Randeep Hooda rarely disappoints with his assiduously portrayed onscreen characters. With this latest outing, he only ups his game because Hooda + Haryanvi is always an electrifying combination!
Laal Rang takes us to Randeep Hooda’s home turf, Haryana, and promises to be a riveting tale about the blood mafia thriving in the state.
Most of the action is set in Karnal of 2002. Hooda plays Shankar, the swashbuckling kingpin of an illegal venture. His charismatic personality along with the magnetic pull of easy money gets him a loyal accomplice in the form of Rajesh Dhiman (Akshay Oberoi).
The “bloody” business thrives, Rajesh’s dream of making it big no longer seems a distant reality and the narrative shines. Laal Rang seems poised for greatness with its determination to explore the dark realms of human greed, jealousy, love, friendship and betrayal.
It’s a pity then to see it fizzle out thanks to a barrage of mercilessly positioned useless songs and an utterly forced love angle.
Just when the tension begins to build up and we get fully engrossed in this gritty tale, director Syed Ahmad Afzal punctures the mood as his focus shifts to inconsequential matters.
The story screams for a taut screenplay but, alas, that wasn’t to be! Post-interval it appears like the writers are literally wondering about what to do next while they place one song after another just to buy time.
Randeep Hooda is marvelous and let’s just say there is no one else in the industry who can make Haryanvi sound so sexy, but overall, Laal Rang is a wasted effort.
2.5 Quints is all that it deserves. Go for it if you must but with truckloads of patience.
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