Laal Rang

Director: Syed Ahmad Afzal
Writers: Syed Ahmad Afzal, Pankaj Matta
Stars: Randeep Hooda, Piaa Bajpai, Meenakshi Dixit, Rajneesh Duggal
Strength: Storyline
Weakness: Slow-paced
Runtime: 147 min
Rating:  3/5

PLOT: A social drama full of black humour set in the milieu of Karnal's blood theft mafia.

REVIEW: Set in Karnal, Haryana, the film focuses on the blood trade business. The narrator of the story is Rajesh Dhiman, a young man with big dreams. He is admitted in college for the Diploma in medical laboratory science and soon meets two important people who play a vital role in his life. Poonam (Pia Bajpai) plays the love of his life. Shankar (Randeep Hooda) is the local thug, who runs the illegal blood trade business. Obsessed by Shankar's lifestyle and his charm, Rajesh instantly joins the business. Thus begins the story about friendship, love and greed. Amidst all this, the new SP of town, Gajraj Singh (Rajneesh Duggal) has taken the obligation of putting an end to the ugly trade.

The script gives us many moments to chuckle on its dark humour. It also gives us a glimpse into the horrific business of blood trade. The developing bond amongst the lead characters Shankar and Rajesh is quite essential to the story, but it takes long for the director to establish this, thus stretching the story longer and allowing boredom and predictability to set in. For a genre such as this, slow-pace just kills it. The back story to it is not as interesting either.  The rest of the cast did a good job.

Reviewed by Minam Haque