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Indian filmmaker Anurag Basu tries to pull off a Quentin Tarantino in his latest film “Ludo”. He co-produces, co-cinematographs, writes and directs an ensemble cast, and plays a prominent cameo. Also in the blueprint of Tarantino movies, Ludo has a nonlinear storyline, aestheticizes violence, and has a soundtrack that is a mixtape of various genres—with a classic Bollywood song repeatedly used as motif—and sheer unpredictability.

But is Ludo going to be a cult classic like “Pulp Fiction” or “Jackie Brown”? Only time will tell. The response so far has been promising for this toned-down action, crime-comedy movie.

As in a game of Ludo—a variant of Pachisi that originated in India—the movie Ludo has four different players. Akash Chauhan (Aditya Roy Kapur) apparently has a PhD in Arts but works as a small-time voice-over artist and ventriloquist. One day, he finds there’s a sex video of him circulating on the internet. His partner in the video, Shruti Choksi (Sanya Malhotra), is about to get married to someone else. Akash sets out to make it right to save Shruti’s marriage.

Alok Kumar “Alu” Gupta (Rajkummar Rao) is a conman turned dhaba-owner who’s still in love with his childhood crush Pinky Jain (Fatima Sana Shaikh). But for Pinky, he’s just a friend who helps her whenever she is in trouble. Pinky is married and has a child with Manohar (Paritosh Tripathi). When Manohar is taken into custody as a murder-accused, Pinky asks Alok for help again. And again, Alok decides to get her out of trouble, even at the cost of losing everything he owns.

Then there is Batukeshwar “Bittu” Tiwari (Abhishek Bachchan) who’s just out of the slammer after serving a six-year attempt-to-murder sentence and wants to get back to normal life with his wife Asha (Asha Negi) and daughter Ruhi. The fourth player, or players, are salesboy Rahul Awasthi (Rohit Suresh Saraf) and nurse Sheeja Thomas (Pearle Maaney)—two strangers who by chance come across a million-rupee in cash and become partners in crime.

All four players in Ludo get entangled with each other and are moved around by Rahul Satyendra “Sattu Bhaiya” Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi) who seems to be the metaphorical dice in the movie. Had Anurag Basu stuck to the four players and their interactions with each other, all being dominated by how the dice (Saatu Bhaiya) rolls, the movie would have had a faster pace and steadier momentum. But Basu spoils his own broth with too many sub-plots that make Ludo seem more like snakes and ladders. The movie’s length of 2hrs 29mins also gets lousy at times, only proving that Mr Basu is no Tarantino—not yet. 

Otherwise, everything else about the movie exudes brilliance. Acting is almost flawless, probably because of the cast of talented actors, and because individual screen time is too short for the characters to goof up. The script, despite indulging in multiple storylines, is nonetheless intact till the end where the climax waits with a few surprises and a revelation.

But if anything needs to be applauded, it has to be the cinematography. Basu, with fellow cinematographer Rajesh Shukla, creates magical moments with camerawork and lighting. The colors of Ludo board game are carefully assigned to Akash (yellow), Alok (green), Bittu (red) and Rahul-Sheeja (yellow). These color schemes appear onscreen whenever the respective characters are showcased, sometimes subtly and sometimes very noticeably. Camera angles and lighting set an uncanny mood, again mimicking Tarantino style.

Who should watch it?

Ludo is one of the best new releases on Netflix in the past few months, so why not? Especially, if you watched the recent disaster called Laxmii (Bomb). You definitely need to watch Ludo to get you out of coma.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Action/comedy

Director: Anurag Basu

Actors: Rajkummar Rao, Rohit Suresh Saraf, Sheeja Thomas, Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi

Run time: 2hrs 29mins

At bookstores, I’m always thrilled to come across debut novels. Sometimes, I even squeal a bit with joy. Though there haven’t been many debut books I have loved, every time there’s a book by a new author in the market I’m filled with nervous excitement. It’s also amazing how debut novels come with dust jackets filled with over-the-top claims by bestselling authors. ‘Darling Rose’ by Stephanie Wrobel has the likes of Lee Child and Lisa Jewell calling it “sensationally good” and “absolutely brilliant”. And it had a pretty cover too.

But I should have learnt my lesson by now and not judged a book by its cover. Touted as a thriller that explores the relationship between parents and children, more specifically a mother and a daughter, Darling Rose is dull and predictable. It could have been interesting had the author focused on either making the plot more fast-paced or developed the characters a more. With neither engaging plot nor fascinating characters, the book fails to impress.  

I have to say the premise held promise. It was unlike anything I had ever come across. For 18 years, Rose Gold Watts, daughter of Patty Watts, believes that she is sick and needs the feeding tube and surgeries to stay alive. Turns out, Patty has been poisoning her own daughter to make sure Rose Gold can never live without her. All Patty ever wanted was to love someone and be loved in return. Also, she craves the attention she gets as a single mother of a sickly child. Then, she is sent to prison for aggravated child abuse. Rose Gold’s testimony is key in her sentencing.

After five years, Patty is ready to put old grievances behind and Rose Gold, who didn’t talk to her mother for a few years of her jail term, also wants to mend their relationship. She even agrees to let Patty live with her and her son, Adam. But nothing is as it seems. Patty still seems to seek control, if not of Rose Gold, then of Adam. And Rose Gold isn’t as meek as she once used to be and she might not have forgiven Patty.

Wrobel came up with an intriguing idea but couldn’t do it justice. Darling Rose Gold is a colossal waste of a good plot as Wrobel fails to evoke drama and tension in her writing. There is absolutely no suspense. Things are exactly how they appear to be. Even the twist in the end—which you see coming—does nothing to salvage the story. It’s good writing, in bits and pieces, but that’s about it.

Fiction

Darling Rose Gold

Stephanie Wrobel

Published: 2020

Publisher: Michael Joseph (an imprint of Penguin Books)

Language: English

Pages: 345, Hardcover

Sometimes, the best things in life come free. And if you’ve ever scrounged through the endless content available on YouTube to find a good movie through all those clickbaits and misleading titles, you’ll surely agree. The same thing happened to me this week. A recommendation led me to the somewhat obscure “404: Error Not Found” movie on YouTube—and I was surprised I had missed this Hindi-language psychological thriller in the first place.

Released in 2011, the independent movie apparently did not shake the box office much. But it did surely gain critical acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Even now, the film is contextual and not outdated, unlike most movies made almost a decade ago.

404, which in the first quarter presents itself as a supernatural/paranormal movie, is actually a peek into human psychology. It also attempts to raise the issue of ragging in Indian colleges and its severe repercussions on students at the receiving end of verbal and physical abuses by the seniors.

Abhimanyu (Rajvvir Aroraa) is a fresher at a medical school who gets into trouble with his bullying seniors, led by Chris (Imaad Shah), right from the start of the session. Harassed by seniors who also vandalize his room, Abhimanyu decides to shift to the infamous room no. 404. The room has been locked for three years, after its previous occupant Gaurav (Ruchir Raj) died by suicide and rumors began spreading around the college that the room is haunted. Neglecting the advice of the college management and his friends, Abhimanyu decides to stay in the same room.

Troubles start for Abhimanyu when he starts seeing the deceased Gaurav in the room. Abhimanyu seeks help from Professor Anirudh (Nishikant Kamath), who believes in nothing but science and dismisses all explanations of paranormal activities. Abhimanyu, however, is sure that Gaurav’s ghost inhabits the room and is deeply disturbed by the fact. Now whether Gaurav is a ghost or is Abhimanyu only hallucinating due to some psychological problem is what the film is all about—albeit, with a twisted ending.

With only a handful of recognizable faces and the rest of the cast newcomers and debutants, the filmmakers had to capitalize on their skills and ingenuity to make it an above-par movie. And they do. Prawaal Raman, the writer/director, and also an activist against suicide, puts in a lot into the film. Unfortunately for him, without big names and recognized faces, 404 did not get the attention it deserved.

And despite the creativity flowing through 404’s 2hrs 1mins, the length itself is somewhat of a problem. For 404’s story and the cast it features, the length of two hours feels stretched, along with the climax, and that somehow takes away from the impact the film’s shocking ending could otherwise have had. There are times when the audience will probably have to use the skip button on YouTube to make the film progress faster.

But in all fairness to filmmakers, the low-budget movie has more pluses than minuses and that wins audience affection. The cinematography is excellent and makes use of CCTV camera footages and other tricks to give a haunted feel on screen. Also the cast, though inexperienced, manage to pull off what is required in most scenes. One can think of 404 as one of those DIY movie projects that made it to the theaters.

Who should watch it?

It’s for free! So anyone can watch it. But if you think it’s an out-an-out horror movie or if you like fast-paced mainstream thrillers, you might want to leave it alone. Otherwise, 404 is definitely an enjoyable watch.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: Thriller

Cast: Rajvvir Aroraa, Ruchir Raj, Imaad Shah

Director: Prawaal Raman

Run time: 2hrs 1 min

Although released in 2018, Jason Statham starrer “The Meg” only recently popped up on Netflix’s notification, as one of the top 10 movies to watch—in Nepal. Couldn’t be more thankful to Netflix for the recommendation when finding a movie worth watching was getting difficult, especially with the influx of boring Halloween-targeted horror/thrillers.

The Meg—loosely based on the 1997 book “Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror” by Steve Alten—features a gigantic megalodon, the largest shark ever discovered and thought to be extinct for two million years. Like most action, sci-fi, adventure movies that deal with gigantic creatures, the plot is simple and predictable. But there are definitely twists that demand the audience’s uninterrupted attention—the giant creature can be suddenly on-screen to scare you out of your wits.  

Retired after a botched rescue attempt that caused the death of his colleagues, rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is called back for another mission by an underwater research facility called Mana One. Reluctant to take up the mission at first, Taylor finds more than one reason to agree to the deep-sea rescue, below the Marian Trench. First, his ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee) is among the stranded crew. Second, the creature that attacked his vessel in the first mission seems to be back.

So our hero undertakes the rescue mission and successfully brings back the crew. The story doesn’t end there though. This is not a one-time rescue flick. Later, Taylor and the crew of Mana One find themselves engulfed literally between the devil and the deep blue sea and getting out alive becomes their biggest obstacle.

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, The Meg was a box office success following its theatrical release in RealD 3D. Even without the 3D on our computer screens, we can only imagine how terrifying the 75-feet-long megalodon would have looked on the big screen. The film’s special effects and CGI are top-notch, and go well with an evenly paced script and disciplined direction.

But as enjoyable as it is, this movie is not to be confused with the sci-fi masterpieces that created benchmarks in global cinema. The Meg is more like a cross between “Jaws” and “10,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, with improved cinematic technology. The acting is basic, the dialogues simple, and subtitle eye-friendly, and the plot is mostly one-way with no backstories or sub-plots to alleviate the monotony.

But again, The Meg makes up for all its simplicity with great visual effects and straightforward screenplay. Unlike most sci-fi films that fail miserably because of way too much melodrama and human interest stories, The Meg refrains from overdoing this bit. In any case, it doesn’t give the audience much time to think about what’s wrong with the movie through most of its 1hr 5 mins runtime.

Who should watch it?

The Meg is a movie made for a wider, global audience. It may have taken many liberties in explaining the science behind its story. Still, it is definitely entertaining for most of the audience and although it may not have as big an impact as the groundbreaking “Jurassic Park” series, its sequel titled “Meg 2: The Trench” is already in development.

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Action, sci-fi

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Cast: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Jessica McNamee

Run time: 1hr 53mins