This review has been written on a special demand by my friend Rohit Dash.
Year Of Release: 2013
Country: India
Plotline: –
In a nascently independent India, Pakhi (Sonakshi Sinha) the daughter of a rich landlord (Barun Chanda) in Manikpur, falls in love with archaeologist Varun (Ranveer Singh) who is a new entrant to the town. As the feelings are reciprocated and both contemplate a life together, things will turn in ways both never saw coming, at least not Pakhi.
What I liked about the film: –
A couple of scenes into Lootera and you realise how picturesque everything is. There is a synchronous harmony of colours, both in the natural environment and within human spaces that range from the plain tropical weather of Manikpur to the cold snowy winters of Dalhousie. Mahendra J. Shetty’s cinematography captures all of these beautifully along with the emotions portrayed by the actors. Talking about actors, it’s the acting which keeps the film energetic throughout its forbearing storytelling. Ranveer Singh is simply brilliant as he puts out lots of emotions against his scriptal restraints and imbibes sense into his own character as well as the film. I have never been an admirer of Sonakshi Sinha but I think she was great here and it’s one of the fewest times when we got to see the actor within her. Sinha had been a favourite of many filmmakers in the initial years of her career, getting hoards of commercial flicks where she was supposed to be an eye-candy with little or no acting to do. Lootera, on the other hand, took out the glamour off her and rendered her into a normal girl that Pakhi was supposed to be and she does shine in it. Extra credits to Vikramaditya Motwane in the director’s chair for making this happen.
Another great aspect of Lootera is its music and even its background score save from its first act. The sombre tone of the film reflects in three ways, usage of colours especially in the second half, its acting, and most importantly its songs. There’s one great aspect of Amit Trivedi’s music, which most people probably don’t notice, is that his songs almost always match with the mood of the film. They may or may not sound as beautiful outside the realms of celluloid but within the screen, they are simply sterling! I hold a similar view of his work in Lootera as well. My views on his background score are mostly positive and he has done a terrific job in the second and third acts although the first one was equally shoddy. Will take that part in the next section.
My issues with the film: –
Not much time into the first act, there’s a moment when the landlord tells his daughter Pakhi a story about a king and a parrot. Nothing to mention about the story but the background music which played along with the father-daughter interaction which inculcated a piece of lovey-dovey music on the lines of the song Sawaar Loon was what irked me! This bothersomeness stayed for almost the entirety of the act as the peculiarly nettling romantic score played whenever Pakhi felt proximity towards Varun. This thankfully was abated then onwards but it didn’t feel like an Amit Trivedi rendition and the score for the film as a whole seemed like the work of two radically different individuals working their ways on strings. This, however, is amongst the least negatively affecting elements in Lootera.
To be very honest, Lootera could have been a serious and better-made romantic-drama if the first half was omitted off into flashbacks which could have been a part of the narrative that the second part focuses on. I am not saying that the backstory in the first half was terrible but it wasn’t good either. It was too mushy, incorporating typical Bollywoodish elements like love at first sight (that too in a road accident!), coughing up tea when something awkward is said, and the like. Also, the painting angle where Varun takes lessons from Pakhi while himself aspiring to be a painter (outta nowhere!) was sadly laughable as it becomes a crucial thing latter on. Similar things can be said about the marriage that would eventually break. Again, why should these things have been omitted? They needn’t be if the characters bring it out in their conversations and their fights or even brief flashbacks per se in the next half where the real plot brews. Lootera could have been constricted within 90 fine minutes if not elongated unnecessarily and could have been a lot more effective than the 136-minute stretch that we were given instead.
Also, just to mention, the second half has a long chase between Varun and the police where he gets into any building he wants unimpeded and even has a prolonged Mexican standoff with a policeman which was risibly vexing. Don’t know what the director and the writers had in mind but ok.
Final Verdict: –
Giving a decision on Lootera as a movie isn’t as difficult as sitting through its trudging pace and unnecessarily prolonged narrative. There are many minute issues with it apart from the ones I enumerated above but its positives are also equally delectable. There’s good acting, good music, as well as good production values along with great camerawork but if anything will leave a mark for it, it’ll undoubtedly be its songs and not the film which is indubitably an underwhelming (if not poor) adaptation of The Last Leaf.
Movie Freak India 
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