Lootera

Story:

The second half of the 2013 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film Lootera  translated as  is based on the 1907 short tale “The Last Leaf” by author O. Henry. The film was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. It is Motwane’s second film as director, following the highly regarded Udaan (2010).

It centers on a young scammer who poses as an archaeologist and the daughter of a Bengali zamindar, and is set in the 1950s against the backdrop of the Zamindari Abolition Act by the newly formed India. Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh play the main parts in the movie. Amit Trivedi composed the music and background score for the movie, which was produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, and Vikas Bahl. Amitabh Bhattacharya wrote the lyrics, and Mahendra J. Shetty handled the cinematography.

When Lootera was first released, movie was well welcomed by critics, who praised Sinha and Singh’s performances in particular, making it a breakthrough for the latter. In a subsequent interview, Motwane stated that “nobody lost money on that film,” despite the fact that many people perceive the movie as a commercial failure. Simply said, there were hopes for a Rs 30 crore weekend because it was Sonakshi Sinha’s or Ranveer Singh’s next movie, but that didn’t materialize.”

At the 59th Filmfare Awards, Lootera won Best Female Playback Singer (Monali Thakur for “Sawaar Loon”) and was nominated for four awards, including Best Actress (Sinha). In 1953, Soumitra Roy Chaudhary, a landlord in the charming West Bengal town of Manikpur, takes his daughter, Soudhamini Pakhi Roy Choudhary, who is a budding writer, to see a jatra. Pakhi is hurried to her room and given medicine after having an asthma attack due to the subsequent commotion. Her father reassures her as she recovers by telling her that she is the parrot that contains his life and recounting the tale of the Bhil tribe’s unbeatable monarch whose soul lived inside one. After threatening to let her drive the family car, Pakhi once unintentionally collides with a motorbike on the road, slightly hurting the young man riding it.

The same man arrives at their mansion a few days later and introduces himself to the landlord as Varun Srivastava, an archaeologist who wishes to investigate the land that the landlord owns around the temple. Varun wins the landlord and his daughter over with his expertise and demeanor over the course of the following few weeks, and he and his buddy and helper, Devdas Mukherjee, also called Dev, are invited to move into their large home.

Varun and Pakhi soon fall in love as they become close via their shared passion for books and the arts. Varun says he wants to paint a masterpiece, while Pakhi admits she wants to be an author. Before long, their love turns into a passionate affair. Tension exists in the Roy Choudhary home as a result of an Indian government act that restricts landlords’ authority. Varun assists in organizing the procurement of the family’s antique relics, which must be sold. Varun begs Roy Choudhury for his daughter’s hand in marriage as his visit draws to a close, and the wedding preparations start.

Varun’s uncle, A. K. Bajpai, who reared him, shows up before the wedding and dissuades Varun from getting married. He claims that Varun would only bring Pakhi distress due to the risk of his actual line of work and that individuals like them are not meant to fall in love and lead regular lives. Varun agrees and takes his decision despite his conflict. That same evening, he and Dev make their getaway with all they took from the landlord. Everyone is horrified to learn that the idols from the temple have been stolen and that the banknotes from the purchase Varun organized of the family’s antiques are all counterfeit when Varun disappears on the day of the wedding.

One year has passed since the wedding incident in the second half of the movie. In Dalhousie, an ailing Pakhi now lives alone with her maid, Shyama. She has yet to fully heal from her loss, and her father passed away due to his inability to handle the shock of Varun’s betrayal. Pakhi declines to assist Inspector K. N. Singh in capturing Varun, preferring to simply forget him. Shortly after, Varun and Dev arrive at Dalhousie for their subsequent theft and take up residence in a lodge on Pakhi’s land. After the cops discover their whereabouts, things quickly take a sharp turn, and a chase follows.

Varun is hurt during the encounter and unintentionally shoots Dev and a constable to death. After taking out the bullet, he heads to Pakhi’s house to take cover. He threatens Pakhi and Shyama as they try to turn him over to the authorities. Pakhi concedes, but she is still furious and rejects Varun’s consoling words and justification. She tells him in a letter that she has tuberculosis and will pass away the day the last leaf on the withering tree outside the window falls. Shyama promises Varun that he won’t be reported to the police as he leaves the house.

Varun makes arrangements to flee, but when his accomplice shows there, he remains behind to tend to Pakhi’s illness. He tells her that his true name is Atmanand Tripathi and that ever since he fled, he has felt bad about leaving her. Pakhi quickly comes to like him, and she continues to have faith in him every day when she discovers a single leaf left on the tree. Varun ultimately determines that it is time for Pakhi to leave after observing that his condition is improving. He departs, only to confront a police blockage on the road, who then shoots him to death in an encounter killing.

Pakhi awakens to discover that Varun has vanished, but the tree still has a leaf on it. When she learns that Varun has attached the leaf to the tree, she starts to get suspicious. He would hang it to a tree branch every night to keep her from losing hope for survival. It was Varun’s masterpiece. After thoroughly examining the leaf and noticing that it has been painted upon, Pakhi realizes the truth and smiles with tears in her eyes, knowing that she will survive.