‘Looop Lapeta’, directed by Aakash Bhatia is a movie based on a time loop in which the main leads of the film are stuck. Tahir Raj Bhasin as Satya and Taapsee Pannu as Savi might as well have run right into our hearts with this one. This film is an Indian Adaptation of the German film, ‘Run Lola Run’ and it has tried to create its own mark. The conventional way of a romantic film is when the guy falls in love with a girl, proposes to her and they get married, making a decent happy ending. To come up with a film like this, with confusion throughout its course but an underlying message all along was a great idea.
The movie begins with a narration by Savi in a washroom, over the flush tank, snorting something. Her narrations, by the way, seem to be completely candid throughout the movie as if she is talking with no set script in mind, just like in real life. She has been a runner all her life and she has to accept the fact that she cannot pursue it as a profession anymore due to an accident that occured on field. This story is depicted in an animated form and the audiences can see the disappointment in her eyes as she looks at her father from the field.
The meet-cute of Savi and Satya is quite weird actually, on the 10th floor of a hospital. The pep-talk that Satya gives Savi is so casual but if thought deeper, it does make sense. That is the moment I realized that although the character of Satya looks extremely dumb, he is actually pretty wise (after a lot of push from the universe, lol). The love story between Satya and Savi is that of two lovers who consider themselves as complete failures but still believe in the luck of lotteries, hoping that they crack one someday.
Life takes a turn when Satya’s dream of a lottery comes true in a very twisted loop, which is also the initiation of what seems like a never-ending time loop. Satya is given a simple assignment of delivering 50 lakhs by the time the turkey gets cooked in the oven by Victor. Because Satya has always been a gambler, he has other plans with the money which is how it all began. Savi is the savior of this movie, quite literally, as she has to save Satya as well as the audiences from the looop of time.
The character of Savi is like that of a dejected sportsperson, with no aim and direction left in life. In the fist loop, she runs but she has a lot to figure out. She keeps running aimlessly and is very upset at herself for messing it up when given a second try as well. All it takes is a few minutes of introspection to actually understand the problem here. There is a transition in Savi from running aimlessly in the beginning to running with a set plan and confidence in herself at the end. She also saves the love of Julia (Shreya Dhanwanthary) and Jacob (Sameer Kevin), the bro-driver, while running.
Satya, played by Tahir Raj Bhasin is one of a kind. He has 3 distinct smiles, all of them recognized very well by Savi. I liked how simple he is in his life and how immensely he loves Savi. With this new role, Bhasin has once again proved to be versatile in nature. His panic throughout the movie kept the audiences on the edge of their seats with a faith in him of messing things up. His screen time was a dose of laughter for the audiences.
The supporting roles of Victor (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), Savi’s dad(KC Shankar), the jewelry shop owner(Rajendra Chawla), and his two sons have only made the movie a fun watch. The underlying message of this film was to have a little faith in oneself and take the chances that life is throwing, instead of always playing it safe. There might be a possibility that things turn out to be greater than what any of us could have planned.
‘Looop Lapeta’ is now on Netflix and is a good watch for the weekend.
