Lootere - Greed on the High Seas!

Lootere - Politics / Drama /  8 Episodes (43 mins approx) - 

Disney + Hotstar

 

From the creative team of Hansal Mehta, Lootere is a political drama (masquerading as a hostage crisis) set in Somalia . Vikram "Vik" Gandhi (Vivek Gomber, from Sir) is the Port president of Mogadishu, inheriting his father in law's business, married to Avika, with a son. Vik is powerful man, flaunts his power, his family lives a life of privilege and everyone important in Mogadishu knows him.

He is expecting a very "important" shipment arriving on the  UK Kyival, a cargo vessel with a mostly Indian crew led by Rajat Kapoor  . In the middle of his re election campaign,  he discovers that his shipment may be in the radar of the authorities, which may not only scuttle his campaign, but the cargo belongs to the militant group Al Muharib - who he does not want to antagonize.

Vik engages  Bilal,  to get hold of his precious cargo, setting off a chain reaction of events as this tale of politics and double crossing unfurls over 8 episodes. There is a hijacking, a hostage situation, ransom negotiations, loss of the precious cargo, leading to the militant group becoming involved and the port president re elections as well. 

In the middle of all this, there is also an unnecessary sub plot involving Avi looking for their househelp's son (who they have brought up like their own).  The hostage situation becomes international news, so high commissions get involved and more characters are introduced! So, there is quite a bit happening, as a result of which the show's pace is a bit up and down and so unless there is another season planned as a conclusion, it feels like too much for too little joy!

Nevertheless, the show's premise is extremely original. The production is top notch - the pirate colonies , the insides of the vessel, the nativity (much of the cast is african) is extremely well done and feels very authentic. The cinematography is very good, the scenes aboard the vessel are very extremely well shot, the vfx is okayish. 

The Afro score by Achint Thakkar ( famous for his score in Scam 1992, Rocket Boys, Scoop) is  punchy and top notch.  Vivek Gomber is terrific - demonstrating ambition, greed, protectiveness,  vengeance in equal measure. Rajat Kapoor is stoic as the upright captain of the Kyival. The rest of the Indian cast fleets in and out of the scenes and barely registers. The African actors  -  Vik's rival Tawfiq, Hijackers Barkhad, Koombe are outstanding!

I had low expectations - while  is generally well made, could have been so much more! Do not skip the intro ! - the Lootere theme (as well as the brilliant credit sequence) is as good as Scam 1992, pity that the show is not!