When Aanand L Rai produces a film, Navdeep Singh directs it and Saif Ali Khan stars in it, we surely have high expectations from the movie. Even the makers of Laal Kaptaan had come up with a very good trailer. But as we say, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, we should also not judge a film by its trailer.
Laal Kaptaan is actually a revenge drama set 1780s. As the movie starts we are introduced to Gossain, a Naga Sadhu (Saif Ali Khan), whose only aim is to find Rehmat Khan (Manav Vij) and kill him. Well, on a couple of occasions he also gets the opportunity to kill Khan, but as the makers wanted to make a 155 minutes film, they decided to stretch as much as they can.
Navdeep Singh’s last directorial was Anushka Sharma starrer NH10. It was raw and gritty film, and even Laal Kaptaan is in the same zone. But the problem with Laal Kaptaan is that the screenplay is not at all engaging. The first half is just pale and doesn’t offer anything good. The movie gets better in the second half, but apart from a few scenes, nothing makes an impact. Also, the makers forgot that there’s something called editing and they could have easily made this one a short and crisp movie.
Well, Singh gets full marks for the locations and for getting the perfect period feel to the movie. Also, the cinematography done by Shanker Raman is quite good. But, just the locations and good camera work cannot make you sit throughout the film for 155 minutes. Even if the movie has some twists and turns, they haven’t been narrated well. The drama required for such movies is missing here.
Saif Ali Khan has put his best foot forward. He is excellent in the film and this is surely one of the best performances of his career. While Saif is damn good, the supporting cast is a letdown. Manav Vij as the bad guy doesn’t impress. Deepak Dobriyal is strictly average. Zoya Hussain is wasted and Sonakshi Sinha was simply not required even for a cameo in the film. The only actress who impresses us in the film is Simone Singh. She has performed confidently.
Overall, Laal Kaptaan is a bland film with Saif Ali Khan at his best. Well, fans of Saif can give it a try, but others must skip it.
Ratings: 2/5
Watch the trailer here…
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