Director Navdeep Singh, who has earlier helmed critically-acclaimed films like ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ and ‘NH10’, attempts to create a period saga, with revenge as the central theme and an assortment of characters. But sadly, it fails to create the menacing impact it sets out to have. The narrative is too long drawn out and often meanders. Characters and subplots appear and disappear at whim, and some are not coherently etched out. Sonakshi Sinha is seen a cameo, but then you blink for a second, and she’s gone. Laal Kaptaan’s effect at best is sporadic – there are moments that may hook you, even shock you, but there are also too many scenes that are just laborious.

With an 18th century setting and an interesting mileu, there was scope to make this an engaging drama, but it’s mostly squandered away. In a period drama, cinematography is one of the key elements, and cinematographer Shanker Raman does pull off some sequences rather well, but again, there are some that go awry. While there are some action sequences that hold your attention, the violence in some scenes is stomach-churning.