Anand Tiwari: 'Bandish Bandits is a unique narrative because the story is of musicians, by musicians and for musicians'

(From left) Sheeba Chaddha and Rajesh Tailang in Bandish Bandits

Crafting a world filled with love and music takes time. That probably explains why creator-director Anand Tiwari took four years to return with the second season of Bandish Bandits. Tell him that the gap between the two instalments of the Prime Video series was quite long, and he says it was intentional. "We took exactly the time that we took to make season one. We wanted to do it with as much responsibility as we did in season one. Bandish is a unique [narrative] because the story is of musicians, by musicians and for musicians. It gets consumed by everyone because we relate to the inter-personal dynamics, their dysfunctionality, loss, love and insecurities," he begins.

Anand Tiwari

Starring Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhry, Bandish Bandits became a hit upon its première in 2020 as it told the story of two rising musicians and their love despite their differing ideologies. While the romance between the two leads formed the crux of the first season, Tiwari says in the second edition, he has focused on the quiet love triangle playing out between Atul Kulkarni, Rajesh Tailang and Sheeba Chaddha's characters. "We keenly saw how the audience responded to their love story [in the first edition] because we wanted to take that journey forward. It's a mature telling of love that is very much alive on three sides. Radhe [Bhowmik] and Tamanna [Chaudhry] are [grappling with] what love means to them, and whether their love is more important than their love for their art. For the mature characters, these conversations are out of the window, and love means very different things to them. So, as writers, it was a great opportunity."

It has been a significant year for Tiwari, who directed his first big-screen offering, Bad Newz. The Vicky Kaushal and Triptii Dimri-starrer failed to make waves at the box office, but the director is happy with its performance. "It did very well at the Indian box office. Internationally, it is Vicky's biggest film, and got him his biggest weekend. So, I am full of gratitude. As producers, we also understood what box office meant because until then we had only worked on OTT. It was a big litmus test. We came in wanting to do cinema. I am a millennial. I didn't have OTT [growing up]. So, cinema was the language of expression for me," he smiles.
The romantic comedy has boosted Tiwari's confidence to tell more stories for the big screen. The director says, "Bad Newz has given us such a nitro boost that we'll keep making movies. We are developing something for the big screen."