Lootera

Lootera

Mujhe Chhod to mere haal pe, zinda hu yaar kafi hai….

Tragedy seems to be the flavor of the season, but in this case we already knew it. The movie is an “adaptation” of a short story “The Last Leaf” by O’ Henry. I never read that story instead I had seen a short movie made by Doordarshan some ages back and that’s how I knew the story. Good work by Vikramadiya Motwane on the story to give a very nice prelude. Though I cant say that first half is totally original but still a good work by putting together two already told stories and make a beautiful movie backed by power packed performances by both the protagonists.

Usually I write the prelude and characterization in my story section but this time I would take a different path and would talk about the second half, simply because first half would be more new to the audience. The first half is actually more thrilling, beautifully romantic and a complete story in its own. Second half starts with a heart broken Pakhi shifted to Dalhousie after the death of her father due to the shock given by his “faithful” tenant Varun / atmanand / nandu. Pakhi is fighting with the memories of her lover more than she is fighting of TB. She somewhere knows that he will come to Dalhousie that is why she continues to live there though the weather is worsening her condition. He comes to Dalhousie and ends up at her cottage guest house. By this time she has almost numbered her days by the leaves of a tree. The last leaf fallen will be her death-bell and you know the rest of the story.

Vikramaditya has again proved himself and gives the cinema a beautifully sweet movie. Sonakshi has given the best performance till date. Her transition from a helplessly in love - girl to a heartbroken, love betrayed and high self-esteemed - Stubborn - women is amazing. She is effortless and demonstrates that she is not here just for the Dabangg series!!!  Ranveer gives a fantastic performance surprisingly. He acts like a much matured actor and I am actually flabbergasted by his work!!! Music by Amit Trivedi is lovely and showcases his signature style or may be the Signature style of Vikramadiya & Amit Duo. “Manmarziyan” specially reminds me of the music of Udaan. Cinematography is outstanding though the production design is average and escaped by choosing the deserted places in both the locations – Manikpur & Dalhousie. Direction, acting and music, working on a nice story create another fine piece. 

In the end I would not forget to mention the names of Anurag Kashyap and Ekta Kappor and thank them to change the face of India Cinema and commercializing “not so commercialized” cinema. Had these not been behind this movie and had this movie been made in 90s or early new millennium, it would be sponsored by Doordarshan and playing on DD1 and DD2 on Sunday evenings or Saturday late nights like all other National Award winning or offbeat or art movies!!! But still Indian Cinema has to go long way, movies like Shorts and Ship of Thesus still not able to reach the audience!!