Bandish Bandits

Radhe is an Indian classical music prodigy from the Rathore Gharana in Jodhpur training under his grandfather, Panditji. During one class, he attempts to sing a high note without using falsetto, but fails. Frustrated, he skips breakfast to practice on the roof. His father informs him that the family is suffering financially as the Panditji’s pension stopped coming a few months prior, and that he must get a job. He’s also told that despite his father being one of seven to ever receive the Ganga Bandan, a sacred thread awarded to the most talented singers in the Gharana, he was not made the successor of the Gharana.

Meanwhile, Tamanna is a pop singer whose most recent song ‘Yolo Jeelo’ has flopped. Desperate for inspiration, she goes to her childhood home in Jodhpur, asking her agent to buy her 2 weeks while she writes a new hit. With the threat of losing her contract and missing out on her dream of singing with Queen Eli, an international superstar, she organises a concert which attracts a large crowd.

Radhe, having gotten a job, is encouraged by his friend Kabir, who is organising the concert for Tamanna, to attend. He is entranced by her performance and decides to meet her after the show. Radhe meets Tamanna and her friend Paddu, who mock him for singing classical music and its customs. Angered, he performs the song he had sung in class, and hits the high notes with ease. Tamanna is shocked by his talent and records him singing. Elated by his success, he rushes home to perform for his Panditji.

Following the showcase, the Rathore’s family car breaks down, leaving Panditji, his father, Radhe and the driver stranded on the highway. His father gets out to walk, while Panditji and the driver catches a lift home, leaving Radhe to wait for the mechanic. Tamanna passes him waiting in the car, and fixes up the engine so it restarts, insisting that she drive. She mocks him, speeding in the car and saying that she’s drunk and doesn’t hold a licence. The car breaks down once again, and they are put in prison for the night for speeding. Angered by Tamanna’s actions, as they could cause him to miss the Ganga Bandan ceremony, he sells out Kabir, who the police had been wanting to arrest for organising the concert for Tamanna, as it had caused a lot of problems for them. In exchange, he and Tamanna are released. Radhe dashes home, but is late for the ceremony by ten minutes, causing his grandfather to suspend the ceremony. Distraught, he begs his mother to ask Panditji to give him another chance but she refuses.

Tamanna apologises to Radhe for causing him to miss his ceremony and shows him the mashup he made of his voice, and asking him whether he would want to join her on her new song. Angered, he snaps at her and accuses her of not dedicating her life to music, so not understanding his crisis. She tells him to not judge her before he knows her and leaves. Having already sent the sample track to her record label, who love it, Tamanna holds auditions to find another replacement for Radhe, with little success, and she decides to move back to Mumbai.

Devendra finds Radhe distraught, and informs him that he was the eighth member to receive the Ganga Bandan before it was taken away from him as he wanted to run away with his true love, a French woman. To redeem himself, he was told he must perform a purification ritual to prove his dedication. Desperate, Radhe asks Panditji to let him undertake the purification ritual to receive the Ganga Bandan. Panditji warns him that it is very trying and that only three have ever succeeded; if he fails he must give up music and the family.

The ritual asks that Radhe live in an abandoned jail, with little material possessions. He is only allowed to sing but otherwise he cannot speak to anyone, and that he must beg for alms. He must practice in order to be able to perform continuously for 21 hours. He trains hard, nearly starving himself. While begging for food, Tamanna comes across him, and offers him a presigning check of 2,00,000, but he declines. He witnesses his father being roughed up by a gang of bank enforcers as he’s not been paying.

Radhe approaches Tamanna after seeing his father get roughed up by the bank enforcers and agrees to sing with her. He asks that she doesn’t write the cheques in his name, but in Panditji’s - he does not want his father and grandfather to know that he has been singing outside the Gharana as it is forbidden. She agrees and they begin to work together on a song. Tamanna asks him to tap in to his emotions as it’s a love song, but Radhe reveals he has never been in love and never kissed a girl. Shocked, Tamanna suggests that they roleplay playing boyfriend and girlfriend. Radhe agrees, and Tamanna invites him to come along to Paddu’s wedding as practice. Radhe says that he cannot leave Jodhpur as he has hours of practice with Panditji.

Meanwhile, Radhe practices daily with Panditji, who introduces him to a love song that he wrote for his wife, who he has not taught to anyone. Similarly, he asks Radhe to sing with more emotion, but Radhe asks whether he has to experience love to sing about it. Panditji says no, as it’s the responsibility of artists to portray emotions that they haven’t felt.

In the afternoon, the family is invited to the palace. Radhe is introduced to Sandhya, the King’s niece, who has studied abroad. Their meeting is awkward, and they’re both obviously uncomfortable. Sandhya sings for Panditji, performing a rendition of a song he sung two years prior. Impressed, he announces that the two of them will be married, which upsets Radhe. Radhe accuses Panditji and his father of orchestrating the marriage just for the money; Panditji assures Radhe that they will not accept money from Sandhya’s family.

Radhe manages to trick Panditji in to letting him attend the wedding by saying it’s for Kabir’s sister. On the way to the wedding, Tamanna asks Radhe to flirt with her. Shyly, he mentions that he doesn’t know how, and would not want to comment on her beauty as there were so many other things to say about her, causing her to blush. They arrive at the wedding and she encourages him to meet her friends. He becomes bolder, flirting and praising her in front of her friends. She goes to dance with her ex-boyfriend in an attempt to make him jealous saying ‘the makeup after an argument is amazing’. Unbothered, he sits on the side, and waits for her to return. She does, and he mocks her, before asking her to return on the dance floor and they share a kiss.

Confused by their kiss, Radhe seeks clarity from Tamanna, only to find her frustrated by the song writing process and throwing out the idea for the previous song. Determined, Radhe comes up with new lyrics for the romantic song, which Tamanna loves.

Meanwhile, Sandhya and her family come for dinner, where Radhe is closed off. Radhe decides to invite Sandhya to the nearby carnival, where he falsely tells her that he is bipolar in an attempt to get her to cancel the wedding, but instead she promises to work through it with him. The royal family also begin supporting the Rathore family, satisfying the bank manager.

Radhe continues formal training under Panditji, whose advice consistently conflicts with the direction from Tamanna while recording the song. Tamanna insists that he sing in falsetto; Radhe refuses, stating that it’s forbidden by Panditji. Tamanna accuses him of making an egotistical choice. Radhe explains the conflicts he’s being experiencing, but that he likes being around her and how much their kiss meant to him. They have sex for the first time, after which, Radhe records the falsetto.

Sandhya and Radhe go saree shopping together, where Sandhya informs him that she knows that he is not bipolar and that he doesn’t want to get married to her. Radhe tells her that he has a girlfriend who he loves and so she should break the marriage. Sandhya tells him that she will not, and that he’s free to do whatever he wants when they are married, but she will play the role of a good wife.

Radhe runs after Tamanna, attempting to explain the announcement. She rebuffs him, upset that he cheated and tells him that they only have a professional relationship. He goes home, only to be scolded by Panditji for singing in falsetto, saying that he was distracted by the audience. Mid-reprimand, Digvijay, Panditji’s son shows up and challenges Panditji for the title of Sangeet Samrat, criticising him for abandoning him and his mother, and not upholding the honour of the Bikaner family.

Radhe, confused, asks his mother what happened. His mother explains that Panditji was married to Uma, Digvijay’s mother, and was given the title of successor from his father. While in Jodhpur to sing, he met Radhe’s grandmother, taking her as a second wife, and establishing his family in Jodhpur. When Digvijay was 10, he came and joined the Gharana, but had a disagreement with Panditji and left. Since then they have not spoken to each other. Panditji begins practicing aggressively for the Sangeet Samrat, but midway through practice realises he is singing flat. He goes to the doctor to get this assessed. Mohini meets with Digvijay and expresses her worries, to which he offers to get him seen by a doctor in Delhi, which she declines.

Radhe and Tamanna begin filming the music video in Rajastan. Radhe refuses to show his face, prompting him to wear a mask in the video. While filming, they lack chemistry, prompting them to discuss the engagement and Radhe offers to get replaced.

Radhe gets engaged to Sandhya. Midway through the engagement, Kabir recognises the tattoo on Sandhya’s back from a previous sex tape he had seen. He threatens Sandhya to break off the engagement. She explains that her boyfriend in Brussels had recorded her without her knowledge, and shared the video widely. They part ways. Radhe returns to the video shoot, and informs Tamanna that his engagement has been broken off. They reunite and rekindle their relationship during the shooting.

The results from Panditji’s audio testing come back, confirming that he has irreversible and progressive nerve damage in his ear, causing hearing loss. The doctor tells them that this could be resolved with a cochlear implant, but this is expensive and risky.

The bank manager once again visits the house, as the payments from Sandhya’s family have stopped. He informs him that he has three months to come up with the money. Frustrated, Radhe’s father tells Panditji that the payments have stopped as they’ve been converted to scholarship money and that he must perform at a commercial event.

Radhe starts training under Panditji to sing against his estranged uncle Digvijay. Panditji challenges Radhe to fuse the ragas Basant and Bahar to create a new fusion raga; these creations will help him beat Digvijay. Kabir gets Radhe tickets to Digvijay’s music school inauguration ceremony, where he demonstrates his musical prowess by fusing a clasdical orchestra with Carnatic music. Radhe gets intimidated.

He attends the launch party for his first song with Tamanna releases which is an instant hit. He is unable to enjoy the success as he is so worried about Sangeet Samrat, which he shared with Tamanna.