Plot
Ex-convict
Bittu
(Abhishek
Bachchan)
wants
to
settle
old
scores
with
a
local
don
Sattu
(Pankaj
Tripathi)
as
the
latter
is
responsible
for
crumbling
Bittu's
personal
life
into
pieces.
The
hue
of
red
in
Abhishek's
character
refers
to
his
anger
and
his
past
sins.
Life
gives
him
a
chance
for
redemption
when
he
bumps
into
an
effervescent
Mini
(Inayat
Verma),
who
restores
the
moral
compass
in
his
life.
Akash
(Aditya
Roy
Kapur),
a
ventriloquist
and
Ahana
(Sanya
Malhotra)
find
themselves
in
a
sticky
situation
when
their
old
sex
clip
goes
viral
on
an
adult
website.
Their
past
threatens
to
jeopardize
Ahana's
much-awaited
destination
wedding
with
a
rich
businessman.
Akash-Ahana's
yellow
square
signifies
their
blithe
romance.
Aalu
(Rajkummar
Rao),
a
small-time
crook-turned-dhaba
owner
pines
for
his
childhood
crush
Pinky
(Fatima
Sana
Shaikh)
who
is
married
to
another
man.
Pinky
compels
him
to
help
her
in
getting
her
philandering
husband
out
of
jail.
"Kuch
rishton
mein
logic
nahi
hota,
sirf
magic
hota
hai,"
Aalu
reasons
out
every
time
Pinky
turns
up
at
his
door
for
help.
The
green
square
signifies
Aalu-Pinky's
survival
in
the
game.
There's
the
blue
square
in
the
form
of
Rahul
(Rohit
Suresh
Saraf),
a
mall
employee
and
Sheeja
(Pearle
Maney),
a
rookie
nurse.
When
their
lives
collide,
it's
a
roller-coaster
ride.
Sattu
(Pankaj
Tripathi)
is
the
dice
which
unites
these
individual
tracks
to
set
the
game
of
Ludo
in
motion.
Direction
Anurag
Basu's
multi-narrative
story-telling
in
Ludo
talks
about
'sin
and
virtue'
and
'second
chances'.
The
filmmaker's
hold
on
his
hyperlink
cinema
is
praiseworthy.
With
each
move
of
the
dice,
he
brings
in
some
delightful
twists
and
turns
to
keep
you
invested
in
the
film.
Of
course,
'dada'
takes
his
own
sweet
time
to
build
the
plot.
But
once
the
characters
criss-cross
in
the
wild
goose
chase,
you
know
that
you
are
in
for
a
roll.
On
the
flipside,
the
screenplay
slips
a
bit
at
places
in
this
black
comedy.
But,
Basu
quickly
realizes
the
folly
and
sets
the
dice
in
motion
again.
Performances
Abhishek
Bachchan's
Bittu
has
faint
shades
of
Lallan
from
Yuva.
But
when
it
comes
to
the
emotional
scenes,
the
man
does
make
you
tear
up
a
bit.
His
scenes
with
the
young
Inayat
Verma
warm
the
cockles
of
your
hearts.
Rajkummar
Rao
gets
to
play
the
quintessential
Bollywood
hero
straight
from
a
masala
potboiler
and
boy,
he
seems
to
be
having
a
ball
playing
it.
Koi
shaq?
Fatima
Sana
Shaikh
is
a
pleasant
surprise.
Aditya
Roy
Kapur
is
a
charmer
as
Akash,
and
easily
slips
into
the
gentle
and
cool
demeanour
of
his
character.
Sanya
Malhotra
as
Ahana
is
goofy
and
lightens
up
the
screen.
Rohit
Saraf
is
promising
in
his
role
and
lends
a
childlike
innocence
to
the
plot.
Pearle
Maney
is
a
revelation,
and
her
chemistry
with
Rohit
is
affable.
Pankaj
Tripathi
delivers
fireworks
on
screen.
Asha
Negi
too,
leaves
an
impact
in
her
brief
role.
Technical
Aspects
Anurag
Basu
and
Rajesh
Shukla
succeed
in
tapping
your
emotions
with
their
colour
palette.
Each
frame
adds
a
layer
to
the
story-telling.
Ajay
Sharma
has
a
tight
grip
on
his
editing
scissors
resulting
in
a
delightful,
zany
end-product.
Music
Arijit
Singh's
'Aabaad
Barbaad'
and
'Hardum
Humdum'
is
pleasant
music
to
your
ears.
Jubin
Nautiyal-Ash
King's
'Meri
Tum
Ho'
also
tugs
at
your
heartstrings.
Verdict
"Sawaal
puch
raho
raho
jalebi
kaa
aur
jawaab
chahiye
kalakand
ka," quips
a
character,
and
you
realize
that
Anurag
Basu
has
a
lot
of
twists
and
turns
in
store
in
this
game
of
ludo.
Fortunately,
Dada
rolls
a
six
in
almost
every
frame
to
give
us
an
entertaining
game.