Virtual conferences are a lot more cooler than what we are used to. For one, you save time and effort, it is easier to navigate on the Internet and more importantly, you can turn up in shorts without being judged, like how Aditya Roy Kapur did when he, along with the ensemble cast of Ludo , joined together for the trailer launch on Monday. “For every virtual event, I am going to push for this [of costume],” said Aditya, with a laugh.
It is a season for anthologies on streaming platforms. Following the recent announcement of its their Tamil anthology Paava Kathaigal , Netflix has rolled out its plan for the big Deepavali release, with what appears to be a comedy anthology, Ludo , directed by Anurag Basu who returns to direction after the 2017 Jagga Jasoos , which was marred by production issues and ultimately failed at the box office, despite decent reviews. Basu was moderating the live session, giving us an insight into its world and what the characters have to offer.
Shades of life?
A typical game of ludo consists of four colours — Red, Green, Yellow and Blue. Going by the trailer, each colour, in this case, seems to represent the theme or shades that individual story/character is dealing with.
When Basu gave a brief to the sort of man Rajkummar Rao would be playing, what caught the latter’s attention was his “ aloo ” analogy. “You told me that the character is like aloo ...people would like him no matter what. I found that interesting and knew you wouldn’t disappoint,” he said.
Rajkummar recalled the reaction Basu had when he looked like a young Mithun Chakraborty, when he gave the look test for the film. “That is when it hit me, that my character dances for everything, irrespective of the situation he finds himself in. I thought, ‘why not base my character on Mithun Da’.”
The film also stars Dangal girl Fatima Sana Shaikh in the lead. Basu said that he had not written a character like Pinky (Fatima) before and was curious to know what the actor thought of her. “I’ve heard that you don’t write your scripts in the first place,” said Fatima breaking into a chuckle and broaching on something Anurag Basu has often been accused of and received praise for, in equal measure. She added, “Pinky was so raw and this is the first time I am taking up a character like her. You [Basu] were forcing me to explore her and I really enjoyed that experience.”
Aditya Roy Kapur and Sanya Malhotra play a couple in their segment. Sanya’s character might be perceived as a “gold digger” and Basu was keen on knowing if she had any reservations sinking her teeth into it. “I wouldn’t call her that because gold digger has a negative connotation. She has formed a clear picture of her future and is precise of what she wants, whom she was going to marry, and how she would spend her life,” said Sanya.
Aditya, on the other hand, was taken by surprise when he was asked to give his two cents on Mughal architecture — his character is Akash Chauhan, a doctorate in Mongolian art in Mughal architecture. “This is the first time I didn’t come anywhere close to researching for this character,” he said.
The loveable gangster
The one story or character that connects the arc of Ludo is that of Pankaj Tripathi, who plays a gangster. Yet again. “If you give such lovely performances as a gangster, people will start liking them yaar ,” quipped Basu. Sharing his experience, Tripathi said, “I always like taking road trips. This film was like that; a road trip but without a destination. We don’t know what will happen next in life’s script, but in cinema we do.”
For Malayalam actor Pearle Maaney, the entire journey was akin to visiting Disneyland. Her portion has shades of blue and she stars alongside Rohit Suresh Saraf. “There are some great and experimental movies coming from Malayalam cinema. But, in your case, I felt like a child that went to Disneyland...it was like a dream,” she said.
Abhishek Bachchan does miss promoting the film with his colleagues, especially the “laughs and food” that come with it. His portion features child actor Inayat Verma and they seem to share a warm relationship. “When you have an actor who is talented and charming, you don’t have to do much. I completely leaned on Basu’s vision,” said Abhishek.
Inayat chipped in to add: “I never saw him as a star since he was down to earth. He took care of me like his daughter [Aradhya]. That is why our bonding was natural.”
“She just cut me to size,” laughed Abhishek.
With inputs fromSrivatsan S
Ludo releases on November 12
