The opening scene of Looop Lapeta, on Netflix, may trick you into believing that the movie is trying to mimic another Netflix comedy-drama Russian Doll – Taapsee Pannu’s character Savi standing in a green-tiled washroom. But the similarity ends there. An adaptation of the 1998 German film Run Lola Run, Looop Lapeta catches you by the collar from the get-go until around 52 minutes into the film, after which it feels like a poor WiFi connection between the film and its audience and with more misses than hits.
At one point, Tahir Raj Bhasin’s character Satya says, “Life badal jaati hai Savi, all it takes is a day (Life changes, Savi. All it takes is a day)” — one life-altering day, that’s what the film is about. Much like the three Os in the title, there are three versions of how Savi helps her boyfriend from getting killed by his gangster boss. Unlike Netflix’s interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, where one could choose different outcomes, director Aakash Bhatia walks you through the three versions of the story, which like the butterfly effect, result in different outcomes as the characters make different choices.
Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer, was an experimental thriller flirting with one of the most enticing aspects of cinema — fiddle with time. Bhatia attempts to do just the same, in a Hindi film industry where this cinematic trope has barely been executed successfully. But Bhatia receives mild successes here and there. He often pulls through but with a monologue in the middle of nowhere, giving too much context. Few other aspects of the film’s pace hold it back from hitting the mark. In hindsight, perhaps, the film should have ended after its tightly stitched 52-minute run, as opposed to two hours and eleven minutes one has to sit through.
Also read: Rocket Boys charts India’s ‘tryst with destiny’ — one that Bhabha and Sarabhai took forward
Camera work and direction save the day
Looop Lapeta is Aakash Bhatia’s directorial debut in Bollywood, but the film (mostly) does not give that away. “I sharpened my knives by making commercials,” Bhatia had told The Indian Express in an interview during the film’s promotions. And that shows, as he comes across as a master stylist, using saturated colours, using different angles, making the film thoroughly watchable. Especially the first half that is peppered with a generous dose of humour and choreographed to (almost) perfection.
Besides creating ad films for Puma, Budweiser, Uber, Amazon among others, Bhatia also directed the second season of Emmy nominated web series Inside Edge, on Amazon Prime.
The visual language of Looop Lapeta, set in Goa, is every bit engaging. Production designers Pradeep Paul Francis and Diya Mukerjea, along with DOP Yash Khanna, make up for all the places where the story or the pace falters.
Even the actors in Bhatia’s film shine through each frame, especially Tahir Raj Bhasin, who recently featured in a kitschy pulp fiction Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein on Netflix. In an interview with film critic Anupama Chopra, Bhasin had said, “It’s now the time of the hybrid star,” and rightly so, his performance is every bit commendable, much like some of his previous projects like Mardaani (2014) and Chhichhore (2019).
Pannu’s performance is as pleasant to watch as it often is, however, in some parts, it seems like an extension to her previous release Rashmi Rocket (2021), where she also played an athlete.
Some of the best scenes of the film owe credit to the supporting cast, such as Satya’s boss Victor, played by Dibyendu Bhattacharya, and the two bumbling brothers at a jewellery store (throwback to Ramesh, Suresh of Cadbury 5 Star commercials).
All in all, Looop Lapeta is fun to watch, if stripped off any comparisons with the original film and if only, it was cut short to an hour.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)