The highlight of the film is Randeep Hooda's performance. But none of it's too serious to dampen the film's spirit. A seasoned filmmaker would've been able to chop off a good 20 minutes from the film. The screenplay meanders in the middle parts a bit. There's romance, there's sex, there's action so the average movie buff has enough on offer to get through the 140-odd minutes with ease. There's always a sense of drama in the proceedings and yet the tone of the film is irreverent, so the movie never gets too serious. It's a story about two men and their friendship, in the midst of crime and corruption. Things get complicated when greed and deceit overshadow friendship and trust. So when the two get assigned to the blood bank in their medical college, they use it to sell blood illegally and make bug bucks. Shankar though, is a hustler and an established name in the illegal blood bank trade. Randeep Hooda plays Shankar and Akshay Oberoi is Rakesh, they're Diploma students learning pathology in a college in Karnal. If you can get past the language barrier, then Laal Rang has a decent crime thriller story on offer. You can't miss the story, that's simple enough, but you can lose out on the camaraderie between Randeep Hooda's and Akshay Oberoi's characters, which is instrumental in the film. Yes it's based in Karnal, a city in Haryana, but the lingo on offer is so authentic, folks who don't follow the language will miss the subtext. The biggest problem with Laal Rang is the Hariyanvi. Laal Rang makes a decent one time watch, but only if you get the hang of thick Hariyanvi dialect. There are a few rough edges on this gritty drama, but a stellar performance by Randeep Hooda smoothens any jaggedness. The execution of the right ideas is not bad at all. Some of the cinematography on offer, especially the drone shots of Karnal and Haryana are fantastic. There are twists and turns in the narrative, which Spice things up. It makes the film appropriately entertaining. His treatment of the subject is gritty but with an underlying sense of humour and irreverence.

His film is based on the subject of illegal blood banks, which is a dark reality in India. Director Syed Ahmed Afzal has all the right ideas in Laal Rang.

Laal rang movie review masand