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

Top Rated Indian Movies #238 | 4 wins & 19 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:

fugitive | redemption | heartbreak | leaf | village | 

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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:

Borfaşul

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$314,958, 7 July 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$375,442, 7 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

The old temple shown in the movie is situated in the Purulia district of West Bengal. It's among several temples that lie in ruin around the district and some of them date back to the pre-Mughal era.

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Quotes

Pakhi Roychoudhary: [Whispering] What-else?
Varun Srivastav: [Whispering] I want to paint a masterpiece that the whole world will remember...
Pakhi Roychoudhary: [Whispering] Really?
Varun Srivastav: [whispering coyly] Don't you tell anyone.

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Connections

Version of The Last Leaf (2003)

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Soundtracks

Sawaar Loon
Vocals by Monali Thakur
Music composed by Amit Trivedi
Song lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya
(P) 2013 Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.

User Reviews

A moving painting with a big screen as its canvas.

"What is a film all about?" asks Aniket Mazumdar in Rituparna Ghosh's Abohoman . Apratim (his son) replies "Depends. Moments maybe!". It seems that Vikramaditya Motwane has done mastery in creating those moments. He first was an assistant of Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Devdas then did something as a choreographer and also played a part of screenwriter for DevD . Then came his first film Udaan in 2010 for which he had already written the story in 2003 but couldn't make a movie out of it as there were no producers to back him up. According to him that struggle was a blessing in disguise as he got his film released on a large scale which he had not even imagined. Udaan made me spellbound and won many accolades and after its success Vikramaditya with his Lootera proved that it was no fluke. He is a genius in creating moments which defines a movie. Lootera is a movie which shows cinematic brilliance on screen and apparently it brings a smile on your face as it is full of magical moments. It is really hard to describe those in words that is why I am not reciting any of those. Who said that the Romance genre has died in Bollywood. The first half of the movie is freshly written but the second half which was shot in Kashmir is adapted from O'Henry's short story The Last Leaf. Set in 1953-Manikpur it is a story of an ageing zamindaar who is struggling with the new law, which the government forbids everyone to do zamindaari. He loves her daughter Paakhi (Sonakshi Sinha) more than his life. And then comes Varun Srivastava (Ranveer Singh) with his friend as an archaeologist to find some remains of a dead civilization under Paakhi's father's land. It is then the joyride begins with so much detailing which is handled by Vikramaditya very efficiently. Each and every sequence of the movie is like a moving painting and is well shot that it feels so stunning and vivid, be it the Kashmir or the Manikpur part. Packed with powerful performances of Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha the movie ends up being a treat to watch with its supporting cast also doing a great job. It may well be the career defining performance of both the protagonists. Ranveer and Sonakshi puts their heart in the movie and proves a fact that, Yes they also can act. Lootera also demonstrate a fact that wonders can happen when two geniuses are involved in the same project. The second one being Amit Trivedi. This guy just cannot disappoint you. He is getting better and better with each movie. If the movie is a moving painting then Amit Trivedi's music and background score are canvases of it with Shikaayatein and Manmarziyaan being so infectious. The movie works in every department and it is a very rare movie nowadays where the second half doesn't disappoint you. Yes there are some weak points in the second half but they are a few in numbers or negligible as compared to the good parts. Many of you may want to cry or some of you may get disappointed after watching the climax but it brought a smile on my face as Varun smiled after falling off the tree in the last part of the movie. I just felt love in the air. Love between Paakhi and Varun. The magical climax couldn't have made an impact as it did without the Zinda Hoon Main song. I am going with 4 stars for Lootera. Watch it for two geniuses and two future stars of Bollywood.It certainly is the best movie of the year and much much better than the trash that the industry has produced in the name of a love story.

P.S:-Do yourself a favour by not missing Lootera on the big screen. 4/5