Lootere review: An enjoyable pirate adventure set in the Somalian seas

Mehta (Hansal, not Harshad) is now back with his usual partner-in-crime, filmmaker and son Jai Mehta, for another engaging tale of immeasurable appetite for potency. Lootere, the new show in question, has Shaailendra R. Singh serving as the creator, Hansal as the showrunner and Jai Mehta directing all eight episodes and has all the workings of the aforementioned oeuvre. Except that the stakes are raised higher than ever and we are treading international waters this time around. Thematically as well, Lootere seems a notch deeper with Shakespearean motifs of loyalty and usurpation, too, taking centre stage. The series debuts on Disney+ Hotstar on March 22 with the first two episodes. The remaining six episodes are scheduled to be released weekly on Fridays.

The Gist

Vikrant Gandhi (Vivek Gomber) is the troubled king of Somalia, who is losing control of his throne (as the president of the port authority) fast and very prominently. He is cocky and too volatile for his own good and it doesn’t help that all his hooks and crooks to retain power have come under scrutiny; Vikrant or Vik’s consigliere Gupta (Chirag Vohra) even suggests giving up and shifting base, but the man, as already stated, is a tad too proud of himself. He has a loving wife Avika (Amruta Khanvilkar) and a teenage son Aryaman to care for, but Vik is the kind of guy who will continue pledging mindlessly at a poker game instead of calling it a night.

So, when a large container vessel from Ukraine containing something remarkably important and sensitive enters the fray, it also lures in Somalian pirates and a whole lotta mess that’s way, way beyond his (or anyone’s) grasp. There are the lives of the ship’s crew, the deficient social and political condition of Somalia, a Ukrainian shipping company, a radical militant organisation and so much more in focus now and Vik Gandhi is somehow, unwittingly, orchestrating it all. In Lootere, it isn’t just the stakes that have gone up, but also the precarity.

Rajat Kapoor and Vivek Gomber impress

Unfolding essentially as a hyperlink narrative, Lootere toggles between the various story arcs with deftness, using the luxury of screen time to its advantage. Writers Vishal Kapoor and Suparn S Varma (based on Anshuman Sinha’s story) seem well aware of the denseness of the material and they navigate with control, albeit through a highly verbose narrative. What they do well is also utilize the topography of Somalia well with both the aridness of the place and the political/racial tensions, much like in Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond (set in Sierra Leone and other places), accentuating the drama for us.

Vivek Gomber plays Vikrant Gandhi like a feral animal and there are times when one feels that he overdoes his routine, but it is his energy throughout that eventually becomes the fulcrum of the show. In solid contrast is Rajat Kapoor, as the ship’s captain AK Singh, who brings a lot of restraint to the fore and holds the other half of the emotional core together. Kapoor is ably supported by an ensemble cast that includes a host of Indian and South African actors who imbue a feverish life into the story when in one another’s company.

Any Somalian pirate adventure cannot overlook Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips as a reference point and director Jai Mehta and cinematographer Jall Cowasji invoke his trademark sensibilities to great effect; the on-board action sequences are where Lootere particularly shines the brightest. Achint Thakkar once again steps up to the occasion and ensures that he does not ‘manipulate’ us with his score but rather lends the show a lot of spunk and unpredictability.

Feels Heavy-Handed

Although Hansal Mehta isn’t the director here, the filmmaker’s fondness for a speak-out-loud approach is very conspicuous in Lootere. That is to say that the dialogue-baazi, which became both an element of style and an effective ploy to relay information in shows like Scam, is fully on display here. And while it dispenses a few fun moments, it also makes things feel heavy-handed.

Each scene in Lootere follows the pattern of starting with a strong underlying motive which is soon relinquished by some uninventive writing. The overly descriptive lines mouthed by characters don’t really amount to much except that they, more often than not, end up telling us what the deal is all about, instead of allowing the flow of events to speak for itself. As a result, the benefit of an intricate story is foregone and several of the undercurrents that the series tries to tackle — from the local vs the outsider dynamic, a marital conflict to the all-important civil war in the country — do not get the treatment they deserve.

Language, or the spoken word, too, is dealt with in a slightly clumsy way. The Indian diaspora in South and East Africa is known to have its own idiosyncrasies and cultural amalgamations. Yet, the Indian characters in the show do not carry the quintessence of their cross-cultural lives and a majority of them conveniently sound like they belong to New Delhi and not Mogadishu. Sure, the makers of the show wanted language to not come in the way of this high-stakes game but the same concern is apparent in the way the locals speak in the show. The decision behind making the Somalian characters speak English throughout and not Somali is agreeable, but the resulting inauthentic vibe is hard to dismiss.

The Final Word

Lootere is an enjoyable watch that has many bright moments and a gripping storyline. It does not attempt to break ground, mind you, but being aware of its pitch becomes an advantage over time. The writing could have used a lot more agency and certain characters required stronger motivations to do what they do, but the frequent thrills somewhat salvage the show. A less inflated and self-conscious narrative would have certainly helped the show set itself apart from the rest.