By Arun Sajnani
LUDO – “Good guys always finish last…” is the theme of “LUDO”. Directed by Anurag Basu, who delivered hits like, “Life In A Metro”, & “Barfi”, tries again to experiment with Bollywood with this comic caper that meets a “Quentin Tarantino” like film. Its where 4 different stories that are evolving, and at some point they come parallel with one another towards the end of the film.
For the first time you see Director Anurag Basu as the sutradhar/narrator that explains to his friend during a game of “Ludo” of what the outcomes will be for these characters. Do they seek blessings from above, or do they get punished. The theme of “Paap aur Puniya” – (To do good, or to do bad) – is philosophically explained.
It stars a great ensemble with Abhishek Bachchan, Raj Kumar Rao, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanya Malhotra, Seema Biswas & Fatima Sheikh. The characters are quirky, and refreshing to see. Pankaj Tripathi plays a goofy gangster, who is always is getting into accidents but survives, Aditya Roy and Sanya Malhotra play the indecisive lovers, who are caught in an uncompromising situation. Raj Kumar Rao is stuck in a one sided love story between his childhood love, played by Fatima Shaikh. She goes on to marry someone and has a child, but still seeks his help.
As for Abhishek Bachchan, his role was the best where you see his brooding character finds out after coming out of prison, that his wife and his daughter have abandoned him. His wife has remarried. That character will touch your heart. The bond with the kidnapping of a little girl that he actually saves is also endearing.
The crux of the film does however gets lost in translation at times about loving unconditionally, and where sacrifices have to be made. When you mix realism and with a comic satire, then you only get some goods sparks with a film like this. I felt like I was watching 4 films in one, and I wanted to see more development of these characters, but then it would become 4 long movies. This concept happened earlier, where the film fell flat with Nikhil Advani’s – “Salaam-E-Ishq” in 2007. As a result, “LUDO” is good only in certain parts and becomes a time pas film. Now on NETFLIX for Streaming. Courtesy Awesome TV & Being Filmy!
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