Lootere () is an Indian Hindi-language action drama television series on Disney+ Hotstar created by Hansal Mehta and Shailesh R. Singh. The series is directed by Jai Mehta in his independent directorial debut and stars Vivek Gomber, Rajat Kapoor, Amruta Khanvilkar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Martial Batchamen, Aamir Ali, Athenkosi Magamela, Chris Gxalaba and Preetika Chawla. The series tells the gripping narrative of a Ukrainian trading vessel being attacked on international waters by Somali pirates, followed by the chaos of a hostage crisis as the ship's captain, along with an Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi crew, the Somali commander, and a scheming businessman, fight for control. The series is inspired by true incidents that occurred in the past when an Indian ship was similarly hijacked in Somalian waters by pirates.
The series was officially announced in September 2022. The principal photography took place in Cape Town and Khayelitsha in South Africa, thus becoming the first Indian series to be filmed on the African continent.
Lootere premiered its first two episodes on 22 March 2024 on Disney+ Hotstar. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences, with particular praise for its performances, storyline and cinematography.
Synopsis The show begins with Vikrant Gandhi, who is worried about a shipment of guns arriving in Mogadishu, Somalia, on the UK Kyival. These guns are meant for a fictional militant group called Al Muharib. Vikrant, an Indian immigrant to Somalia and now the president of the port authority, is married to Avika, who was born and brought up in Somalia, where her wealth and even the color of her skin set her up for a life of privilege. Vikrant faces pressure to win the upcoming election to continue smuggling goods like these guns in and out of Somalia. Things start to go awry when a former ally, Tawfiq, decides to run for port presidency as well. Vikrant can no longer get the guns into Mogadishu port without fear of inspection. A series of events leads to the ship getting re-routed to a historical town, Harardhere, in Somalia, where pirates hijack the ship and kill one of the crew members. The transfer of power from Vikrant to Tawfiq is one of the bigger power plays in the series. There is also the power struggle between pirate leader Barkhad and his younger brother, who is so keen to take the reins that he kills his brother and shoots one of the crew members dead just because he starts to empathize with her and sees that as a sign of weakness in himself. Most of the crew, pirates, the shipowner's son's date in Ukraine, a member of Vikrant's family, and several of his household staff are dead by the time the credits roll for the last time.
Cast
Vivek Gomber as Vikrant Gandhi Rajat Kapoor as Captain A.K. Singh Amruta Khanvilkar as Avika Gandhi Martial Batchamen Tchana as Karim Barkhad Athenkosi Mfamela as Koombe Gaurav Sharma as Bilaal Chirag Vohra as Gupta Abhishekh Khan as Mudit Jain Chandan Roy Sanyal as Ajay Kotwal Nareshh Mallik as Gulrez Singh Bonga Tshabalala Chris Gxalaba as Taufiq Harry Parmar as Zafar Preetika Chawla as Ayesha Gaurav Paswala as Ruhaan Varin Roopani as Aaryaman Gandhi Deepak Tijori Aamir Ali as Ghulam Waris Anant Mahadevan as Ambassador Avanish Pandey as Rounal Pradhan Tuks Tad Lungu as Roadblock Soldier Pankaj Raina as Raman Kotwal Vijay Sasi Kumar as Krishnan Armaan Haggio as Tahil Avinash Pandey as Ronak Pradhan Geetanjali Gill as Satwinder Khemchand Verma as Pankaj Sinha Krishnendu Chakraborty as Lalit Kalra Mayank Garg as Raman Rao Pawan Singh as Bhavesh Mehta Sonam Stobgais as Sonam Stanzin Siyabonga Stobgais as Ismael Maurice Carpede as Salmaan Tafara Nyatsanza as Qassim Malibongwe Mdwaba as Salaah Aviwe Tucci as Pirate 1 Aaron Nduwayo as Pirate 2 Ellie Flory Fawcett as UK-MTO Operator Jai Kinara as UK-MTO Team Leader Tebogo Makhopane as Ahmer Mamello Makhetha as Jamilah Lesley Maasdorp as Faldi Lilia Kosovska as Samantha Jay Upadhyay as Desai Deon Nebulane as Bashir Anele Matoti as General Walid Thulisa Mayalo as Naz
Episodes
Production
Development Vishal Kapoor and Suparn Varma collaborated on the screenplay in 2019, which was inspired by a story from Anshuman Sinha. During the writing process, the authors watched numerous documentary films for inspiration. When they presented their screenplay to Mehta, he wasn't aware of piracy in depth. To enlighten him, the writers showed an Oscar-winning short film created by a Somali filmmaker. During the scripting process, Varma initially preferred Vasan Bala as the director. However, by the time the script was completed, Bala was occupied with another project, Monica, O My Darling. Subsequently, the creator, Shailesh R. Singh, approached Mehta for the directorial role. However, Mehta was also busy with his web series, Scoop. Eventually, the opportunity fell into the hands of Jai in 2021.
The series marked Jai Mehta's first independent directorial venture, previously he had co-director Scam 1992 with his father Hansal Mehta. Initially, the writers focused the story on the crew and the hostage situation. On the other hand, Jai suggested delving deeper into Vikrant's character, which resulted in its prominent significance. Jai revealed that the goal of creating this series was to change how people usually see hijacking stories and wanted to give it a fresh look and make it different from what the audience has seen before. To depict tension on screen, Jai studied various movies but was dissatisfied with them, so he referred to pictures by photographers Robert Doisneau and Steve McCurry, who aim to communicate a lot with only one frame. When the shoot commenced, only four episodes had been written, with the remaining episodes written on location.
Casting
Mukesh Chhabra serves as the series' casting director. Jai thought the most difficult aspect of casting was casting pirates. Initially, they looked for Gujarati actors that resembled Africans. However, to achieve authenticity, they decided to use real African actors instead. The makers conducted auditions for numerous people for the role of Vikrant. Among them, two actors, Gomber and Gagan Dev Riar, were shortlisted. However, Chhabra recommended to Mehta that Riar would be perfect for the role of Telgi in Scam 2003. Eventually, after six months of auditions from January to July, Gomber was chosen. He underwent a final audition lasting five hours before securing the role. Khanvilkar said in an interview that she was auditioning for a different project in Chhabra's office in Andheri, Mumbai, when she heard about the series and gave an audition for Avika's role. However, at first, Chhabra felt she was unsuitable for the part. Jai was stunned by her spot-on performance during the audition, despite knowing little about the character or the overall story. The choice of Kapoor was because of his seniority, which was required for the character, while Vohra replaced another actor last-minute due to scheduling conflicts. Gaurav Sharma joined the cast based on Jai's previous collaboration with him on Gangs of Wasseypur. Four Somali actors starred in the show, while the remaining actors were of African descent.
Filming The makers considered numerous locations, including Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and even Gujarat, as well as putting up a set in Mumbai, but there was no ship. They even considered heading to Morocco and Egypt. During this time, Jai randomly met Mukesh Bhatt and discussed the problem; eventually, Bhatt recommended Cape Town, which was previously considered by makers but was dismissed due to potential production cost hikes. However, with Bhatt's advice, they chose Cape Town as their final destination. Lootere is the first Indian web show filmed on the African continent. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and safety concerns, the team was unable to shoot in Somalia.
The principal photography began in August 2021 and wrapped in February 2022. The team spent over six months in South Africa, with shooting lasting roughly 95–97 days. The ship sequence was shot on a South African ice-strengthened training ship and former polar research vessel, S. A. Agulhas. A team of roughly 20 persons traveled from India for the shoot and the remaining 20–21 crew members were from South Africa. Chandan Roy Sanyal portion was supposed to be shot in Ukraine but was canceled owing to warlike conditions. During the filming in Khayelitsha, the production truck was looted, which included production equipment along with groceries, and the team was also told to leave Langa, a township in Cape Town. Amruta Khanvilkar had a terrifying experience on the first day of filming in South Africa. She was in her vanity van, and because it was hot, the door was left open; a crew member immediately cautioned her to close the door to avoid kidnapping. Aamir Ali, portraying an undercover agent, did the climax stunt of chasing a car for five consecutive days by himself. The stuntman declined to go to Khayelitsha, reportedly the world's largest and most perilous slum, due to fear of the area. The filming also took place on Mumbai's isolated Kalamb Beach.
Music The original score of Lootere, was composed by Achint Thakkar, who previously worked with Mehta on Scam 1992 and Scoop. The theme music of the series received a rave response from listeners and critics. Tatsam Mukherjee of The Wire reviewed the music, saying, "It has its roots in Afro-pop, but also manages to weave in the sound of ‘70s Salim-Javed noirs – evoking images of Amitabh Bachchan sporting crisp suits, sunglasses, profusely smoking cigarettes while overlooking deals of smuggled gold biscuits."
Marketing and release The teaser of the series was unveiled on 8 September 2022, through the YouTube channel of Disney+ Hotstar. The 42-second teaser presents a glimpse like a montage, cutting between shots of a stationed cargo ship and a group of armed Somalian pirates making headway towards it. The service announced two new series along with Lootere. On 1 March 2024, Mehta unveils a short teaser with the release date. The new teaser opens with a group of foreign men aboard a boat in the middle of the sea, armed with guns and seemingly heading towards an undisclosed destination. Kapoor, portraying a man in a Navy uniform on a nearby ship, spots them through binoculars with a tense expression. As the men prepare for an impending attack, the teaser concludes. Makers promoted the series as a "Game Of Life And Death" Subsequently, the official trailer was released on 6 March 2024. The trailer received wide acclaim from audience. Following this, the makers dropped the theme song, which got rave reviews from critics and the audience.
The series premiered its first two episodes on 22 March 2024 on its streaming platform, while the remaining episodes will be released on a weekly basis on every Thursday. The series was originally shot in Hindi and was dubbed into Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil languages in order to have a wide reach towards the audiences.
Reception
Critical response