First things first - Contrary to the promotional strategy adopted; 'Loot' is hardly an out and out comic affair that it has been made out to be. While stress on the promotion has been around gags and laughter, the film is actually a heist thriller. As it eventually turns out, from the core structure perspective, 'Loot' carries the kind of flavour that has been evidenced in films like 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Snatch' and others of it's ilk. First time director Rajneesh Thakur ensures though that unlike his Hollywood counterpart Guy Ritchie, he doesn't play around too much with editing technique.
This means that even though the opening sequence is a complete drab (Govinda and Javed Jaffrey failing in their attempt to steal a painting) while introduction of other characters (partners-in-crime Suniel Shetty and Mahakshay Chakraborty) has a seen-it-done-before feel to, the drama starts picking up pace once story moves to Pattaya, Bangkok. Within 20 minutes a film which had started seeming to be one of those random comic affairs changes track to become a roller coaster ride that keeps you engaged for the next 80 minutes that follow.
So whether it is the quartet's first encounter with a Pakistani don (Mahesh Manjrekar), the sub-plot involving the senior most don (Prem Chopra), arrival of an intelligence officer (Ravi Kissen), the game played by Shweta, the interval point and then the entire second half which takes on a comic thriller route, there is some sense of 'loot' in the proceedings for sure. There are quite a few other characters embedded into the affair as well but each of them has a justified presence there.
Right through each of these sequences, there is a comic element which is there on the periphery, if not at the core of it all. Most of this comes in courtesy Govinda who is in good form here. In fact every time he opens his mouth to utter a dialogue, one is sure that there would be some smiles guaranteed at the least, if not whole hearted laughter. He gets good company from Javed Jaffrey as well and same holds good for Mahesh Manjrekar too who brings in just the right comic moments without going overboard. On the other hand Suniel Shetty's deadpan act brings in the right mix of macho appeal in the proceedings.
Any place where the movie flounders? Well, the club song (the title track) in the first half is just not required while the pace of the narrative, especially in the first half, could have been far racier to lend it a thrilling appeal. Also, the action sequences could have been better executed as they fail to get the thrills on. Background score leaves a lot to be desired as it could have been much spicier. Moreover the sequence where Mika and Suniel Shetty take on a local arms dealer seems out of place and badly written. Also, there are double meaning dialogues at places further restricts its audience to a fair degree.
All of this means that it is easy to dismiss a film when the chips are down for it. More so since this is a product which is dated by a couple of years and has a leading man (Govinda) who hasn't had a hit for ages, a young hero (Mahakshay) who did this film immediately after a disastrous 'Jimmy', a producer (Suniel Shetty) who has declared that he has no intentions to make a film ever again, a leading lady (Shweta Bhardwaj) who is largely an unknown name and a last minute item song inclusion (with Rakhi Sawant) which is clearly a compromise on the film as a whole.
However, as it turns out, 'Loot' doesn't turn out to be a bad film as one presumed it to be. Of course there isn't anything great about it but then in the time when slapstick humour is passed off with 'chalta hai' attitude, 'Loot' at least attempts to be a coherent affair with a definite plot and can be given a comfortable watch amongst masses who don't mind films belonging to heist genre.
Rating: **1/2
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