We
watched the new movie in town ‘Lootera’ starring Sonakshi Sinha and Ranbeer
Singh. We watched it a few days after its release and by that time we had
already heard opinion of a few friends. By and large the only criticism was
that the movie was slow, though some also said Ranbeer was not as good as
Sonakshi. While watching the movie I realized that it is natural for period
cinema to demand a slower pace than masala movies which are what we get in the
name of movies these days. And we too observed that Sonakshi had played her
part so well that she could leave any other actress of these times miles behind
her… Ranbeer was charming and good too; it was only that Sonakshi took the
limelight with her acting.
The movie is based on an old short story ‘The
Last Leaf’ by O. Henry published in 1907. The movie is a classic love story and
is set in the 1950s. The look and feel of the old days is captured very well. I
am proud that our own movie makers can capture it so well; like so many classic
Hollywood movies. Till the time you are in the theatre, you are taken on a
journey of golden old times and it is indeed a wonderful story… The life and
twist of fate for old Jamindars has also been shown fairly. After land-reforms,
they did not lose only money but a lot! The toll on their self-respect, human
psyche and socioeconomic life was grave and wrenching. I am not sure if any
author or researcher tried to find that out on deeper levels. Perhaps it is not
popular and cool to think of human tragedy when the victims are the rich lot
from the past. But this movie does throw a fair light at the historical
situation.
The
movie shows the love between a daughter and a father so well. Sonakshi playing as
Pakhi (btw, I think they should have chosen some new name; this ‘Pakhi’ is too
filmy a name) loves and shares a very deep bond with her father who is equally
concerned about her. He tells her stories (one story where king’s life is
contained in a parrot is too touching) at her bedside, and nurses her when she
is unwell (suffering from asthma). Given their respective age, she should be
serving her old father but perhaps father was playing the role of her mother
too and hence his love towards her also had maternal warmth… Apart from this,
the friendships, be it between Pakhi and her female friend, or between Ranveer
(playing as Varun Srivastav) and his friend Devdas are developed very well. In
fact all characters in the movie are explored and developed so well. Even Pakhi’s
maid servant (played by Divya Dutta) is shown feeling sorry for Pakhi and viewers
can feel her emotions! Each character is alive and full of life and sentiments;
be it Varun’s thief-friend or his thug uncle, all stand out and remain in the
memory of the viewers… It is easy in books to achieve such an effect but I
think this difficult task has been done in the movie very well…
Now
coming to the love story; I think it is a heart touching story which moves us
immensely. Viewers feel a hatred towards Varun when he lefts Pakhi and goes
away; they feel immense pain for Pakhi when she suffers; they get angry when
Varun returns and a love-hate episode runs between them; and in the end they
feel sorry for him when he goes through so much pain and suffering… As it is
said, there are no black and white characters in the movie but they tread in the
grey areas enriching us with an experience that won’t be achievement in a world
full of judgments… At many stages of the movie, particularly in the last hours,
I felt like crying and it felt heart would break with so much pain and
suffering which Pakhi and Varun were going through…
To
a large extent Pakhi and Varun were victims of fate even though it may not
appear clearly. Varun knew that his uncle won’t allow him to marry her, so he
planned to go away to some unknown place with her to lead their beautiful life
together. But just one day before the wedding, Devdas returned with their uncle
appearing as Mr. Vajpayee and everything goes wrong. By the time he returns in
the end, Pakhi was ill beyond cure and it was too late. Otherwise he could
still say sorry (after knowing that uncle was already arrested; he could plan a
new life). Also it seems Pakhi was unconsciously waiting for him, or perhaps
she did not want to live; that she continued in a hill station even after knowing
that the cold was not good for her health. In the old days a lot of disease
were fatal, for which now there are cures. In a way Varun getting killed saved
him from a lot of misery in store, because it would be too difficult for him to
lead life when Pakhi won’t be there…
Those
who called the movie slow judged it from the modern masala-movies as frame of
reference… I liked Ranbeer though in many scenes Sonakshi leaves him behind in
acting prowess, and perhaps the producers chose him because he could be molded
into what they would like to, while the super stars would like to carry the
burden of their oft-repeated charisma… I watched a TV interview of director Vikramaditya
Motwane along with Sonakshi and Ranbeer and I think he is great.
Also,
the first part of the movie was full of fun and hilarious moments while the second
went at deeper aspects and tragedies. The episode in the end with ‘the last
leaf’ was soul touching…
Lootera
is a heart touching love story woven in a period film of the rare kind now in
the age of masala movies. You should not miss this experience and do watch it,
if not already. I wish more such movies are made in India.
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