''Lootcase'' is a 2020 Indian
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...
directed by
Rajesh Krishnan
Rajesh Krishnan is an Indian playback singer and film actor. Although he is known for his works in Kannada films, he has sung in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and other languages Making his mainstream debut in the film '' Gauri Ganesha'' (1 ...
, of ''
TVF Tripling'' fame. The film is produced and bankrolled by
Fox Star Studios
Star Studios (formerly known as Fox Star Studios) is an Indian motion picture production and distribution company. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney Star, part of the Disney International Operations segment of The Walt Disney Company. T ...
. It features
Kunal Kemmu and
Rasika Dugal
Rasika Dugal (born 17 January 1985) is an Indian actress. She is known for her roles in several Indian movies and television shows.
She made her screen debut with a small role, in the film ''Anwar'' (2007). And then she went onto star in many ...
in lead roles, and
Vijay Raaz
Vijay Raaz (born 5 June 1963) is an Indian actor, film director and narrator, who predominantly appears in Hindi films. He debuted with ''Bhopal Express'' (1999) and since worked in more than 90 films. His breakthrough came when he played the ...
,
Ranvir Shorey and
Gajraj Rao
Gajraj Rao is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi films. He is widely known for his performance in the comedy drama film '' Badhaai Ho'' for which he also won a Filmfare Award.
He debuted in 1994 with a minor role in Shekhar Kap ...
in supporting roles. The film revolves around a red coloured suitcase (Joy Bagman/ Anand Petikar). It was scheduled for theatrical release on 10 April 2020, but the release was postponed due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
.
It was released on 31 July 2020 on
Disney+ Hotstar
Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...
.
Upon release on
Disney+Hotstar
Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...
, it received generally positive reviews from critics. The story, direction, performances of the cast (especially Khemu), cinematography, editing, and dark humor were praised.
Plot
Nandan Kumar, a middle-class man who repairs machines at a printing press, doesn't believe in destiny and lives in a
chawl
A chawl is a type of residential building found in western India, similar to a tenement. Typically low quality housing, chawls are generally associated with poverty. The first chawls were constructed in the early 1700s, as housing for industr ...
with his taunting wife Lata and son Ayush. Nandan's family struggles to reconcile their dreams and aspirations with their financial reality.
MLA Patil attempts to transfer Rs. 100 million and a file containing evidence of widespread embezzlement to another minister. He blackmails local gangster Omar to carry out this task; his men put the money in a red suitcase. While transporting the money, Omar's men are ambushed by the goons of rival gangster Bala Rathore. Patil's men hide the suitcase during the shootout, hoping to retrieve it later. However, Nandan comes across it by chance, and finding it full of money, decides to take it home and hides it in his neighbor's home as his neighbour (an old man) has gone to his village and gave the keys to Nandan
while going. When Bala and Patil realize that the suitcase (and the file) is missing, they send their respective men to find it at any cost. Patil additionally blackmails policeman Kolte and recruits him to retrieve the suitcase.
Kolte and his informant Faizu gather information about the shootout but find that nearby CCTV cameras are not operational. Meanwhile, Nandan spends some money on his family but doesn't reveal the money's source to Lata. Bala's men spot Faizu, and start tracking Kolte. Nandan removes some of the money from the suitcase, divides it into several packets, and hides them around the house, keeping one packet in his office drawer. One CCTV camera becomes operational, allowing Kolte to see Nandan leaving the scene in an auto-rickshaw. Meanwhile, Nandan has his hands full in attempting to keep his money hidden from his neighbors and Lata. In an effort to spend his cash, he attempts to buy a luxurious apartment only to find that they do not accept cash payments.
Kolte finds the auto-rickshaw driver from the CCTV footage, and is able to identify Nandan (the driver had spotted Nandan's debit card with his name and bank information). Nandan goes to his bank to inquire about a cash-counting machine, but the cashiers laugh him off. Paranoid, he makes a scene and leaves. When Kolte is investigating at the same bank, the cashiers tell him about Nandan's suspicious behavior and provide him Nandan's address. Kolte arrives at his home just as Lata finds the hidden suitcase in the kitchen. Kolte holds the family at gunpoint and demands the money back and Nandan complies. Kolte finds out about the packet in the office, and takes Nandan to retrieve it. Bala's men report this to their boss, and Bala and Patil join hands to kill Kolte and recover the money.
When Kolte and Nandan arrive at the office, Kolte sends Nandan inside to get the money. As soon as Nandan leaves, Kolte is ambushed by Bala's men. He manages to escape and finds Patil's file; realising its importance, he decides to blackmail Patil. Meanwhile Nandan is held up by his drunk boss as he attempts to get the packet. Kolte instructs him to come to a secret warehouse. Nandan manages to get there but Bala and Omar ambush the warehouse with their respective men. In the resulting shootout, Nandan is the only survivor. Not learning his lesson about greed, he decides to take the money at the warehouse, but leaves the file. When the contents of the file are leaked, Patil's political career is doomed. He retires to his village and takes up farming, but is quickly tracked down and murdered by Omar's men.
Cast
*
Kunal Khemu
Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema.
Early life and background
Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri ...
as Nandan Kumar, Lata's husband
*
Rasika Dugal
Rasika Dugal (born 17 January 1985) is an Indian actress. She is known for her roles in several Indian movies and television shows.
She made her screen debut with a small role, in the film ''Anwar'' (2007). And then she went onto star in many ...
as Lata Kumar, Nandan's wife
*
Vijay Raaz
Vijay Raaz (born 5 June 1963) is an Indian actor, film director and narrator, who predominantly appears in Hindi films. He debuted with ''Bhopal Express'' (1999) and since worked in more than 90 films. His breakthrough came when he played the ...
as Gangster Bala Rathod
*
Ranvir Shorey as Inspector Madhav Kolte, a corrupt officer in the
Mumbai Police
The Mumbai Police (Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibiliti ...
Crime Branch
*
Gajraj Rao
Gajraj Rao is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi films. He is widely known for his performance in the comedy drama film '' Badhaai Ho'' for which he also won a Filmfare Award.
He debuted in 1994 with a minor role in Shekhar Kap ...
as MLA Suyash Patil
*
Aryan Prajapati
Aryan Prajapati (born 12 February 2008) is an Indian child actor. He has had roles in television serials and Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumb ...
as Ayush Kumar, Nandan and Lata's son
*
Shashi Ranjan as Abdul
*
Sumit Nijhawan
Sumit Nijhawan (born 28 December 1978) is an Indian actor residing in Mumbai, India. Nijhawan has appeared in films such as ''Contract'', '' Sarkar Raj'' and '' Phas Gaye Re Obama''. He also played Sarfaraz, a prominent character in the movie '' ...
as Omar Siddiqui
* Nilesh Diwekar as Rajan Singh, Bala's henchman
*
Aakash Dabhade
Aakash Dabhade (born March 8, 1985 in Nagpur, Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of th ...
as Graduate, Bala's henchman
* Atul Todankar as Subhash Raman, Patil's personal assistant
* Vijay Nikam as Vasant Seth, newspaper press owner
Production
The filming started in the mid July 2019.
Release
The first look poster was released on 16 September 2019.
The film was scheduled to be released on 10 April 2020 but was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[ On 29 June 2020, ]Disney+ Hotstar
Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...
conducted virtual press conference where Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cla ...
announced that the film will release on Disney+ Hotstar exclusively as part of Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex initiative. It was released on 31 July 2020.
Soundtrack
The music for the film was composed by Rohan-Vinayak and Amar Mangrulkar, while the lyrics written by Shreyas Jain and Kapil Sawant.
Accolades
Notes
References
External links
*
* {{Bollywood Hungama movie, lootcase
2020s Hindi-language films
Indian comedy thriller films
Fox Star Studios films
Disney+ Hotstar original films
2020 comedy films
2020s comedy thriller films
2020 thriller films