Looop Lapeta (2022) Review!!!

Synopsis – When her boyfriend loses a mobster’s cash, Savi races against the clock to save the day if only she can break out of a curious cycle of dead ends.

My Take – By bridging into various genres, for decades now American and European filmmakers continue to use time loop frequently as a fun plot device to further highlight their stories, unfortunately, which has not been the case with Indian cinema, which sadly has only just started opening up to experimental cinema on a larger scale.

But with the recently released Tamil-language time loop thriller, Maanaadu, written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, proving to be a massive critical and commercial success, the doors have widely opened.

In this latest Netflix release, director Aakash Bhatia and his co-writers Dr. Vinay Chhawal, Ketan Pedgaonkar and Arnav Vepa Nanduri, officially adapt writer-director Tom Tykwer‘s acclaimed German thriller, Run Lola Run (1998), for the Hindi audience with Taapsee Pannu stepping into the shoes of Franka Potente.

Yes, the idea of adapting the cult classic into a Hindi film seemed audacious right from start, but, armed with splashes of color, tinted visuals, skewed angles and frequent split screens, director Aakash Bhatia’s Goa set reworking successfully does just enough to stand out on its own. Balanced well with style and quirkiness, the remake is a hysterical ride with a time ticking premise, albeit with a little more time, that gives you the impression of being on an insane roller coaster.

True to the original’s execution, the Hindi adaptation too manages to create its own engaging mad world and identity, that triumphs especially due to its leads, inventive subplots, great supporting performances, and 131 minutes of manic energy.

The story follows Savina “Savi” Borkar (Taapsee Pannu), a former sprinter who after injuring her knee, quit sports, ended ties with her father (KC Shankar), and moved in with Satyajeet aka Satya (Tahir Raj Bhasin), a slacker with a gambling addiction in Goa. However, now she finds herself at a crossroad, on one hand she has just discovered that she is pregnant without wanting to be.

On the other she has just received a desperate call from Satya, informing her that he has lost a bag of money belonging to his boss Victor (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), a wicked restaurant owner who is also involved illegal activities, giving Savi only 80 minutes to figure out a way to get her irresponsible boyfriend out of this mess. But what Savi doesn’t expect is to find repeat opportunities in her literal race against time.

Along the way Satya stumbles into bumbling brothers Appu (Manik Papneja) and Gappu (Raghav Raj Kakker) who are trying to rob the same jewelry store that he plans to steal from, while Savi find herself between the love story of a taxi driver Jacob (Sameer Kevin Roy), whose girlfriend, Julia (Shreya Dhanwanthary), is getting married to a call center manager.

The three scenarios play out one after another with different outcomes but the vicissitudes of fate and the choices and decisions that Savi and Satya only aggravate matters, resulting in chaos and hilarious entertainment.

Here, director Aakash Bhatia and his co-writers take the lean, mean 80 minutes of Run Lola Run and adds their magic and replenishes it in an even more palatable and relatable manner, along with enough traction in its many narrative tangents to justify the alterations especially for the Hindi speaking audience. It is refreshing to see how the film isn’t just a reproduce with just different actors and locations.

The film takes an already celebrated script, makes tweaks and replenishes it in an even more palatable and relatable manner. There are a lot of things happening in the world designed by director Aakash Bhatia, the color palette, the camerawork, the saturated neon work, the background score, the clothes the characters wear, even their hair, all work in tandem to give you a highly stylized film-watching experience and just enough oomph to justify its existence.

The biggest win comes in the form of Indianization of the loop. While most English films leave out the explanations of the occurrence, here, the film ties into a familiar tale of loyalty and devotion in Hindu mythology, cleverly turning it on its head, and fashioning it into one of the film’s overriding themes.

Sure, the film at times falls a little short with its writing and runs longer that it needs to. Yet, that being said and done, this experimental time loop film is a great starting point for Bollywood. It is a different concept, and does a good job at introducing Hindi-language viewers to the idea.

Performance wise, Taapsee Pannu continues to prove why she is one of the most exciting and prolific actors working today. Here, she plunges headlong into the funky whirligig and delivers a performance that holds the film together. Tahir Raj Bhasin, who recently proved his unerring mettle of acting skills in the Netflix series, Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein, never fails to hit the right notes. He underplays Satya big time without crossing the lines to be a caricature.

In other roles, Shreya Dhanwantry kills it with her 5-minute monologue, while Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajendra Chawla, KC Shankar, Bhupesh Bandekar and Sameer Kevin Roy deliver worthy performances. However, Manik Papneja and Raghav Raj Kakker are the highlights of the film and offer some of the most enjoyable scenes. On the whole, ‘Looop Lapeta’ is a wild, visually appealing, wacky and wickedly witty remake with just enough pizzazz to justify its existence.