Tanya Maniktala's 'Loot Kaand' web-series review: A semi-entertaining show that could have been a lot more fun

Cast: Tanya Maniktala, Gyanendra Tripathi, Sahil Mehta, Saad Bilgrami, Prashansa Sharma

Director: Ruchir Arun

Language: Hindi

What happens when fiction meets reality? The answer could be Anil Sharma’s Gadar, where two fictional characters are trapped in the horrific reality of the partition. The answer could also be Loot Kaand, the new show on Amazon MX Player that stars Tanya Maniktala, Gyanendra Tripathi, Sahil Mehta, Saad Bilgrami, Prashansa Sharma. It’s a story of desperation and disasters. It involves a bank robbery, and it also incorporates the 1995 Purulia arms drop case. This looks like a kickass idea on paper, and most of it comes out with flourish on the screen.

First of all, the two central characters are not lovers on the run trying to escape from the clutches of their socio-economic backgrounds. They are siblings with similar fate sealed by destiny. So robbing a bank is the idea their minds suggest. Obviously the robbery is not going to happen the way it was planned, or not planned at all. There would be no stories if there were no conflicts and consequences.

Director Ruchir Arun and showrunner Saurav Dey have rightly titled the show Loot Kaand. Loot represents the robbery and Kaand is for the arms drop case. But the makers have done what Gangs of Wasseypur and Panchayat mastered with their writing. They try to create a world of chaos and cacophony with earthy humour. Chances of small-town comedies going wrong are more than going right. Loot Kaand kind of swings in between. And since the story is about a heist and an unexpected event, most of the performances are bound to be reactive.

Tanya Maniktala of Kill and Flames fame takes a leap in her oeuvre. For someone coy and reticent in most of her outings, this performance and character require her to explode and unleash all her anguish. Result? Almost there. Ditto for Gyanendra Tripathi, who does his daring best to submit himself to the madness in the narrative. Loot Kaand is like that dish that satiates the appetite but leaves you wondering if you’d like to have it again when hunger arrives at your doorstep. We’ll see when it does!

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Loot Kaand is now streaming on Amazon MX Player