Ludo
Ratings: 3/5
Director: Anurag Basu
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anurag Basu, Tani Basu, Deepshika Bose
Genre: Anthology/ Dark Comedy/ Crime
Language: Hindi
Release Date: 12 November 2020
Streaming On: Netflix
Star Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Rajkummar Rao, Rohit Suresh Saraf, Pankaj Tripathi, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Pearle Maaney, Inayat Verma, Paritosh Tripathi, Asha Negi, Bhanu Uday, Shalini Vatsa, Sundeep Sharma, Geetanjali Mishra, Ishtiyak Khan, Aman Bhagat, Amitabh Bachchan, Anurag Basu, Rahul Bagga
Plot:
From a resurfaced sex tape to a rogue suitcase of money, four wildly different stories overlap at the whims of fate, chance and one eccentric criminal.
Review:
Ludo is a 2020 dark Bollywood action comedy in which the lives of the characters intertwine through fate, found money, love, infidelity, a sex tape, and a death-defying gangster. There are some violent moments, including scenes in which characters are shot at point-blank range, shantytowns explode, and characters are struck and injured or killed by vehicles.
Ludo is the story of quirky characters and how their life gets interlinked in a series of bizarre circumstances.
Anurag Basu's screenplay tries to do justice but succeeds only in parts. A lot of effort has been put in connecting the dots and in ensuring the various parallel stories converge at interesting points in the narrative. However, there are several such intersections which seem to have been done just for namesake.
The manner in which the direction is carried out in informing the viewers about how the characters are related to each other is smartly done. Although, few plot points are overtly creative, which makes them unrealistic even from a cinematic standpoint. The manner in which Aalu especially manages to commit crime after crime, to the extent of even killing cops, and he never gets caught is too hard to believe. The same kind of unconvincing moments are also a part of the other stories. Moreover, a few stories don’t work individually.
The Aditya Roy Kapur-Sanya Malhotra story is the most thrilling of them all. The circumstances which compel them to be together and their conversations make for an interesting watch. The Abhishek Bachchan plot doesn’t do much for the whole film. The Pankaj Tripathi story commences on an impressive note. The way he manages to escape death every time is quirky which suits the tone of the film. The Rajkummar Rao-Fatima Sana Shaikh plot has its share of interesting moments but is highly unconvincing. Lastly, the Rohit Suresh Saraf- Pearle Maaney story is bland, except for some occasional quirky moments.
Pritam's music serves the purpose. 'Aabaad Barbaad' is the most memorable. The rest of the songs like 'Meri Tum Ho', 'Tere Sirhane', 'Dil Julaha' and 'Humdam' are average. Pritam’s background score however matches with the treatment of the film. Allan Amin's action is not too gory. Ashish Dawyer's costumes are realistic yet appealing. Anurag Basu's production design is neat. The different episodes of the film are shot in different cities but set in one town. Anurag Basu and Rajesh Shukla's cinematography also works well in this aspect. Ajay Sharma's editing of the various tracks and stories are neatly woven into the narrative.
