation regarding Bruce Willis’ character. So, if ‘The Sixth Sense’ was remade a few years after its release, it might have dissuaded most prospective viewers already in the know, from watching the remake. Because the suspense of the original was its distinctive X-factor.
Somewhat similarly, the same principle may be applicable to a film like ‘Andhadhun’. In the age of the internet where social media platforms are rampant and film news spreads faster than wildfire, it’s difficult to protect the suspense of a film like ‘Andhadhun’. A significant chunk of prospective viewers may already be aware of Ayushmann Khurrana character’s secret that was revealed during the film’s climax. So, the question is: would this segment of viewers still go ahead and watch the film despite knowing the mystery beforehand?
Many of you might be thinking that why this analogy fails in the case of another blockbuster mystery film ‘Drishyam’ whose remakes were critically and commercially acclaimed. But, if you observe that in a film like ‘Drishyam’, the story mainly relied on ‘How’ the protagonist will save the family. The suspense was not about – ‘Can’ he save his family or not. It was more about ‘How’ the hero will do that.
That’s why there is an apparent difference between remaking a film like ‘Andhadhun’ and a film like ‘Drishyam’. Despite both films being equally brilliant and beautifully complex in their own special ways.
Having said that, the point that might go in favor of ‘Maestro’ and other ‘Andhadhun’ remakes is that the mystifying climax of the film is not as easily comprehensible on first viewing and is open to interpretation.
Whether the remakes of ‘Andhadhun’ would recreate similar magic as we have witnessed in the case of ‘Drishyam’ remakes, remains to be seen. We think that a film like ‘Drishyam’ is probably more suited for a remake compared to a film like ‘Andhadhun’. However, considering the fact that we are currently unaware of how these remakes are being executed, we might get more clarity on that after the first ‘Andhadhun’ remake ‘Maestro’ hits our screens.
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