Lootera (2013)

An aristocrat's daughter falls in love with a visiting archaeologist, but he holds a secret that could drive them apart.

Director:

Vikramaditya Motwane

Writers:

O. Henry (short story "The Last Leaf"), Bhavani Iyer (screenplay)

Stars:

Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Barun Chanda

4 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ranveer Singh	...	Varun Shrivastav
Sonakshi Sinha	...	Pakhi Roy Chaudhary
Barun Chanda	...	Soumitra Roy Chaudhary
Adil Hussain	...	K. N. Singh
Vikrant Massey	...	Devdas
Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Arif Zakaria	...	A. K. Bajpai
Pratap Jaiswal
Shirin Guha	...	Devyani
Divya Dutta	...	Shyama (Special Appearance)
Palan Kundu
Anirban Basu
Amit Saha
Dhruv Mookerji
Newton

Storyline

The year is 1953. A visiting archaeologist called Varun Shrivastav comes to the village of Manikpur in West Bengal to excavate the temple grounds of the local Zamindar. With knowledge and experience beyond his young demeanour, Varun greatly impresses the Zamindar and his family. Especially Pakhi, the Zamindar's feisty and only daughter, who finds herself irrevocably drawn towards him. But Varun isn't all he seems on the surface. And as the simmering attraction between him and Pakhi leads to a tender and deep love, he is forced to choose between her and his past. Making his choice, Varun disappears. Pakhi struggles to move on with her life, determined to forget him and their relationship. Until one day, when he returns under the most extraordinary circumstances. Inspired from O. Henry's "The Last Leaf", Lootera is the uplifting story of two lovers. Of heartbreak, betrayal... and ultimate redemption.

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Plot Keywords:

redemption | heartbreak | leaf | village | archaeologist | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

5 July 2013 (India)

Also Known As:

Разбойник

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$314,958 (USA) (5 July 2013)

Gross:

$375,442 (USA) (5 July 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balaji Motion Pictures, Phantom Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sonakshi Sinha has draped nine different sarees in the number "Sanwaar Loon". With each saree costing between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 35,000, the total cost of her nine sarees is said to be about Rs. 3 Lakhs ($6000).

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Quotes

Varun Srivastav: In my life, everyone used me... Only you loved me...

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Connections

References Baazi (1951)

User Reviews

A superlative celluloid painting of love,betrayal & redemption

Love, in its purest and uninhibited form, has attracted many film-makers since time immemorial but somehow the thin line between sensitivity and melodrama gets blurred. "Lootera" is one such attempt which brings out the raw passion in its purest form without being too melodramatic that will go down as a classic in history of Indian cinema.

Story wise Lootera is an uncomplicated linear story of a con-man falling for a lady who is the daughter of a big zaminder in Bengal. The movie is about love, betrayal, redemption and falling in love all over again. It is the execution which makes all the difference. Motwane with his craftsmanship transcends this story into a visual imagery which strikes tune with the chord of audience's emotions. Even the social milieu of 1950s Bengal has been projected with dexterity when Zamnidari system was almost dying out & government devising laws to abolish the whole Zamindari rule. The inner turmoil of losing one's autocratic set-up & the luxuries all of a sudden indeed comes as a jolt & that has been depicted precisely. Even zamindar Roychowdhury at one point of time confesses to Varun about how he grew habituated with zamindari system & how difficult it is for him to shed it now. While Barun Chanda (who made his debut with Master Satyajit Ray's Seemabaddha) gave a commendable performance as the failing zamindar & a father of a lovely daughter; Sonakshi Sinha steals the show as vulnerable yet emotionally strong Pakhi who falls for a young archaeologist & then their lives turns upside down. Her expressive eyes conveyed the mature emotions in earthy fashion which helps to connect with the character that is in dilemma in accepting his lover after being betrayed once. It is often believed that good director brings out the best from all actors. I sincerely want to differ with this & wish to believe this lady is indeed talented with the hope of seeing Sonakshi Sinha doing more films like Lootera. Never expect the Dabbang & Rowdy girl to give such a restrained and mature performance. While Pakhi is a delight to watch, Ranveer's portrayal of Varun (real name is unknown till the end) grows on you slowly. The soft spoken guy with his boyish charm is an easy bet to win any woman's heart & Ranveer did a stupendous job in projecting the same. Like Sonakshi, his character also has layers of emotions which he delivers through his facial expressions and voice modulation albeit in a controlled manner. Vikrant Massey as Varun's friend Devdas Mukherjee & Adil Hussain as Inspector Singh complimented the acting of the lead pairs thus elevating the proceedings. Arif Zakaria, Divya Dutta & Dibyendu Bhattacharya shines in small roles.

... "Silence" plays a crucial role in this epic love story. In real life we often use silence to convey thousands of emotions. It's true that sometimes silence speaks more than words & that what makes Lootera stand out from other films of this genre.

The real heroes of the film are Vikramaditya Motwane & his technical team. After delivering the classic Udaan, Motwane hits the bull's eye with "Lootera". Unlike the dark proceedings of his debut film he chooses one of the most basic emotions called "Love" & merges some thrilling elements to create a brilliant film. O. Henry's short story "The Last Leaf" has been seamlessly merged in the second half which uplifts the sensitive depth of the climax. Shetty's cinematography compliments Motwane's vision thus creating an awesome painting in celluloid. Purulia looked astonishing & the intrigued photography is probably one of the best in recent times. Credit goes to Deepika Kalra for editing the frames effectively. Rarely one witnesses such effective use of Block Shots in any mainstream cinema recently. The detailing in production design & lights needs special mention. Art direction is top notch. There is one particular scene where Varun is suffering from indecision of going ahead with his con job and at the same time expressing his love for Pakhi. As Pakhi enters his room there is a dim light everywhere except Varun's eye which shies away in darkness as if he is not able to confront himself.

There are many such master strokes in the film which needs more elaborate discussion. The film starts with an old story of a king whose life is stored inside a pet bird. The symbolism has been aptly used as Pakhi imbibes the story & start searching for that "pet bird" until she finds it in a Leaf. The leaf symbolizes the gradual decaying of Pakhi's health and the same time Varun's unconditional love for Pakhi that completes his life. Motwane & Iyer's screenplay did justice to Henry's short story while genius Kashyap's minimal usage of dialogs evokes the perfect ambiance for a classic setting.

Amit Trivedi & Amitabh Bhattacharya combo is always superb and then sealed their credibility with Lootera. One of best music of recent times, the setting actually helped in taking the story forward with the lyrics sometime playing the part of a narrator or giving an insight of protagonist's mind. The picturization of the song "zinda hoon yaar" had blown me away completely.

If cinema is one of the greatest medium to tell a story then Motwane knows it better than many of the directors at present whose ideas are contrived. A visual painting, an ode to Love, Lootera is a must must watch for those who are seeking good cinema within mainstream domain. The film obviously wont set BO by fire (neither any of the classics ever did) but will go down in the history as a timeless classic.

Udaan & Lootera–Motwane, Sir take a bow!!Other directors should learn to use colors in films like Motwane does that never looks like Plastic. Encore!! Encore!!

P.S-AnuragKashyap always supports great films.This time along-with him,thanks to EktaKapoor for believing in Motwane's vision & helping him to paint his canvas so beautifully.