From Vidya Balan-starrer suspense thriller Kahaani to Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, and Pankaj Tripathi-starrer horror comedy Stree, there have many low-budget Bollywood films that have earned hundreds of crores at the box office. Another name in the list is the 2018 black-comedy crime thriller Andhadhun, which was headlined by Ayushmann Khurrana and Tabu.
Directed Sriram Raghavan, Andhadhun's total budget was just Rs 32 crore including the promotional and marketing cost. The film collected Rs 96 crore gross (Rs 75 crore net) in India upon its release in October 2018. In April 2019, Andhadhun was released in China as Piano Player and it emerged as a blockbuster there, earning Rs 330 crore and taking the film's worldwide gross to Rs 440 crore. (All box office figures are taken from the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk).
Ayushmann Khurrana plays Akash Sarraf, who fakes being a blind pianist in the film but ultimately, becomes blind in real when he gets embroiled in the murder of a former actor by his wife Simi Sinha, played by Tabu. The actor won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his brilliant performance in the film. But do yo know that Ayushmann wasn't Sriram's first choice for the role? The director had first approached Anil Kapoor's son Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, who rejected the film and chose Vikramaditya Motwane's Bhavesh Joshi Superhero instead.
In Andhadhun's climax, Sriram Raghavan opted for an open climax, without revealing whether Ayushmann even became blind at the interval or was faking being blind in the second half as well. Its shocking ambigious ending was immensely appreciated by the audiences and critics.
Also starring Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan, Zakir Hussain, Ashwini Kalsekar, and Manav Vij in key roles, Andhadhun won two more National Film Awards for Best Hindi Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film has become a cult classic over the years and is regarded as one of the best crime thrillers made in Indian cinema.
READ | Meet director, who studied at IIT Bombay, quit high-paying job to enter Bollywood, made India's highest-grossing film
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