Sriram Raghavan’s upcoming thriller about a blind pianist will be titled Andhadhun, the makers have confirmed. Featuring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu and Radhika Apte in the lead, the movie was titled Shoot the Piano Player in earlier stages of production.

Shoot The Piano Player is the name of one of French New Wave director Francois Truffaut’s most well-known films.

Raghavan told Mumbai Mirror that the producers did not want to use an English name. “We are punning with the title as Ayushmann plays a blind pianist,” he said. “It goes well with the story too. We had a lot of options in our mind, including Shoot The Piano Player, but the producers weren’t keen on using an English title. I know the real word is ‘Andhadhund’, but the ‘D’ is silent for us,” he said.

Co-producers Viacom 18 revealed the new title in a teaser video on Tuesday. The film is set in Pune and production is nearly complete, Mumbai Mirror said.

Play

Raghavan made his directorial debut in 2004 with the Urmila Matondkar-starrer Ek Hasina Thi. Since then, he has directed neo-noir thriller Johnny Gaddar (2007), spy film Agent Vinod (2012) and revenge thriller Badlapur (2015).

The director told Mumbai Mirror that Andhadhun’s tone will be unlike the sombre Badlapur and closer to Johnny Gaddaar “with its quirky characters and a strong plot”. The film’s music is by Amit Trivedi.

Raghavan is also set to direct a biopic about Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, who died aged 21 in the 1971 India-Pakistan war and was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the country’s highest military decoration. He will reunite with Badlapur producer Dinesh Vijan for the film. “Ritesh Shah is writing the script. When Dino shared the idea with me, I immediately agreed to be a part of it as I loved the genre and the idea,” Raghavan said.