‘Ludo’ review: A riot of colours

A tiny man with a dancing style peculiarly his own. Bhagwan Dada had experienced stardom in the black and white era. The actor lived lavishly, squandering much of his fortune in gambling, and eventually died in the arms of penury and neglect.

In Anurag Basu’s ensemble cast black comedy ‘Ludo’, the widely popular song ‘O Betaji’ from Bhagwan Dada’s film ‘Albela’ can be heard in the background from time to time. The film is an ambitious project in which the filmmaker abandons straightforward narration and opts for stories of characters in whose lives destiny plays a temperamental governess. And, predictably therefore, a happy ending isn't woven into the script of each and every story.

The narrative, albeit a loosely knit one, unfolds as two characters, the bearded one among the two played by the filmmaker himself, share a philosophical conversation over the board game.

Unusual characters form the core of the unusual plot. Aditya Roy Kapoor is a sales executive with Kamadhenu Electronics who has a PhD in ‘Mongolian art in Mughal architecture.’ He is also, wait, a part-time ventriloquist with opinions on Indian politics.

Abhishek Bachchan plays an angry young man who has been just released from jail. He used to be the right hand man of a crime lord played with relish by Pankaj Tripathi. Rajkummar Rao is a Mithun Chakraborty fan who runs a dhaba and spells out the menu at the speed of sound. Rohit Saraf’s mall employee experiences a windfall and meets someone along the way {Pearl Maaney).

Makers in Bollywood aren’t associated with black comedies. The genre, as world cinema has shown, is a high-risk territory in which failures are commonplace. So, while Ludo is by no means a perfect work of art, Basu must be complimented for delivering an engaging experience for the viewer. The pace of the crisply edited film is breezy, a tough task accomplished with ease.

Ludo shows the irrefutable power of destiny that guides the lives of its characters. The stories may not be relatable, yet, it is clearly evident that the characters are enslaved to an external force that’s beyond their control. What happens in their lives and how quickly remind of the board game in which the momentum can change directions with a single roll of the dice.

The sales executive-cum-ventriloquist is disturbed because the video of his sexual encounter with a girl who is about to get married (Sanya Malhotra) has gone viral. A woman (Fatima Sana Shaikh) suspects that her husband is cheating on her. But life takes an unseen turn when the husband is accused of murder, making her turn to her friend (Rao) for help. The crime lord who hums vintage melodies commits a murder, an everyday affair for him and a turning point in the plot. What happens in these subplots? Ludo provides the answers, and a few others too.

The plot of the film is smartly linked with the colours associated with the board game: red, green, blue, yellow. If Bachchan’s red symbolises passion, Roy Kapoor’s romance stands for yellow. The intelligently used metaphor of colours is a novel element, the sign of a film that has dared to be different.

As is the case with most films with an ensemble cast, no actor overpowers the others in Ludo. That said, Pankaj Tripathi is predictably brilliant and so is Rao. Bachchan is decent, but his character comes across as half-baked. Malhotra shines despite a brief role, while Shaikh promises and delivers as well.

Watch Ludo if you have a Netflix subscription, and if you don’t, get one to watch it. You won’t regret your decision as the four colours of the board game cast a spell on you.