If only acting alone could save a movie, Ludo would have been a decent effort. Alas! It does not. And that makes this film a disaster. In his effort to make a comedy movie with a spiraling plot with numerous twists and turns, Anurag Basu makes a mess of the screenplay. Did I just mention screenplay? I am extremely sorry. This film does not have any. Even though it starts with a promising premise, the film becomes a headache as soon as it makes a progress and gradually becomes an unbearable pain, so much so that you start wondering why did you waste two and half precious hours of your life. Life is too short to watch bad movies and Ludo is one of those.

The plot, if any is deliberately convoluted to make it funny. As a result, characters are supplied more randomly than guns are supplied in Chechnya. And you start yawning after a while. Even though there are a few good scenes, the bad ones are so numerous that you don’t even have the mood to appreciate those rare moments of brilliance. Four stories are told parallelly with a central character to merge the subplots. Pankaj Tripathy in the pivotal role is hilarious to watch. Give him any role and he will shine. Abhishek Bachchan shows his flair, too. I just pity on his luck. This man can act but looks like Bollywood does not consider him to have any talent other than clapping at the ISL matches or posing beside his illustrious father or trophy wife. Rajkumar Rao is wasted in a nonsensical role which he manages well enough. The rests are just over the top.

In his desire to become a Jack of comedy, action, romance and suspense, Anurag Basu becomes the master of none and the movie delivers nothing it promised. The humor is forced, action is repulsive, suspense is thinner than wafer and romance is raw. Overall, it is a complete wastage of a promising story and you start kicking yourself halfway through the pathetic ride. Pritam’s music has become repetitive and looks like he has nothing new to offer in his kitty. The cinematography apart from acting is the only saving grace. Any other takeaway? Maybe a few delicate scenes of junior Bachchan with the little kid. Overall, it is another disappointing offering from an industry which seems to be lost and in no mood to deliver anything good post the death of SSR and the onset of Covid.

My rating- 2.5 out of 10

Available on Netflix