Lootera

O Henry’s stories have been an inspiration for many a story on screen.  Closer to home, Raincoat (Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgn) was an adaptation of “Gift of the Magi”.  Only a matter of time before another one was used as inspiration.  This time around it is the turn of “The Last Leaf”.  Vikramaditya Motwane pays homage to O Henry with his adaptation of this classic short – with a little bit of Indian spice thrown in for taste.

Lootera is a typical Motwane movie (if you could be typecast in 2 movies that is).  It isn’t fast paced by a country mile.  In fact most Bollywood fans would find it slow paced.  But there is an aura of sorts that Motwane creates with the use of colour, cinematography and music that keeps you just about interested.

 

Set in the background of the post-independence era in a village called Manikpur (West Bengal), Looter is the story of Varun Shrivastava who finds his way to the village as an archeologist.  He is interested in inspecting the Zameendar’s (Barun Chanda) property for hidden civilizations or at least that’s what he is pretending to do.

 

All is going as per plan but he doesn’t expect to bump into – actually crash into – Pakhi (Sonakshi Sinha) when she is learning to drive down the village roads.  He gets to know her better and eventually moves into the Zameedar’s house on invitation.  The love story progresses further. But, like most tragedies, this one also has a twist.

 

Vikramaditya Motwane is one of the finest directors that India has as of now.  I am going to stick my neck out and say that other than Motwane, there are 2, maybe 3 directors in the country who have a chance of making a movie that can really blow the pants off international competition. Why then would Motwane miss out on some obvious errors right through Lootera?  Is it the money? Because I am quite certain it isn’t the hard work.

 

Lootera is sustained by some fine direction, a solid storyline and some decent performances.  Ranver Singh is eager and on many an occasion lets it get the better of him.  He could do with a little bit of a leash on his desire to perform more than what he is capable of currently.  It will come to him if he doesn’t try so hard.

 

Other than that, Sonakshi is below par at her best anyways and this is no different.  Considering that the rest of the cast has delivered some really solid performances, her below par input sticks out like a sore thumb.  Watch out for Adil Hussain is the CBI agent who finally catches up with Atmanand Tripathi.  Great performance.

 

The difference between a good movie and a great movie would lie in the finer details and that’s where most Indian directors who show promise fall short.  It could be things like consistency or something as simple as overly manicured nails in the 1950s. The average audience would never notice it but does that justify not doing a complete job? 6.5 on 10 for a movie that could so easily have pushed for an 8.

 

Watch the trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec7vdARFuYI