Movie Review : Lootcase

Rating : Good (4/5)
Genre : Suspense
Year : 2020
Running time : 2 hours 12 minutes
Director : Rajesh Krishnan
Cast : Ranvir Shorey, Kunal Khemu, Vijay Raaz, Rasika Duggal, Gajraj Rao
Kidwise : PG

Nandan Kumar (Khemu) lives his middleclass life with family – wife Lata (Duggal) and son Ayush in a Mumbai chawl. When one day he comes across a suitcase full of cash, he takes it and secretly hides it in the home of a neighbor who’s out of town, and doesn’t even let on about this secret to his wife.

The suitcase contains bribe money. It also contains a paper file with hard evidence of corruption against a politician MLA Patil (Gajraj Rao). Thus efforts are being made to retrieve both, and when Inspector Kolte (Shorey) is roped in to investigate, he is quickly on the trail. Will Nandan be able to keep his ill-gotten wealth?

Lootcase is a lively comedy of errors. It’s got a quirky set of characters. There’s Nandan who while being an ordinary working class citiizen finds the time and passion to sing ditties to his new-found love – the suitcase full of cash, and simply revels in the feel of so much money. There is wily politician Patil who will stop at nothing to regain the money and the file. And then there is National Geographic-loving gangster Bala Rathore who implores his gun-toting men to learn about the wonders of wildlife.

The film is nicely done from the setup to the comic timing. This genre of film – common-man hero beset upon by a great number of bumbling goons – is rather rare now. You have to get it just right, develop just enough relationships between friendly and conflicting parties to keep things interesting, introduce the right amount of confusion, and sprinkle humor. Director Krishnan does all this well – he has two rival gangs baying for each other’s blood, he’s got a wily politician in the mix and he’s got a policeman who’s tired of serving his political masters. And he has a hero who’s being targeted by them all!

The acting is immaculate. Khemu doesn’t get too many roles to display his acting prowess – I last remember him from the zany Go Goa Gone. As Nandan he plays his character with verve and charm. Some scenes he hammed through – and I’d expected better. Still he brings alive Nandan’s character – we root for Nandan and his dreams of a better life, and we shake our heads at him when he does something idiotic. Rasika Duggal is getting more roles – you might remember her from Delhi Crime, Mirzapur (second season coming soon!) and the lovely short Chutney. She deserves every one of them with her great talent. Ranvir Shourey, Vijay Raaz and Gajraj Rao are spot-on and funny, and make this edgy humorous movie what it is.

Highly recommended.

Kidwise: Clean. Some violence, gun-slinging.