The series features debutants Ritwik Bhowmik as Radhe Rathod, a Hindustani Classical musician and Shreya Chaudhary as Tamanna Sharma, a pop singer, who hail from different worlds of music.
The series received a positive response from critics and audiences, praising the performances of the cast, writing and direction, songs and background score.
[14] Radhe is an Indian classical music prodigy from the Rathore Gharana in Jodhpur training under his grandfather, Panditji.
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.
Desperate for inspiration, she goes to her childhood home in Jodhpur, asking her agent to buy her two 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.
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 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.
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 Ganda Bandan before it was taken away from him as he wanted to run away with his true love, a French woman.
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.
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.
Radhe continues formal training under Panditji, whose advice consistently conflicts with the direction from Tamanna while recording the song.
The results from Panditji’s audio testing come back, confirming that he has irreversible and progressive nerve damage in his ear, causing hearing loss.
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.
On 14 February 2019, Vijay Subramaniam, chief director and head of content of Amazon Prime Video India,[17] announced the release of six Indian originals, at the Television Critics Association's press tour held in Los Angeles, California.
[19] Bindra eventually stated that "The show is a millennial love story set against the backdrop of a clash between pop and Hindustani classical music.
[21][22] To play the lead characters Radhe and Tamanna, the makers hired debutants Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhary.
On their inclusion, the composers stated that the background score will work in tandem to the story-line and building the scenes, the songs in this series form a part of the core narrative.
[29] The 11-song soundtrack album features lyrics by Divyanshu Malhotra, Tanishk S Nabar, Sameer Samant and also consists traditional verses.
[4] Devarsi Ghosh of Scroll.in opined that "The blend of easy-listening pop and soaring semi-classical tunes brings to mind the trio's vast body of work".
[41][42] As a part of the promotional strategy, the makers hosted a virtual music concert on 3 August 2020,[43] with Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Prateek Kuhad, Lisa Mishra, Armaan Malik, Jonita Gandhi and Mame Khan, giving live performances.
"[47] Nandini Ramanath of Scroll.in reviewed "One thing which is missing from the mix is a reflection of the audience base for classical music that allows performers to maintain tradition, pursue long careers, and become stars in their own right.
An understanding of the ability of classical musicians to successfully renegotiate the boundaries of form and performance on their own terms is also absent.
"[48] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave three out of five stars and reviewed "Watch Bandish Bandits for the music and the actors: they soar even when the show doesn't.
"[49] Pratishruti Ganguly of Firstpost gave three out of five stating "What Bandish Bandits fails to do, is meld its musical largesse with the narrative scope of the show.
Predictably, the length of the show (10 episodes, each over 40 minutes) demands a complex storyline that slowly builds its dramatic tension to climax to a rousing crescendo.
"[51] In contrast Mini Anthikkad Chibber of The Hindu reviewed "Bandish Bandits would have scraped through as a 90-minute vanilla rom-com.
"[52] Rahul Desai of Film Companion reviewed "There are several problems with Bandish Bandits, but purely on a storytelling level, the writing suffers from attention deficit disorder.