Made on Tiny Budgets, Made for the Ages: The Bollywood Films Whose Endings Still Stump Viewers Low-budget Bollywood films like A Wednesday, Paan Singh Tomar and Andhadhun carved out a lasting place in Indian cinema through gripping stories and sharp direction, and the final scenes of some of them remain a puzzle even today. The history of Bollywood is dotted with films that gave Indian cinema a fresh identity. What makes many of them remarkable is that they were shot on shoestring budgets, yet their writing and direction left a mark that refused to fade over the years. The irony is that the box office never rewarded them as much as they deserved. The last 10 years alone produced four such films: A Wednesday, Paan Singh Tomar, Andhadhun and Tumbbad. What makes it even more interesting is that the closing scenes of two of these were written so cleverly that even seasoned movie lovers could not crack them on the first watch. Audiences rewound those scenes again and again, and still the real meaning slipped past them. A Wednesday: Released With No Promotion, It Turned Into a Cult Classic First, the crime thriller that arrived in theatres on 5 September 2008 without a single promotional push. For an entire week, not a soul showed up to watch it. Then the mood shifted so dramatically that the very same film became iconic, raked in money and walked away with a National Award. This was A Wednesday. Its entire story unfolded over a single day and was set squarely in the city of Mumbai. The events ran from 2 in the afternoon to 5 in the evening, and the plot was rooted in the life of the common man. Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the film had not one romantic scene and not a single song. There was no promotion either, and yet it carved out its own space. Two cinema heavyweights, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah, played the leads. Anupam Kher took on the role of a police commissioner, a character that closely resembled Mumbai's then police commissioner Rakesh Maria in real life. The film felt so real that viewers sensed their own story was playing out on screen, with not a single scene coming across as fake. Naseeruddin Shah's character was given no backstory and not even a name, he was simply called the common man. The film showed the Mumbai police commissioner's office and did not shy away from the bitter truth that the instruments in their IT office had grown outdated. The screenplay was so tight that audiences barely had a chance to blink. The film won a National Award along with 3 Filmfare Awards. Made on a budget of just 3 crore, it earned a worldwide collection of 16 crore and proved to be a hit. Today it is counted among cult films and holds a rating of 8.1 on IMDB. Paan Singh Tomar: The True Story of an Athlete Turned Rebel Second on this list is Paan Singh Tomar, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and shot in the ravines of Chambal. The film released in India on 2 March 2012. Irrfan Khan played the title role and, through his performance, brought the memory of Paan Singh Tomar back to life. How an athlete and a seven-time national champion turned into a rebel almost overnight is the journey the film portrays with full intensity. The dialogues struck a chord with audiences. The story was co-written by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sanjay Chouhan, while Ronnie Screwvala sat in the producer's chair. Alongside Irrfan Khan, the film also featured Mahie Gill, Vipin Sharma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The way Paan Singh's life was depicted on screen pulled everyone into the cinema halls. Irrfan Khan dissolved completely into the character, and this very film handed him a distinct identity of his own. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, while Irrfan Khan took home the National Award for Best Actor. Produced on a budget of 7 crore, the film clocked a worldwide collection of 20 crore and turned out to be a semi-hit, although its popularity ran far beyond those numbers. It carries a rating of 8.2 on IMDB and is regarded as an underrated film that deserved far greater success. Andhadhun: A Climax That Is Still Debated Third is Andhadhun, released on 5 October 2018 and directed by Sriram Raghavan. A suspense thriller, its plot stayed a step ahead of what the audience could anticipate. The film starred Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu and Radhika Apte in the lead, while Anil Dhawan played a smaller role. The story was written jointly by Sriram Raghavan, Hemant M Rao, Pooja Surti, Arijit Biswas and Yogesh Chandekar. In the story, a blind piano player named Aakash, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, unwittingly becomes a witness to a murder. The killing is carried out by the dead man's cunning wife Simi, played by Tabu, and her police inspector lover. In the closing scene, Aakash is in a European city narrating the end of the tale to his girlfriend, played by Radhika Apte, where he paints himself as the helpless one and brands Simi the villain. Just before the film ends, he flicks a can lying on the road away with his stick, and that single gesture reveals that he is not actually blind. In other words, the final scene the audience saw was not as true as they believed. That is exactly why people watched the scene over and over, yet the knot never untangled over what the truth really was. The reality is that Aakash invents a false story of Simi's accident using the rabbit stick he carries. In truth, he accepts the offer made by Doctor Swami, and together the two deliver Simi's body to a Sheikh sitting in Dubai. In return, both pocket a large sum of money and Aakash gets new eyes. This means the version about Doctor Swami stepping out of the car and Simi getting into it was entirely fabricated. The account Aakash narrated to Sophie was a lie, one he flipped only to win her sympathy. Director Sriram Raghavan crafted the ending in such a way that audiences remain tangled in the same puzzle even after the film is over. What this means for you For movie lovers: • If you enjoy films driven by strong stories and powerful performances, A Wednesday, Paan Singh Tomar and Andhadhun belong on your watchlist. • If Andhadhun's final scene confuses you on the first watch, rewatch it, because the real story differs from what plays out on screen. Questions & Answers 1. When was A Wednesday released and what was its budget? The film released on 5 September 2008, was made on a budget of 3 crore and earned a worldwide collection of 16 crore. 2. Which award did Irrfan Khan win for Paan Singh Tomar? Irrfan Khan won the National Award for Best Actor for this film, while the film itself won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. 3. What is the real ending of Andhadhun? In reality, Aakash accepts Doctor Swami's offer, the two deliver Simi's body to a Sheikh in Dubai, they pocket a large sum of money and Aakash gets new eyes. 4. Who directed these films? A Wednesday was directed by Neeraj Pandey, Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Andhadhun by Sriram Raghavan. https://trendkia.com/en/bollywood/10-sala-men-banin-ye-bolivuda-philmen-chhote-bajata-men-bara-kamala-do-ke-klaima-1230 TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.