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 & 20 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	...	Varun's Friend
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

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

References Patita (1953)

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Soundtracks

Zinda
Performed by Amit Trivedi
Music composed by Amit Trivedi
Song lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya
(P) 2013 Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.

User Reviews

A Bittersweet Romance painted on a Musical Canvas

VjMOVIEW: Highly Recommended

Length: 142 minutes Genre: Romantic Drama Director: Vikramaditya Motwane (VM)

Target Audience: Strictly for those who prefer serious and meaningful cinema which has no scope for commercialized treatment Parallels of the Movie: Raincoat, Fanaa

(Read more at www.vjmoviews.com)

How often have you seen a meticulously detailed artistic movie appealing to a romantic genre. May be, not yet. If you wish to experience such a cinematic gem, welcome abound to the world of Lootera.

Lootera sounds like a simple story line. A con-man(Ranveer) imposters himself as an archaeologist to visit the Manikpur village in West Bengal only to plunder away with the ancient wealth of local Zamindar. While doing so, he falls in love with the daughter(Sonakshi) of zamindar. Placing his professional duties above his personal commitments he decides to leave Sonakshi on the day of their engagement never to come back. However, the two meet again a year later under intimidating circumstances only to give way to their undying flame of love. Quite antithetical to their characters in previous movies, the lead cast dons an entirely different roles this time. Sonakshi is no longer our loud mouthed and pelvic thrusting blubbery lady and Ranveer is the poignant soul exercising restraint in all his mannerisms. Amidst all this, the two come out with flying colours in their performances and on- screen chemistry.

While, the script and screenplay are penned down with utmost craftiness, it's the Execution which raises the bar. There are myriad emotions downplayed in words but amplified with gestures between Sonakshi and Ranveer. Some scenes worth mentioning are: the painting scene in which Sonakshi teaches the art of painting to Ranveer; the chase sequence between Ranveer and cops. And as Ranveer mouths his bucket list to Sonakshi in one of the scenes, he indeed proves it to us- It was a masterpiece in his career.

VM has shown that he is a rare breed of horse who belongs to an altogether different stable of Bollywood. He sure has a penchant for leaving his audience with an optimistic and cheerful face in the climax. And, as for the music, while I write this review, the triumphant background score still resonates in my mind. Kudos to you, Mr. Amit Trivedi. You have proved yet again that you are here to stay. At last, a movie this year which could get a tear roll down my cheeks.. :-)

(Read more at www.vjmoviews.com)

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

Gross USA:

$581,813

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$789,671

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