Ludo Movie Review: A Remarkable jewel by Anurag Basu?

Synopsis

Ludo is a dark comedy movie, which was supposed to be center on the unavoidable jeopardize of life and has four different stories set in a typical Indian metro.

It’s not just a movie, it’s a detoxing process.

7.6/10 IMDB

Ludo Movie: Review

Ludo is a well-executed film, based on the themes of Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot. They extend from the human condition to silly, disbelief, and friendship. Anurag Basu has done a great job combining humor and human suffering. Also the similarities between saint and sinner, and living one’s life with the everpresent knowledge of death.

Screenplay

Anurag Basu always wins first and foremost with his screenplay if nothing else. Ludo has a riveting screenplay, exceptionally engaging plot, fabulous cast ensemble, Despite the tone, the narration, and the unnecessary Hindu-phobic scenes. This movie is common and Bollywood-ish. I expected an appetizing mango but this movie is a potato salad.

Acting

All brilliant actors yet displaying their flaws so well that one doesn’t miss out on the story which is the hero of the movie.

Sanya Malhotra and Asha Negi and Fatima Sana were perfect. The girls are here to stay, here to rock, and shall conquer if given the opportunities. Aditya Kapur and Abhishek Bachchan gave one of their defining roles across all their work to date.

Because I love both of them so much and get to see them so limited in good stories such as Ludo, I have such nitty-gritty to tell them from various scenes. But that’s for another day, I am not sure if Aditya Kapur did the ventriloquism by himself or not. If he didn’t that’s a disappointment.

Rohit Saraf and a nurse who is repeatedly bullied at work, Pearle Maney go about their respective days, not knowing that soon their lives will take a dramatic turn.

The Narration And The Directors Blend

The catchy opening track, a compelling start, and a strong build-up manage to set an intriguing tone. Multiple characters get introduced with the spotlight on each backstory one by one, slowly fitting into pieces of a puzzle. The pace, unfortunately, begins to ahh.

And that would be one of the biggest drawbacks of the film because as it tries to fit in all the stories and characters, the narrative begins to get overstuffed. So before one can wholly invest in a character, the thread is left to move on to another. And that too at a languid pace, with a narrator (Anurag Basu) making an appearance to stitch it all together and ponder on morality and the tussle between what constitutes sins and virtues.

Cinematography

The cinematic treatment, however, has some trademark Basu signatures which worth witnessing, as you got to see from his previous filmography.

Despite the solid ensemble cast, not one performance is worth praising. Pankaj Tripathi is getting repetitive with his Bhai-Giri roles. Rajkummar Rao acts as a Mithun Chakraborty fan which is to create a fun element in the film but just to clarify, swinging hips wildly is not Mithunda and those who feel so should watch his acting range Mrigaya (1976), Agneepath (1990), Tahader Katha (1992), and Swami Vivekananda (1998) to understand his range of acting. Aditya Rao Kapur makes weird faces at the camera.

Technically, the Ludo movie scores well if we can discount that badly recreated Pankaj Tripathi den.

Music

Anurag Basu’s cinematography is first-rate. Pritam’s music is another plus point, A wonderstruck combination of Pritam and Arijit Singh, ‘Aabaad Barbaad’ and ‘Hardum Humdum’ are so refreshing melodies in the movie. We are blessed to have singers like Arijit Singh who bring out the freshness of the songs so beautifully. Listening to Arijit’s warm and soft vocals after so long feels fresh.

Underwhelming Arcs

Films Dubbing in some scenes were not accurate, It was clear hit and miss. the pace of the movie in middle is a little bit slow but its comic scenes are yet engaging but as I said you may feel to check your mobile for a bit. the climax ties everything up rather neatly, with some quintessential badass quotient and surprises thrown in

In between the 2 observers (unseen by the cast of characters) loosely mirror Godot’s Vladimir and Estragon. And he has done this with a sharpness of wit and a sense of style that verges on a parody of Bollywood’s films like Gangs of Wasseypur, quite an accomplishment in itself. The intersecting and overlapping lives of the characters told in non-chronological order leave the viewer with many “AHA” moments.

While the setting may seem fable-like, the emotions they evoke in us are authentic.

Conclusion

Ludo is Kabhi bhi Kuch bhi moments, but that’s somewhat the holy screenplay of life.

 Don’t think much, go for it.

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