Dhaivat, an ambitious musician, dreams of performing a symphony he composed for his daughter at a prestigious competition. Param, the man running the contest, wants him nowhere near the stage and abducts Dhaivat's daughter to force him out. What follows is a race between a father's music and a rival's cruelty.
Lamboo Rastoo is one of the rare Dhollywood films of 2018 built around classical music rather than the usual urban comedy formula. Director Mihir Bhuta follows Dhaivat, a composer who wants to premiere a symphony written for his daughter, only to have that same daughter kidnapped by Param, the man who controls the competition. It is a melodrama with a moral engine, and it wears its emotions openly.
Jay Soni carries the film as the desperate father, and Shrenu Parikh, better known to television audiences, brings warmth to the role of his wife. The supporting bench is strong on paper, with Manoj Joshi and Anang Desai lending the kind of theatre-trained weight that Gujarati cinema leans on, and Maulik Pathak playing the antagonist. The music, unsurprisingly for a film about a symphony, does much of the heavy lifting in the emotional stretches.
The Times of India gave it three and a half stars and pinpointed the film's real problem, a sagging second half that better editing would have tightened. The same review singled out the climax as an unexpected high, calling it innovative enough to lift the whole picture and reward the earnest performances. That gap between a slack middle and a strong finish is the honest verdict here. Lamboo Rastoo does not always trust its audience to sit with quiet scenes, and it reaches for sentiment when restraint would serve it better. But it aims higher than most of its 2018 peers, and the closing act lands. For viewers who like their drama scored to a swelling soundtrack and anchored by a parent-child bond, it is a worthwhile watch that finishes far stronger than it starts.
Verdict
A music-driven family melodrama that starts slack but ends on a genuinely inventive high, carried by Jay Soni and a strong supporting cast.
What works
- Jay Soni's committed lead performance
- A genuinely surprising climax
- Music woven into the emotional core
- Theatre-trained supporting cast
What holds it back
- Second half sags and needed tighter editing
- Leans hard on melodrama
- Familiar kidnap-and-rescue engine
- Reaches for sentiment over restraint
Cast & crew
Cast: Jay Soni (Dhaivat Yagnik), Shrenu Parikh (Shruti Yagnik), Manoj Joshi (Dilip Mahajan), Anang Desai (Shiv Hari Yagnik), Maulik Pathak (Param Agrawal)
Producers: Rajat K Chaudhari
Watch the trailer
Play the official trailer on YouTubeMore Musical Gujarati films
Frequently asked
Is Lamboo Rastoo worth watching?
A music-driven family melodrama that starts slack but ends on a genuinely inventive high, carried by Jay Soni and a strong supporting cast. Kevu Che rates it 3.5 out of 5.
What is Lamboo Rastoo about?
Dhaivat, an ambitious musician, dreams of performing a symphony he composed for his daughter at a prestigious competition. Param, the man running the contest, wants him nowhere near the stage and abducts Dhaivat's daughter to force him out. What follows is a race between a father's music and a rival's cruelty.
What is the IMDb rating of Lamboo Rastoo?
Lamboo Rastoo (2018) holds an IMDb rating of 9.1 out of 10.