LOOTERA (" DIL LOOT LIYA RE")

July 5, 2013

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha.

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane.

Vikramaditya Motwane made his mark with his debut feature Udaan a few years back and seems like he is in no mood to let go of that novelty with Lootera, which has been inspired by O.Henry’s short story “The Last Leaf”.

Lootera opens in the 1950s Bengal where Varun Shrivastava (Ranveer Singh) comes to the Manikpur Zamindar’s mansion with an ulterior motive. He falls for the Zamindar’s daughter Paki (Sonakshi Sinha), who reciprocates the feelings. On the eve of their engagement Varun leaves the mansion without telling anyone. The Zamindar dies from that shock. An year later Paki is in Dalhousie trying to leave her past behind pursuing her ambition of being a writer, where she ends up bumping into Varun again.

As such it is a pretty straightforward plot (only the climax being a bit of a surprise package) but then Lootera is full of surprises right from the casting to execution. With an awesome screenplay combined with terrific performances it is pure pleasure watching Lootera unfold onscreen.

When you could not have blamed anyone for thinking what in the world someone like Ranveer Singh is doing in a movie like this, you would be surprised at the way you would start empathising with his character . It is certainly the best roles that both Ranveer and Sonakshi have gotten till date and they make the best use of it; but then, even at the risk of sounding biased, if I had to choose the between the two it is undoubtedly Sonakshi who dazzles, shines, mesmerises and LIVES as Paki. It is a treat to watch Sonakshi emote frustration, vulnerability, resistance, love and struggle and for the same reason it would not be surprising if she gets a National award nomination for the role.

At an age when Hindi cinema is mostly filled with brain numbing loud masala cinema, it is but obligatory to bow before Vikramaditya Motwane to have included so many scenes without any BGM, yet capturing the audience’s rapt attention. And when you do have BGM it is nothing short of spectacular (strangely reminding Hans Zimmer at times); in addition, Amit Trivedi has come out with some heat warming melodies as well.

The wonderful cinematography and stunning sense of lighting make the film very appealing visually. The intimate scenes between Varun and Paki have been aesthetically shot, which is one of the main reasons for Lootera belonging to the top league along with terrific chemistry that the lead pair exudes onscreen.

In the end you come out of the theatre having experienced a variety of emotions all of which you would fall in love with. Lootera is nothing short of a classic.

I am giving a 4/5 for Lootera. The best hindi film of the year till date has arrived!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.