Lakadbaggha Review: Riddhi Dogra, Anshuman Jha Film Made Us Howl With Boredom
skip this one.
1 / 5
There are some films that fail to land despite having a good cast and a strong plot. Lakadbaggha (Hyena) was that film for me. Starring Riddhi Dogra, Anshuman Jha, Milind Soman and Paresh Pahuja in the lead, this animal vigilante film is directed by Victor Mukherjee who has previously helmed Love Lust and Confusion. The film received a theatrical in January earlier this year and is now released on OTT. Here are my thoughts on Lakadbaggha, and let me give you heads up, they are not positive.
View this post on Instagram
The plot of Lakadbaggha
The plot of this film revolves around Arjun who is a courier delivery boy by the day, and an animal vigilante by the night. Riddhi Dogra AKA Akshara is a crime branch officer who has been assigned the case of catching hold of this vigilante as he has been beating the bad guys. His brother Aaryan played by Paresh Pahuja is into collecting rare butterflies.
Arjun hates the way animals are kept at stray homes and often gets into arguments with people about treating Indian breeds with the same love that people do to foreign breeds. He has one such argument with Aaryan where he gives him a piece of his mind on allowing Indian dog breeds to compete in Indian dog competitions.
View this post on Instagram
During Arjun’s hunt for his pet dog, he learns of an illegal animal trade that has been happening in his area where the drug dealers stuff the animals’ bodies with drugs and ship them out. In finding out who is leading this illegal operation, Arjun comes face to face with the person he had least expected it would be. He accidentally discovers this when a stray house was transporting a hyena.
Cast and characters
Anshuman Jha as Arjun is a sweet naive guy who does not know if he is on a date with Akshara. He is a vegan, and loves taking care of strays wherever he goes. His martial arts skills are impressive and there are several action sequences in the film which are proof of this. But what did not sit well was how dumb could this animal vigilante be.
View this post on Instagram
He covers his face with a mask after his enemy has seen him already. He never thinks of going to Akshara when he learns who is running the illegal animal trade. All he does in his free time is beat the bad guys.
Riddhi Dogra did not too a great job either. I am surprised how her character Akshara has the time to blow dry her hair every day before coming to work. In the midst of handling a high-profile case, she has all the time to go out to dinner with Arjun. And those moments when miraculously she ends up meeting Arjun when she is talking about nabbing this vigilante is too unrealistic to be true. There was no depth, no strictness and no alertness to her character as a crime branch official.
Coming to Paresh Pahuja as Aaryan, he tries so hard to be the intimidating, ultra cool, I-don’t-give-a-fuck guy, that he remains the most boring character in the film.
There is no character development taking place for any character in Lakadbaggha except for the titular animal. From being wild and untameable, the animal goes to obey every command given by Arjun.
The plot is chaotic, and there are many scenes the movie could do without. Unnecessary romance, missing the most obvious things and acting dumbly about a cause so serious made me wonder if the makers knew what they were making. Bollywood films will start being a whole lot better when makers stop adding unwarranted song sequences to them, and adding a cause and effect to why things are happening.
Also read: Satyaprem Ki Katha Review: Kiara Advani, Kartik Aaryan Move You In This Mature Story Of Unconditional Love
Verdict
Lakadbaggha failed to deliver the message of why the film was named Lakadbaggha. Surely, the animal had more importance than just listening to Arjun’s orders. But sadly, I was not made aware of it. The essence of the movie was lost the moment the romance angle was explored and it was only Anshuman Jha to managed to hold fort till the end.
Lakadbaggha is available for streaming on Zee 5.
First Published: June 30, 2023 3:07 PM
