Loot tale spins magic

Lootera    
Hindi (U/A)    ¬¬¬¬
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Barun Chanda, Vikrant Massey, Divya Dutta, Adil Hussain

When Dev D released in 2009, it was considered a path-breaking film in commercial Hindi cinema. Four years on, the pathmaker Vikramaditya Motwane has proved himself a trendsetter. As Dev D’s co-writer along with Anurag Kashyap then, today Motwane is Lootera’s director with Kashyap as his dialogue writer!

Motwane, provided he stays focused, is slated to be hailed as one of the finest filmmakers to have arrived on the Indian film industry’s scene – 10 years hence.
To have accomplished what he has in Lootera, the exceptionally understated romance to have graced Hindi film scene in a long, long time takes courage. In a world infested with catchy, mad-paced films filled with item numbers, over-the-top dialogues and crowded screenplays, here comes a product that features about six main characters involved in a plot that unravels on its own — as it were. It could not have been easy to convert O Henry’s The Last Leaf into a full-fledged screenplay with considerable twists, turns and digressions but Motwane’s Lootera holds its own beautifully, commandingly and at its pace too.

Ranveer plays Varun Srivastava, a con man posing as an archaeologist, who worms his way into the hearts and home of a zamindar father and his pampered daughter, played to subtle perfection by Barun Chanda and Sonakshi Sinha (as Pakhi Roy Chowdhury). Predictably, they fall in love but their story is destined to take a twist — as a con man’s life is fraught with veiled threats and blackmail.

If it were confined to a romance, Lootera perhaps would not have been magical. It also carefully explores the abolition of the zamindari system, and shows up the benign side of the zamindars of Bengal who had also played an important role in the state’s development. The moneyed landlords were looted not just by the changed governance but also by those who swirled around like vultures to wipe off what was left behind after the acquisitions. The narrative draws this parallel rather effectively, making it more poignant.

Silence on 70 mm can be a filmmaker’s strength or weakness, depending on how he plays it. More importantly, from the average audience’s perspective it is a double-edged sword. It can either be viewed as slowing down the pace or be intriguing enough for the audience to savour the moment being played out as though in real time. Motwane uses his silence as a character and builds his sequences on it. That is why Lootera works. Unlike our more vociferous heroes, Ranveer has virtually no dialogues. Nothing is explained — not by characters, nor by narrative, neither by dialogue. The last is but an accessory called upon when absolutely needed yet the film speaks. And how!