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Kaagaz: A Solid Story Wasted

Satish Kaushik’s Kaagaz has its heart in the right place but never comes together as a whole due to its dated treatment. The only redeeming factor for this one is the ever dependable Pankaj Tripati who gets to play the leading man for the first time in his career. His sincere performance is the only thing which makes you sit through this one.

Based on a real life story, Pankaj Tripati plays a bandmaster called Bharat Lal in a village in Uttar Pradesh. He is content with his tiny shop and his small family until a well wisher advises him to get a loan for expanding his business. When Bharat Lal tries to get the ownership papers of his land to keep as a mortgage for the loan, he realizes that his extended family has declared him dead in order to usurp the land. Rest of the story is about how Bharat Lal struggles to prove that he is still alive. In doing so sometimes he takes extreme steps which make him look like a buffoon for the villagers. But this doesn’t stop him from wanting to prove himself alive. Satish Kaushik, the director, also plays the lawyer character who initially takes up the case of Bharat Lal just for the sake of it but later he turns out to be a big support. What follows is a social comedy which doesn’t fully exploit its potential.

The first thing which strikes you about the film is the treatment which reminds you of 70’s. Agree that the film is set in the 70’s but as a filmmaker Satish Kaushik should have realized that he is making a film for the 2021 audience. You can clearly see the datedness of the film from its first frame. To make matters worse there is also a pointless item number early on in the film. The song looks completely out of place and you feel like fast forwarding.

Another bothersome aspect of the film is that it plays out more as a comedy. There is an attempt to dilute the seriousness of the topic which shouldn’t have happened. The best example of this is the reaction of the wife to the scenario. She responds to his predicament by saying that she also has doubts whether he is a ghost or an actual person.

In reality 20,000 people have been declared dead in Uttar Pradesh for various nefarious reasons while they were very much alive. The director failed to portray the gravity of the situation by taking a light hearted approach. Bharat Lal was so frustrated to prove himself alive that he stands in an election to get his name into the official record. Likewise he goes to the extent of kidnapping his brother’s son so that his name will appear in the police records.

Kaagaz has also some similarities with Aamir Khan’s production Peepli Live. That was also a social comedy but unlike that this one is a missed opportunity.

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Maara: For The Wanderer Within You

Dhilip Kumar’s Maara is one of those films which need patient viewing. The reasons are – one, the pace, two, the concept of magic realism. It is good that the film is released on Amazon and not in theatres.

Inspired from Dulqer Salman’s Charlie it tells the story of Maara played by Madahavan as discovered by Paaru played by Shraddha Srinath. Paaru is a restoration architect and a relentless romantic. When she goes to Kerala for an assignment she comes across some paintings by a person called Manimaaran/ Maara. Impressed by his art she tries to know more about him. Since he is elusive she tries to know about him through the real characters he drew. What follows is a stunning visual imagery mixed with the charm of Madhavan. Apart from being a painter Maara is also a wanderer who touches people’s lives. However, he is not a wanderer just for the sake of it. There is a larger purpose for it.

The first thing that strikes you about the film is the heavy influence of Imtiaz Ali and also Sanjay Leela Bhansali to an extent. Just like Imtiaz Ali’s films here also you have the concept of finding yourself and also the right atmospherics. You can also see the influence of the poet Rumi who himself is an inspiration to filmmakers like Imtiaz Ali.

Two things stand out most in Maara. One is the fantastic cinematography by Dinesh Krishnan and the art direction by Ajayan Chelissery. The painted roads, the ageing houses and the grass peeping out of the walls are all done well. Everything is aesthetically very good and works well for the camera. The art direction is equally well complimented by Dinesh Krishnan who captures the beauty of the landscapes and the created set designs.

As regards to the main plot it is definitely a ‘Feel Good’ story. Maara is jovial, friendly and empathetic to people irrespective of their status. In short a Good Samaritan. Among his interactions with people my favorite one is that of sex worker Selvi played by Abhirami. It reminds you of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya. The character of Madhavan itself is written well and the actor plays it with his trademark charm. He shines in both the light moments and also the emotional scenes. One of my favorite lines of Maara is “they will only remember the reason why you died and not you.’’ He says this to a girl who tries to commit suicide. The supporting cast also works well. Mouli as Velliya is particularly impressive as the person who brings up Maara. He plays his part with a perfect mixture of cuteness and strictness. His love for Meenakshi and the pre climax scene when he finally meets her leaves you emotionally moved.

The biggest problem with the film is the character of Paaru played by Shraddha Srinath. It is written very loosely and on top of it the actress doesn’t help her cause either. In fact you feel happy that Madhavan has only one scene with her and that too at the end. Her battles with the family have also not been dealt convincingly enough. They are forgotten midway through. Also you don’t see a single scene where Paaru is doing restoration work as she is supposed to do.

The pace of the film is also a major villain. It is only at halfway point that you get a sense of what the director is trying to say, that too only for niche audience. For the rest it will go over their head.

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Some Of My Favorite Films Of The Year Across Hindi, Telugu And Tamil

Belated Merry Christmas and advanced Happy New Year to everyone. Since 2020 has been a truncated year for obvious reasons it is difficult to make a comprehensive list of the movies which came in that year.  Within the choices that we had following are the movies I liked best in the three languages I saw.

Hindi Films

1. AK VS AK – Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane AK VS AK is easily one of the most experimental films that you have had this year. It is a perfect example of a well made Meta film with Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap bearing their souls. Both Anil and Anurag were excellent in their portrayal. The plot of the film revolves around Anurag kidnapping Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam Kapoor after a public spat between the two. This film has plenty of inside jokes which will make you chuckle like the scene in which Abhinav Kashyap’s successful film Dabbang is mentioned in comparison. However the scene which brings most laughs is when Harshvardhan Kapoor tries to impress Anurag Kashyap and blames Vikramaditya Motwane for sabotaging Bhavesh Joshi.

It is a clever joke because that film was also directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and co produced by Anurag Kashyap. But the film is much more than just a series of inside jokes. It also looks at the paradoxes of a Bollywood star’s life and how they are expected to act even during tragic times. The scene where Anil Kapoor has to dance for the audience amidst his frantic search for Sonam is an example for this. It is a scene which reminds you of Chaplin and Anil’s acting in that scene deserves a particular mention. In short don’t miss this one, it is streaming on Netflix.

2. Thappad – After Mulk and Article 15 director Anubhav Sinha delivered another socially relevant film called Thappad. It was a film which convinced many of us that a slap could lead to a divorce. Pavail Gulati plays the husband who slaps his wife played by Tapsee Pannu in a fit of anger. For him it is something which has happened at the heat of the moment but for the wife it dismantles her married life completely.

Although this is the central plot you have other things happening simultaneously like the track of a poor domestic help who suffers beatings from her husband. It is not an easy film to pull off but Anubhav Sinha was in control for most part. The performances of the cast particularly the supporting players were very good. My favorite ones are Kumud Mishra, Pavail Gulati and Dia Mirza. Pavail Gulati in particular was very good as the husband who is clueless to his own shortcomings.

3. Chhapaak – Meghana Gulzar’s Chhapaak was a sensitive take on the real life acid attack survivor. The film also raised some important questions like the legal system which doesn’t treat acid attacks as grave a crime as rape. Is 10 years of imprisonment enough for scarring someone’s face/life and very importantly why acid is easily available across the counter are some of the questions that this movie raises. The film also had its share of light hearted moments like the conversations between Deepika and fellow acid attack survivors in a shop. Deepika in the title role slipped convincingly into the character making it the best performance of her career. The relationship of Deepika and Vikrant Massey’s Amol was also handled very nicely.

4. Shakuntala Devi – Generally Indian biopics glorify its protagonists, the best example of this is Narendra Modi film which was purely made with the intention of projecting Modi as a superman who can do no mistakes. Even Neeraj Pandey’s MS Dhoni didn’t offer any real insight into Dhoni’s life apart from showing things that people already knew. Anu Menon’s Shakuntala Devi was different as it portrayed the famous mathematician Shakuntala Devi with all her faults.

In fact at a certain point you begin to resent this woman who lies to the media that her husband played by Jisshu Sengupta is a homosexual. She is so overbearing that you feel complete pity for both the husband and the daughter played by Sanya Malhotra. The film did have its share of loose ends but it was largely an engaging film on a woman who had a very strong personality. Vidya Balan’s uninhibited performance was an icing on the cake.

5. Ludo – After a disastrous Jagga Jasoos Anurag Basu made a strong comeback with this multi layered narrative. Much like Life in a Metro this one also looked at different aspects of the society through multiple characters. It also had a philosophical touch as it dealt with the concepts of Dharma and Adharma through the two narrators one of which is Basu himself. The only thing which could have been better is the character of Pankaj Tripati who starts off as an important character but after a point is sidelined. You also had some bold jokes on BJP and Republic Channel through the voice artist character of Aditya Roy Kapoor. The actors who stood out in the ensemble were Rajkumar Rao, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan.

Telugu films

1. Jaanu – Jaanu is the remake of Tamil film 96 which starred Vijay Sethupati and Trisha. This one starred Sharwanand and Samantha. For those who haven’t seen the original, the story is about two silent lovers Ram and Jaanu meeting at a school reunion after many years and exploring their past. It is one of those rare love stories where you root for the couple and want them to have a happy ending which isn’t possible.

The contrasting characters of the two also made it interesting. Ram is someone who is too shy while Jaanu on the other hand is more expressive. The one complaint with the film though is its pace. It takes time to get used to it and you get the feeling that the initial portions could have been a little crisper. While Sharwanand was good, it is Samantha who is the driving force of the film. The supporting cast comprising of Vennela Kishore, Saranya etc were also good in their brief parts.

2. Ala Vaikuntapuramlo – Story of this film isn’t new by any stretch of imagination. You have two babies who are swapped at their birth like in the book Midnight Children by Salman Rushdie. The rich one grows up in a poor family and the poor one grows up in a rich family. But what made Ala Vaikuntapuramlo entertaining is the treatment of Trivikram Srinivas and the performances of Allu Arjun and Murali Sharma. The best part of the film was the cat and mouse relationship between the characters of Allu Arjun and Murali Sharma, son and father. Trivikram Srinivas invested plenty of time to build their relationship which is why the scenes between them work most in this film. Murali Sharma got very good footage as the greedy father and he was impeccable in his portrayal. Tabu who should have been an important character in this film was totally wasted.

3. V – It is not always that you have an action thriller which has repeat value but Indraganti Mohan Krishna’s V got its masala elements in a perfect order. The story of V is about a mystery man who tries to take revenge for his wife’s brutal murder without getting caught by the police officer who is determined to catch him.

It is a straight forward premise elevated by the treatment of the director and particularly the performance of Nani as the villain fighting for a cause. There is also lot of black humor and the scenes of Nani with his fellow travelers were hilarious. After playing the hero for a long time it looked as though Nani completely unburdened himself in this one.

Tamil Films

1. Putham Pudu Kaalai – Set during the lockdown Putham Pudu Kaalai was a well made anthology by directors Sudha Kongara, Gautam Menon, Suhasini, Rajiv Menon and Karthik Subbaraj. The first four stories were set in the upper middle class milieu while the last one was about two thieves and a typical Karthik Subbaraj film. My favorite story of the lot is Gautam Menon’s ‘You and me’. This segment was about a reluctant granddaughter who has to stay at her grandfather’s place due to lockdown. She is waiting for the stay to get over. Director Gautam Menon built up the different stages of the relationship well. A scene which deserves a particular mention is an emotional conversation between the two and through that the director tells you what a good conversation can do. MS Bhaskar is riveting as the grandfather and gets able support from Ritu Varma, the granddaughter. Another segment which deserves mention is Karthik Subbaraj’s Miracle. The black humor makes you chuckle and the background music is also done well. But it has to be said that this segment works as a single unit more than a part of anthology. Bobby Simha as the main thief appears to have had lot of fun playing the character.

2. Dharala Prabhu – A remake of Ayushmann Khurrana’s Vicky Donor, Dharala Prabhu was a well made film where the makers retained the soul apart from adding a certain freshness of their own. For those who haven’t seen the original the plot revolves around a young man who takes up the job of sperm donor to earn some quick money and the wife’s reaction when she comes to know of it. The best part of Dharala Prabhu was how it dealt with a number of sex and reproductive issues without making them feel like moral Issues. A particular mention must be made of how it dealt with the topic of adoption from a female perspective. Harsh Kalyan is no Ayushmann but the actor did a good job nevertheless. Vivek is over the top but still his character works well as the fertility specialist Kannadasan.

These films are by no means representative of the films of 2020 but within the limitations of availability these are the films that I chose. I would end by wishing advanced Happy New Year to everyone and hoping 2021 turns out to be a better year regarding movies. If you haven’t seen some of these films I would definitely recommend you watch them.

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Paava Kadhaigal: Disturbs You But Not In The Right Way

Caste based killing is a subject that is relevant even to this day and when told in an engaging manner it gives you good results like Nagraj Manjule’s Marathi film Sairat or even Article 15, but Paava Kadhaigal (Sinful Stories) will make you lose faith in human beings particularly parents, this in spite of having formidable directors like Gautam Menon, Sudha Kongara and Vetrimaaran.  The commonality between this and Putham Pudu Kaalai apart from being an anthology are the directors Gautam Menon and Sudha Kongara. While Putham Pudu Kaalai left you with a happy feeling this anthology leaves you thoroughly depressed and also makes you wonder what was going in the minds of the directors when they decided to make this one.

The first story is about a transgender Sathaar (played by Kalidas Jayaram). Sathaar dreams of marrying his childhood friend Saravanan. But Saravanan is in love with Sathaar’s sister Sahira. Although the incidents of Sathaar being teased by village bullies are realistic, the episode feels like more of a documentary and it is also poorly structured. Kalidas Jayaram tries his level best to elevate the proceedings but it is a lost cause. This is very sad since Sudha Kongara had proved her worth as a director in Soorarai Pottru where she took on a familiar underdog story and made it work.

Vignesh Shivan’s Love Panna Uttranum is a story of two sisters both played by Anjali. We are told that one of the sisters is a lesbian who is in love with Penelope played by Kalki Kochelin. The other sister is looking for her father’s approval to marry someone outside their caste. The biggest issue here is the treatment of LGBT. This is particularly reflected in the scene where a character misreads lesbian as ESPN. It is meant to play out as a comic scene but it doesn’t bring much laughs. The LGBT thing looks more like an add on and needed more meat. The only thing which remotely works here is the character of the father who positions himself as an anti-caste leader but in reality he is not.  Anjali in a dual role is mostly there to cry while Kalki looks completely out of place as the foreigner.

Gautam Menon’s Vaanmagal sounds poetic but it is anything but that. This segment deals with sexual assault of a minor girl and how it leaves a scar on the family. The father character is played by Gautam Menon himself and the mother character is played by Simran who returns to screen after a long time. Much like the segment in Putham Pudu Kaalai Gautam Menon goes out of his comfort zone once again but this time the result is far from pleasing. The most disturbing thing about this one is the scene where we see Simran pushing her daughter from a mountain top.  Though it turns out to be not real but the thought itself is very regressive.

Vetrimaaran’s Oor Iravu stars Sai Pallavi and Prakash Raj as daughter and father. The story is in two timelines one in the present where Sai Pallavi’s character returns to the village for a supposed baby shower. The other timeline is the past where Prakash Raj’s character goes to his daughter’s house to make amends. There is no denying that the climax is gut wrenching and does jolt you but it doesn’t affect you the way that Sairat climax does. The biggest reason being too much negativity never works and since you have already had so much of negativity in the other three stories you feel like screaming at the director. Also it is tough to buy into what Prakash Raj’s character does particularly given his caring attitude in one of the timelines.

In totality Paava Kadhaigal might have started with the good intention of showing the evils of caste, LGBT prejudices and honour killings but it went totally overboard. Given the times that we live in with so much stress this film is completely avoidable.

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Not Villains; Victims Of Circumstances – Hussain Zaidi Books And Movies

This post is about three Hussain Zaidi’s books and the movies based on them. For people who are not familiar with his background it needs to be mentioned that he worked as a crime reporter in Mumbai for a very long time. These three books are: Black Friday: The true story of the Bombay blasts, Dongri to Dubai : Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia and Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Out of these two have already come as movies. The name of the first movie is same as the title of the book directed by Anurag Kashyap. Dongri to Dubai was made into Shootout at Wadala movie directed by Sanjay Gupta. It was about the first recorded police encounter in Mumbai of Manya Surve, an educated gangster. From Mafia Queens of Mumbai book the story of Gangubai  Kathiawadi has been taken for the upcoming movie titled with the same name. She was sold into prostitution by her boyfriend Ramnik Lal and later she becomes the madam of a brothel in Kamatipura. Gangubai did a lot of work for the well being of the sex workers and also orphans. Famous gangster Karim lala considered her as his rakhi sister and gave the command of Kamatipura area to her. This film is being directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and is likely to be released in the later half of 2021.

Mumbai avengers

All three movies have taken only one chapter of those books respectively. Apart from the above mentioned there is also a  fiction book called Mumbai Avengers which was made into Phantom movie directed by Kabir Khan. The story of Mumbai Avengers is set five years after 26/11 Taj attacks on Mumbai. It is about how a retired Indian army officer Gen. Sayid Ali Warris masterminds an operation to kill the conspirators of 26/11 with the help of policemen, tech experts etc. But in the movie it was portrayed as a one man mission played by Saif Ali Khan.  

1. Black Friday: The true story of the Bombay Blasts

This book mainly deals with the bomb blasts that happened in the city of Mumbai on March 12th 1993, how the blasts shocked the entire nation, its aftermath and most importantly the backstory of why they happened. Black Friday begins off with people going about their business as usual completely unaware of the calamity. Afterwards we see a detailed account of the blasts and from there we move on to the incident of Babri Masjid demolition and how it led to the blasts. There is a lot that Hussain Zaidi packs in the book from police officers who would break the law in the course of the investigation to the innocent and illiterate young Muslims who were dragged into this. Hussain Zaidi writes all these things in an engaging manner and makes you understand the root causes for these blasts. 

Anurag Kashyap did absolute justice to the book with his outstanding direction. It also helped that the film had powerhouse performers like Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra etc. 

2. Dongri to Dubai: Six decades of Mumbai Mafia  

Dongri to Dubai is an attempt to chronicle the history of the Mumbai Mafia. It is a story of many gangsters like Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, Chota Rajan, Varadarajan Mudaliar and above all Dawood Ibrahim, a young man who took the crime route in spite of having a father in the police force. It talks about how Dawood Ibrahim was used as a pawn by the Bombay police and eventually how he became the nemesis for them. His story is primarily about a boy from Dongri becoming a don in Dubai. As earlier said Manya Surve’s life is a brief chapter in this book and this was expanded by director Sanjay Gupta in his film Shootout at Wadala which was a sequel to Shootout at Lokandwala. An interesting thing about Manya is that he was a graduate who was looking to lead a normal life but he gets falsely implicated in a murder. He escapes from prison with the help of a muslim friend and later rises to huge prominence. He was known for his strategic planning and daredevilry. Manya Surve’s encounter was the first recorded encounter in Mumbai, as mentioned earlier. The book is divided into two eras and writer Hussain Zaidi’s narrative style is very gripping and engrosses you thoroughly. The stories of all the gangsters are very interesting and through them the writer tells you about how they operated their networks with the help of police officials themselves. 

Shootout at Wadala may not be as satisfying as Black Friday but it is still an engaging commercial entertainer which manages to successfully capture that period. John Abraham as Manya delivered a committed performance. 

3. Mafia Queens of Mumbai

Mafia Queens of Mumbai talks about a few female gangsters who made their way up in the world of male gangsters. The book was a collection of stories both from Kamatipura and Dongri. Recently there was an interview of Hussain Zaid where he said while researching for the book he found that female gangsters are more courageous, brave and manipulative than men. This feels quite true when you look at some of the stories in the book particularly Sapna Didi and Gangubai. Sapna Didi was the wife of a gangster who worked for Dawood Ibrahim. After her husband gets killed by him she decides to take revenge for his death with the help of another gangster. She takes two months of training at the place of Hussain Ustara by learning to ride bikes, using gun etc. She plans to kill Dawood at a cricket stadium but gets betrayed in the last minute and it is said that her murder was the most brutal murder in the history of gangsterism. Though she failed in killing Dawood there is no doubting of her bravery and courage.

Champion of sex workers’ rights

As far as Gangubai she actively championed for the rights of sex workers and their empowerment. There is a famous speech of her on sex workers and she even had a conversation with Jawaharlal Nehru to discuss their problems. In the book there is a conversation between her and Nehru where Nehru asks her why she ended up in this business when she could have found herself a nice husband. If true, Gangubai’s reply to this is very bold. She asked him whether he would marry her. This leaves Nehru red faced and she goes on to say it is easy to preach but tough to practice. All  the stories in the book are very unique in their own manner and you never feel any boredom. It is one of those books which can be rightly called as a page turner. 

With Sanjay Leela Bhansali helming it and a talented performer like Alia playing the title role it is expected to be a solid film.  I would end by recommending both to read Hussain Zaid’s books and see the movies based on those books. The specialty of Hussain Zaidi is he never caricatures any of the gangsters. He in fact humanises them. Portrays them as victims of circumstances rather than outright villains.

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LUDO: An Engaging Game & A Typical Anurag Basu Film

Ludo directed by Anurag Basu is a good comeback by the director after a slightly underwhelming Jagga Jasoos. The director returns to his familiar terrain of multi narrative earlier seen in Life In A Metro and delivers a film which entertains you along with exploring the different facets of society. The film has also got a philosophical touch as it deals with the perception of Karma and Dharma. 

The film begins off with two characters contemplating the purposefulness of life and death while playing a game of Ludo. One of them is played by Anurag Basu himself. They are not just narrators but they are also gods of destiny in writing the fate of the principal characters. The dice which unites the individual stories is Sattu Bhaiya played by Pankaj Tripati. Sattu wants to settle scores with his once right hand man Bittu played by Abhishek Bachchan. Bittu just comes out of jail and is dealing with scars of his past. He gets a redemptive arc when he finds a young girl Minni who is of his daughter’s age played by the charming Inyat Varma. She restores the moral balance in his life. 

Another part of the story involves Akash and his once girlfriend Shruti. These characters are played by Aditya Roy Kapoor and  Sanya Malhotra respectively. They are dealing with a problematic situation of their sex video coming out on a adult website prior to her marriage with someone else. Rajkumar Rao and Fatima Sana Sheikh form another important part of this game. Rajkumar Rao plays a quintessential hero who is in love with his childhood sweetheart Pinky but now Pinky is a wife and mother to someone else. The portion involving these two is both bizzare and entertaining. Rounding off the cast there are also Rohit Saraf, actor in Dear Zindagi and Sky is Pink  and for once  he is not playing a brother here, and Pearle Maaney. They are trying to run away with the unexpected money they got hold of.  

The most important thing for any multi starrer movie is the intersection of the subplots. This is not easy to do but Anurag Basu does a very good job in establishing a coherent narrative. You get the connections quite easily without having to scratch your brains. The film has a smooth flow and the character links have been well established. 

The best thing about the film is the circumstances in which all these characters find themselves in and the humor that Basu evokes from their helplessness. It often seesaws between a black comedy and a musical drama. 

The best example of this are the scenes involving a very animated Rajkumar Rao. We see him venting out his frustration in such a way that we can’t help but chuckle while at the same time feeling for him. The entire track of Rajkumar Rao is quite filmy and it is very clear that he had a blast playing this one. 

Just like Life in A Metro Anurag Basu explores many facets of society through different characters. The most significant one being faithlessness and empty values in both marriage and love. There is also the crime angle which is explored through Pankaj Tripati and Abhishesk’s characters. 

Out of all the tracks two tracks work better. The first one is Abhishek Bachchan and the little girl Inyat Varma’s heartwarming scenes. Their story is the soul of the film. Basu does a very good job in establishing their bond. Another track was the one between Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sanya. It is good to see Aditya in a very relaxed avatar. He is particularly good in his voice artist avatar. Here we get some sharp political comments on BJP and Republic TV. Both of them share a good chemistry and Sanya as a woman who is desperate to marry a rich man embodies the current aspirations of youth in general. 

Pritam’s music isn’t of the chartbuster type but it still works. The main songs have been used well and the climax song where we see a full blown action sequence is a fitting finale for this tragi- comedy. 

The one issue that I had with the film is the character of Pankaj Tripati. Although the actor is very good as usual his character arc could have been better, as promised in the beginning.  

In this crowded film the actors who stand out are Rajkumar Rao, Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Fatima Sana Sheikh.  In totality, Ludo keeps you thoroughly engaged and gives you the satisfaction of understanding our current value system a little more.