Lootera is based on The Last Leaf, a short story by O Henry. Set in West Bengal of the early 1950s, the movie revolves around a conman (Ranveer Singh), the zamindar he has planned to rob as he pretends to be an archaeologist and his beautiful daughter (Sonakshi Sinha) who he falls in love with.The love story is decent. The cinematography, the sets, the costumes are brilliant. The lead actors deliver their best yet (while not being as good as the story demanded, considering the length of the movie and the scenes). Barun Chandra (the zamindar) delivers the best performance on this screen and Vikrant Massey (the conman’s best friend) makes sure we remember him after the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie fails the Bechdel Test. While it gives the two guys (the conman and his friend) enough of a bromance, it does not give the heroine and her friend (Shirin Guha) or in the second half, the heroine and her househelp (Divya Dutta) any space for at least one scene where they are not talking about the men.
July 16, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Hmmm… what does talking entail? To be fair, there is one tiny scene where Divya Dutta tells Sonakshi Sinha that the food is ready and Sonakshi tells her to leave. Is the Bechdel test specific about how many sentences or how long a conversation?
February 12, 2014 at 8:28 am
Although it fails the test, I thought Lootera was a woman’s story rather than man’s story. The way the film was shot and the way the narrative goes, it tells the tale of a young girl Pakhi, how she falls in love at first sight, longs for male attention and companion, how she meets betrayal and heartbreak. As the movie moves into the second half its again about Pakhi’s life.
But that doesn’t mean Bechdel test is not relevant. Bechdel test is relevant because it adds substance and depth to the story and characters. Which was lacking in Lootera. There could have been some meaningful scenes between Pakhi and her friend.