Shapludo: A gloomy, stereotypical thriller

I had once read a meme in Bangla that said shap-ludu khelte jeye dekhi, ludu-r court er chaite amar jibonei shap beshi (I noticed there are more snakes in my life than in a snake and ladder game board).

While watching the film 'Shapludo' at a friend's suggestion, I realized that my life is also full of snakes like her who want to destroy my inner peace. Otherwise, why would she ask me to see it? You may take these words as a spoiler, as there is nothing to spoil in the entire plot. 

Watch the trailer of 'Shapludo' here 

Inspired by the archetypal Bangla films' storyline, where there is always a shap (snake) in a respected family who reveals his/her true face at the end of the film, Director Golam Sohrab Dodul's maiden action thriller is nothing new of its kind. Ekta Kapoor has been acing that game for decades, literally.  

Usually when you decide to go watch a Bangla movie, it is best if you leave your brain secured in a refrigerator at home. Otherwise, the migraine attack you are going to get is going to be legend – wait for it – dary!

Hence, directors and scriptwriters in our country take good advantage of the 'no brainer' viewers by giving them nothing, nada. No plot, no storyline, nothing that makes any sense.

The protagonist of the film is played by the handsome Arifin Shuvo aka Arman aka Kalachand, could not at all justify his veni-vidi-vici tattoo. He appeared, he acted, and he made the audience lose their minds.

He played a typical hero who is not a spoilt brat, rather a man of principles (of course!). As a good-looking hero, he could not express any less. However, Kalachand, as his name suggested, hid his usual 'fairness' with dark toned foundation and sprayed hairline (racist much?). 

The beautiful Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, who once mentioned in an interview about her character Pushpo "I can undoubtedly say that the audience will discover me in a new avatar" ended up looking like her regular self.

Even when the world was ending, her make-up remained on point and not a smudge could be seen anywhere. Her character was nothing but a redundant prop.

Surprisingly, Runa Khan acted superbly and Shatabdi Wadud too played his character well. If these 'less important' characters were the leading ones, the film would have performed better.

Salauddin Lavlu plays the role of an 'intelligent' DIG and as usual tried to act very smart, smarter than ACP Pradyuman!

The veteran actor Zahid Hasan, who played the character Irfan, was the shap of the family. With his innocent and obedient behavior, at first, he obtains the family members' trust, especially that of his elder brother Ahsanullah, played by Tariq Anam. They both were disappointing.

Shakespeare did say that all is well that ends well but for this film, when it ended, everything became well. Yet if you are gutsy enough, and want to find out more about the film, avoid this review and go watch it!