Movie: Ludo

Director: Anurag Basu

Star cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkummar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Abhishek Bachchan, Rohit Saraf, Pearl Maaney, Shalini Vatsa

Rating: Two and a half stars

Jasmine Singh

Of course, in a chronological order, one does end up with a certain criteria to judge a film.

Storyline, director, dialogues, star cast, followed by the nitty gritties.

However, in Anurag Basu’s, Ludo, the first thing that catches attention is the compellingly good opening track- ‘Oh beta g, oh babu g, qismat ki hawa kabhi naram, kabhi garam’, picturised originally on Bhagwan Dada from Albela.

The song sets the pace of the film, and you know what you are in for.

And thus begins the story of Ludo, or should we say, the stories of Ludo.

Director Anurag Basu has a knack of playing with characters, and well he sure has a knack of characterisation.

This means all the characters of this film are etched out properly, with no loose ends.

Anurag Basu who himself plays the role of a narrator does manage to open his film with four stories and beautifully crosses their path as well. Not to miss that this crisscrossing does bring in some predictability and that extra stretch, which can make you grab a quick snack from the kitchen!

Well, Anurag Basu does like to take his films through the race course, as well as, the quiet green pastures, which obviously affects the pace of the film and also creates moments in the film that are unconvincing.

Keeping to his trademark style, Ludo offers dollops of dark comedy, lots of romance and slow-motion action!

All the four stories in Ludo offer ‘meat for thought’, however the one revolving around Abhishek Bachchan moves painstakingly slow.

The movie stars a battery of talented actors starting from Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkummar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Abhishek Bachchan, Rohit Saraf, Pearl Maaney and Shalini Vatsa.

And, each one of them has delivered a credible performance.

Ludo does have an overstuffed narrative but the climax comes as a saving grace as it ties all the four stories in a ‘neat and tidy’ manner.

Watch Ludo for incredible acting, quirky and badass moments!