Ludo is a bunch of many stories together. This almost an anthology is pinned together by the central character of Pankaj Tripathi. When I saw the trailer, I thought it has a lot of potential to become Delhi Belly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case.

This is a story of how fate brings totally disconnected people together. It has its funny moments but with 150 mins of runtime, the movie Just wears down the audience. At least two to three times during the film I found myself reaching for my mobile and that’s not a good sign.

The acting is passable. Unfortunately, we don’t really stay with the characters long enough to care a lot about or see the nuances of their acting potential. Then the slow screenplay at times takes away the sense of urgency of a crime drama. In the end, you do remember Pankaj Tripathi and Rajkumar Rao.

These two have a knack to give the best however less the demand for the film is. For example, Rajkumar’s menu delivery or his nervous dancing is beyond the need of the movie. These small bits highlight his story well above others. It’s important to note that Rajkumar’s arc has other characters too like Fatima’s Pinky. But it’s Rajkumar that you remember, absolutely no one else.

Abhishek’s arc feels desperate. It’s like they are leaving no stone unturned to establish him again in the acting scene. He is not bad, he delivers what is needed but nothing more, nothing less. Just when you are seeing Rajkumar in scenes along with him, you can’t help but think that a casual walk-in-the-park acting days are gone. I think post Guru he really deserved more success. Especially when the likes of Arjun Kapoor are still getting films, Abhishek’s bad luck cuts deep.

Rohit Saraf and Pearle Maaney are a fresh treat to watch. Pearle Maaney plays a Malliyali nurse Shreeja. Her mannerisms and absolute lack of Hindi/English broadens the Bollywood spectrum a bit by including someone from southern states. Bollywood has rarely given weightage to southern states. Watching Pearl Maaney or even Parvathy Thiruvothu from Qarib Qarib Singlle feels we need more of these representations if Bollywood claims to be the cinema of India.

All the stories are colour-coded for some reason. I did not find any significance except there are four stories and four sides on Ludo board. Abhishek’s story being in red is the most obvious one. In a metaphorical sense, Ludo sounds like a great way to present a bunch of stories, but it also brings the burden of that metaphor. You try and see if those are racing towards a singular goal, or if there is any competition between them, or even inadvertently do they force others to go back to the start? These questions remain unanswered and that just means a lost opportunity. Only in case of the blue, it seems a bit close to the metaphor where both Rohit and Shreeja are desperately waiting for a six to roll for them.

Overall, the film will not take you through the roller-coaster ride that the trailer indicates, but it will not be entirely dull either. This is a game of Ludo that you play when the lights are out, wifi is down and there is actually nothing else to do.