Ludo Movie Review - Kudos!

On NetflixDirector Anurag BasuCastRajkumarr Rao Abhishek Bachchan Aditya Roy KapurRatingTheres basically so much simultaneously happening in this film between so many characters over several storylines that more than once the screen splits three or four ways simply to give you a sense of where we are at any given point of the scripts timeline Usually this sort of splitscreen is a lead up to an intervalMake no mistake There is no break here And at no point do you wish for one Because youre firstly struck by a series of beautifully constructed momentsmdashby way of lights colour and shadows background score locations and production design a casual shot here that lovely interlude therehellipThere is a certain level of scalable aestheticsmdashwhats labeled formcraftmdashthat one has come to expect from Anurag Basus films Ever since even Murder 2004 which was in effect a sex romp decidedly a B genre if you may Whether or not his films thereaftermdashKites in EnglishSpanish Barfi silent Jagga Jasoos themepark adventuremdashhave wholly movedtouched you is another matter He has filmed wonderful ideas beforeThis is beyond doubt his most accomplished intricate screenplaymdashalong with some subtle gems for lines on love and life For whatever its worth that acknowledgmentreview for a script neednt have waited for the film to release or drop on Netflix as it weremdashif you simply consider the cast that said yes to itCheck out the trailer of Ludo herePankaj Tripathi plays an adorably dreaded don leading a pack of morons Abhishek Bachchan was once his trusted deputy hes quit his job Rajkummar Raomdashhis looksmanners probably modeled on the late actor Razak Khanmdashis a Romeo lovestruck with the same girl Fatima Sana Sheikh since school Aditya Roy Kapur is a ventriloquist who has Sanya Malhotra for a friend with benefitsWhile there are even more actors that I havent mentioned with almost equal screentime just look up that stellar lineup again Each one Tripathi included basically plays sololeads in filmsseries wholly centered on themWhat are the chances theyd manage anything more than an extended cameo in a hyperlink movie with all of them bunched together over a running time thats hardly over a couple of hours They evidently saw in the script more likely in the director an opportunity to shine on their own still And frickin hellmdashthey doLudo melodiously starts with the old Albela 1951 song O Babuji kismat ki hawa in the background and a coldblooded murder on screenmdashof a builder called Bhinder shot at pointblank range by the don in his bathtub This death sets off a series of events around everyone in this film who are otherwise going about their lives in other directions altogetherThe four main charactersplots metaphorically represent the four quadrants of the Ludo board So much happens to every character mostly to do with deaths and destructionmdashand they carry on still as if not much hasmdashyoure aware this is a fantasy spaceAlso ReadAbhishek Bachchan Being A Part Of The Anurag Basu Film Ludo Was NoBrainerCities like Bhilai and Ranchi do have names but you cant tell one from the other Even the car numberplate says Ludo And theres only one cop investigating all the crimescases relentlessly piling up in this fictional universe The epaulette in the police uniforms simply says Policemdashnot Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Bombay or Calcutta Policemdashjust policeThe setting therefore is like the malleable Aloomdashas Rajkummar Raos delectable character in the film refers to his own name Fits into both chaat or biryani Of course only a Bengali writerdirector Basu whos also shot this film even briefly acted in it will associate aloo with biryaniLudo is basically a suspense thriller fully choreographed like a Bollywood style musical A better word to describe it is a popculture pastiche which in most films turns into pasta since you cant consequently concentrate on the story being told between the amazing softfocus shots That is not the case here since the film remains just as deeply focused on the narrative taking the story forward as it wereSure you might even lose your chain of thoughtstoryline here and theremdash wondering where you started from whos who where you are and where youre headedmdashbetween multiple subplots But you just want all of them to continuemdashbuilding brick over a brick of an atrangi world that youre happy to stay inside for as long as you can Have watched it twice so I knowAlso ReadSanya Malhotra Talks About Her Experience Of Working Without A Script In Anurag Basus LudoCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news