Bollywood doesn’t experiment much, going back and forth between the boy-meets-girl love story till it bores viewers. Which is why, the unconventional Netflix release, Looop Lapeta was a much anticipated movie. An adaptation of Tom Tykwer’s groundbreaking 1998 German film, Run Lola Run, Looop Lapeta does not plagiarise the original, instead, tries to add a bit of its own to every scene.
Starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin in lead roles, the Aakash Bhatia film is a visual treat, especially for those who haven’t seen the classic.
The movie is about an ex-athlete trying to save her boyfriend’s life after he looses the money of a gangster, while being stuck in a time loop. And that’s where the strength of the film lies – in its visuals. The time loops, the popping colour scheme (courtesy of Run Lola Run) and the editing are a sight for sore eyes. Set in Goa, the movie embraces the culture of the city and its flamboyance radiates through the screen. In addition, the brilliant animated sequence at the beginning of the film deserves a special shoutout because it really reels you in.
The film has strong performances by Taapsee and Tahir, but that isn’t all. Every single character in the film does a great job at playing their parts. From the money-before-anything-else jeweller Mamlesh Charan Chaddha played by Rajendra Chawla to his sons, Appu and Gappu, played by Manik Papneja and Raghav Raj Kakker, they have you hooked. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Victor, sensually massaging a Turkey is definitely one of the highlights of the film and so is Julia and Jacob’s love story, played by Shreya Dhanwanthary and Sameer Kevin Roy. The film also doesn’t make a big deal of Taapsee aka Savina’s father’s sexuality as you find out that he has a male partner, and it does deserve some credit for that.
But no matter what it does, the film falls short with its writing. The dialogues don’t stay with you and the film runs longer that it needs to. That being said and done, this experimental time loop film is a great starting point for Bollywood. It is a different concept, that many have failed at before, and does a good job at introducing Hindi-language viewers to the idea.
If you’re curious about exploring the genre further, do catch the Tamil-language film, Maanaadu that captures the concept of a sci-fi time loop quite well.