Lootere web series review: Hansal Mehta and Jai Mehta’s show is laudable but needed to be crisper

Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Vivek Gomber, Amruta Khanvilkar, Preetika Chawla, Chandan Roy Sanyal

Director: Jai Mehta

Language: Hindi

Lootere, which is directed by Hansal Mehta’s son Jai Mehta has nothing to do with the 1993 film of the same name that starred Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla. There was a moment when the actress seductively came out of deep waters to tantalize Deol and the audience. And this show too is about everything that can happen in deep waters. Reportedly, it’s inspired by real-life events that involved aggression, shrewdness, negotiations, and ultimately freedom.

The plot lies in the title itself, and the trailer gives away a lot and hides just as many secrets. Back in 2019, in Ali Abbas Zafar’s _Bharat_, when Salman Khan was trapped with a bunch of Somalian pirates, all he and his sidekick Sunil Grover had to do was to sing an Amitabh Bachchan song to drive the uninvited guests away. They loved Amitabh Bachchan. It was the spirit of love and unity the director wanted to showcase in a bloated star vehicle. Bachchan’s legacy doesn’t come handy here. The narrative is a lot more dense, and the calamity far more chaotic. Amid this, there’s the charismatic and cocky Vivek Gomber who manages to flash a smile even when danger is right at the doorstep.

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There’s Rajat Kapoor, who has barely raised his voice in any of the stuff he has been doing, and is still able to convey whatever is going on in his head. He’s the savior of the ship, captain to be precise, and he says his team knows the ship more than the pirates. Mehta creates a room for both expanse and claustrophobia. There are sprawling shots of the sea but there’s something discomforting about the jeopardy the heroes of the show will find themselves into. Survival dramas don’t need to rely on any confined space, and Lootere displays that. In the recent Shaitaan, it was a guest house that became one of the characters of the thriller, and here, we have a whole ship and the sea it sails on.

But the show overstays its welcome is what one feels after a point, just like the pirates that won’t leave that easy. Mehta relies more on brawn than brain, and there’s no trace of vanity as Lootere boasts off actors and not vanity-driven stars. It’s a commendable effort but only if it was little tighter and crisper. Then it would’ve definitely stolen the heart. Just like how the title says!

Rating: 2.75 (out of 5 stars)

Lootere is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar