''Qaidi Band'' () is a 2017

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

musical drama film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

, it revolves around seven innocent under-trials, who give a band performance in the prison to get into the good books of the authorities and secure their acquittal. It features newcomers Aadar Jain and

Anya Singh Anya Singh (born 29 December 1992) is an Indian actress who made her debut in Bollywood film ''Qaidi Band'' (2017). After making her acting debut as a minor artist, Singh played her first leading role in Habib Faisal's musical drama film ''Qaid ...

in lead roles. The film released on 25 August 2017.

Plot

The film opens in a jail of India where in the male ward, a bunch of under-trail prisoners are trying to catch a mouse, which ends up becoming a betting game for all the other prisoners. Sanji the under-trail prisoner who successfully catches the mouse takes his share and leaves. Meanwhile, in the girls ward, Bindu an under-trail prisoner is illegally earning money by providing her fellow prisoners with eyebrow cutting and manicure services. A senior prisoner refuses to pay her and Bindu angrily steals money from her and runs. The other girls chase her and thrash her brutally for her antics. All the prisoners are called by the jailer SP Dhulia who announces that for the first time on the occasion of Independence Day of India, a male-female joint musical band of under-trail prisoners will be created to participate in the Independence Day function. He also announced that the band will be rewarded with grace points, which will help them to get their jail sentences cleared at the earliest. Subsequently, auditions happen and Sanju and Bindu are selected for the band along with Maskeen Singh, Ogu, Rufi, Tatyana and Sange. The group bonds quickly and decide to give their best to get their jail charges cleared as soon as possible, as per the promise of Dhulia. They also reveal their reasons for being imprisoned. Sanju has been framed by the husband of a woman whom he had given lift on a rainy night to reach home, of trying to molest her. Bindu was accused of trying to kidnap her niece by her brother-in-law who actually was indulging in violence with his wife and daughter. Rufi reveals that after his wedding, he purchased a car which got stolen. After a few days, he discovered that the bomb blast in his city was triggered from his car. Since he hadn't registered a missing complaint of his car, he is framed for being a part of a terrorist group. Ogu is imprisoned for trying to procure drugs in Goa.

Cast

Aadar Jain The Kapoor family
The New York Times. 30 April 2020. is a prominent Indian show business fa ...

as Sanju *

as Bindu *

Sachin Pilgaonkar Sachin Pilgaonkar, often known mononymously by his screen name Sachin, is an Indian actor, director, producer, writer and singer of Marathi language, Marathi and Hindi films. He has directed and acted in several Marathi films of the late 1980s ...

as Dhulia * Mikhail Yawalkar as Rufi * Prince Parvinder Singh as Maskeen Singh * Peter Muxka Manuel as Ogu * Cyndy Khojol as Sangey *

Ram Kapoor Ram Kapoor (; born 1 September 1973) is an Indian actor who works in films and television serials. He gained popularity portraying Jai Walia in the television series ''Kasamh Se'' and the character of Ram Kapoor in '' Bade Achhe Lagte Hain''. H ...

as Naveen Vachani * Anna Ador as Tatyana *

Lin Laishram Linthoingambi "Lin" Laishram is an Indian model, actress and businesswoman from Manipur. She was discovered by Elite modelling agency Mumbai, India where she was a regular at fashion events like the India Fashion week, New York Bridal week and ...

* Chhavi Awasthi as prisoner *

Ashi Singh Ashi Singh is an Indian television actress. She portrayed the role of Naina Agarwal in Sony Entertainment Television's '' Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai''. In 2020, she appeared as Princess Yasmine in Sony SAB's ''Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga''. Si ...

as Tulika: The jailer's daughter * Raman Khatri as Minister * Deepika Dhulkotiya as Shopkeeper

Soundtrack

The lyrics for the songs have been written by

Kausar Munir Kausar Munir is an Indian lyricist and screen writer in Bollywood. Biography Munir was born and brought up in Bandra, Mumbai. She graduated in English Literature from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Munir married actor Nirmal Pandey in 1997 b ...

Habib Faisal Habib Faisal is an Indian writer, lyricist, director and producer who works in the Hindi cinema. Career He made his directorial debut, '' Do Dooni Chaar'', for which he won Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue. He co-wrote Siddharth Anand's ''Sa ...

, Peter Muxka Manuel and Sidhant Mago. All the songs featured in the film are sung by

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (born 25 April 1987) is an Indian singer and music composer. He sings predominantly in Bengali and Hindi, but has also performed in various other Indian languages. He is the recipient of a National Award and six Filmfare Awards ...

and Yashita Sharma. The soundtrack consists of 9 songs and was released on 26 July 2017 by

YRF Music Yash Raj Films (YRF) is an Indian film production and distribution company founded by veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra in 1970. It mainly produces and distributes Hindi and Punjabi films. The company has grown to be one of the largest film studios ...

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. A review in Hindustan Times gave the film a 2 out of 5 rating but praised the composer stating, "the genius of music composer

Amit Trivedi Amit Trivedi (born 8 April 1979) is an Indian music director, singer and a lyricist who works primarily in Hindi films. After working as a theatre and jingle composer and composing for non-film albums, he debuted as a film composer in the 2008 ...

, who is the real star of this interesting yet ordinary film."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 5617172
Official website
2017 films 2010s musical drama films 2010s Hindi-language films 2010s prison films Indian prison films Indian musical drama films Films scored by Amit Trivedi Yash Raj Films films 2017 drama films