Star Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Roy Kapur, Rajkummar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Suresh Saraf, Pearle Maaney, Inayat Verma
Director: Anurag Basu
Director Anurag Basu welcomes you to his world as he did with Barfi! & Jagga Jasoos, Two people discussing random things about life & death on a hill that’s apparently a ‘watchkeeping’ point for a mafia. Mafia in the question being Sattu Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) who believes he’s not killing people but setting them free from their pain. Every story in the film is highlighted by Ludo’s four colours. Sattu Bhaiya is the rolling dice of this game, and he is linked with each character in the film (indirectly, if not directly). Bittu (Abishek Bachchan) serves his time in jail and gets out only to face the harsh reality of his shattered life. Aalu’s (Rajkummar Rao) eternal love Pinky (Fatima Sana Shaikh) asks his help to settle down a crime against her husband. Akash (Aditya Roy Kapur) and Shruti (Sanya Malhotra) are in this chaos to get their leaked MMS cleared from the internet. Whereas, Rahul (Rohit Suresh Saraf) and Sheeja (Pearle Maaney) are those pieces of your game, who always take time to get out the house but the proves to be the fastest of all.
Abhishek Bachchan is the character holding the emotional connect with the film. His scenes with Inayat Verma remains to be the soul of the film and reminds you of the innocence of Barfi! Anurag Basu gets the best out of Abhishek & gifts us a side of him we probably only had a hint of. Though every character is equally important and everyone are connected like a beautifully built Lego piece. If I’ve to chose my favourite, it has to be Pankaj Tripathi. In this film, Pankaj is the truth believed by everyone. He brings the house down yet again his remarkable performance. Aditya Roy Kapur, despite playing not a very different character, Aditya manages to make it come across as new and fresh. Post the credits roll for the third time for me, Rajkummar Rao’s track remains to be the one you think about the most. Rajkumar Rao delivers an earnest performance as Aalu leaving a substantial effect. The Dangal girls Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra fir their roles well and have moments of brilliance but the script does not give them enough to work with. Rohit Suresh Saraf with just a couple of dialogues manages to make a safe space for himself because of his impactful acting. Pearle Maaney charms her way owing an electrifying presence in the narrative.
Anurag Basu, with a script so magnificently packaged, proves once again why he’s the most underrated director of our time. The way he bombards the narrative with his exhilarating playing 11, he doesn’t take much time to draw a line between all of them. The mantra ‘Ludo Is Life’ gets into your system as the story proceeds, and because of the way it has been narrated, you’ll soon start drawing parallels with the game.
Ludo is a great laughter riot from start to end!
Rating: 9/10