Vikramaditya Motwane, who earned his spurs with the critically acclaimed Udaan in 2010, works here with a completely different cinematic easel.
What he has carved out of the raw material at his disposal can only bolster his reputation as a filmmaker who knows exactly how not to be run of the mill.
He fills the Lootera frame with fable, history, art, literature, poetry, occasional nods to classic Hindi cinema and music, and loads of passion, beauty and magic.
In short, Lootera is a Bollywood miracle – a rare Mumbai film that is mounted on a lavish scale and yet dares not to play by the established norms of the marketplace.
Motwane makes absolutely no concessions to commercial considerations, sticks to his guns all the way, and ends up with an exquisitely crafted, slow-burning, awe-inspiring film.
Even the title is informed with a cocky air of defiance. Lootera raises visions of another Rowdy Rathorekind of film, and then proceeds to completely pull down all preconceived notions that the name might trigger.
Falling leaves of an autumnal tree and a girl who is assailed by thoughts of dying – the two essential components of the O Henry short story (The Last Leaf) that provides the basis of the narrative – are the principal elements in Lootera.
But Motwane adds many more layers to the tale by weaving, among other things, a Baba Nagarjun poem about the end of a bout of famine in a village into his film. It enhances the already strong elegiac undertone.
Lootera celebrates the past, mourns the demise of love, life and things of joy and beauty, but in the end affirms the primacy of the human spirit and the power of art to tide over the blows of fate.
The film is a period drama that unfolds over two years, 1953 and 1954, a time of great upheaval for the Bengal aristocracy.
Zamindari is abolished and the world of the Zamindar of Manikpur (Barun Chanda) is on the verge of collapse.
It is pushed over the edge by a rakish intruder, Varun (Ranveer Singh), who rides into this wobbly setting, claiming to be an archaeologist who has been entrusted with the task of excavating the place in quest of an ancient civilisation.
He not only quickly earns the ageing aristocrat’s confidence but also sweeps the man’s beloved daughter, Pakhi (Sonakshi Sinha), off her feet.
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