Review: Looop Lapeta (2022)
Looop Lapeta, the adaptation of the German classic cult film Run Lola Run (1998) follows the same framework of the original. However, what saves this film is the direction and camera work.
Directed by debutant director Akash Bhatia, and co-written with Puneet Chadha, Vinay Chhawal, Arnav Nanduri, and Ketan Pedgaonkar, Looop Lapeta tells the story of one altering day in the life of Satya and his partner Savi.
Like the three o’s in the title, we see three different versions of the story and how the characters’ choices, have a butterfly effect (Be careful to watch out for a green butterfly that recurs in almost every frame once Savi is re-spawn into the beginning) and shape the outcome differently.
Just like the original, the film starts with an animated opening credit that shows a complete backstory of Savi’s character. She is an actual athlete whose career was ended by injury. This reminded me a lot of Pannu’s previous performance in Rashmi Rocket, in which she plays an athlete.
She starts dating Satya, who gives her a new lease on life, after mangling her suicide attempt. Like the original where Manni had to find 100,000 Deutschmarks in 20 minutes, Satya needs to come up with 50 lakh rupees in 50 minutes. Like Lola, Savi must do whatever it takes to save her boyfriend, which includes sprinting to far-flung places, begging her father for cash, and aiding Satya in an armed robbery. Every choice she makes impacts the outcome of their story and not all endings are happy.
Run Lola Run is an adrenaline rush. Filled with experiments of all sorts - live-action, animation, instant replay, black and white, split screens, slow motion, and flash-frames held together by dazzling choppy and fast-paced editing. Looop Lapeta fails to bring out this charm of the original. However, Aakash tips his hat to Lola by having a woman in the same outfit and hair bump into Savi in a casino in the latter half of Looop Lapeta.
What works for this film are the eccentric visuals, and color palettes – giving it almost a Ludo-like feel. Each frame has strong colors, and characters resemble those colors. Akash has wisely played with colors, angles, and lenses – breaking away from the usual framing types of mainstream Bollywood.
Mid- film he cuts to a 16:9 aspect ratio and comes back to a wide frame. DOP Yash Khanna and production designers Pradeep Paul Francis and Diya Mukerjea create an eye-popping world. In an interview with Film Companion, Taapsee Pannu said that the camera was often really close to her, and performing intimate scenes often got difficult. However, in a sequence with almost a ‘looping’ action, the intimate sequences and story of Savi is told almost beautifully.
One of my favorite homages (I don’t know if it was deliberate) is when Savi reaches her father’s boxing club to ask for money, and her father said that his surname was Borkar and not Banker. (Lola’s father played a banker.) Savi’s fractured relationship with her father is brought out through a gay relationship, wherein the original, Lola’s father reveals to her that he isn’t her biological dad. Looop Lapeta doesn’t have this economy of expression.
The plot is busy but not consistently gripping. Overall, the performances are power-packed. Dibyendu Bhattachary as Victor, and Ranjendra Chawla as Shri Mamlesh Chadda steal the show. Some of the running gags – such as Mamlesh’s bumbling sons Appu and Gappu (who reminded me a lot of 5 stars’ Ramesh-Suresh) just don’t land. In a flashback sequence, we are also told an ancient Mahabharata story with the God of death, Yamraj. According to me, this information was somewhat unnecessary. Being stuck in a loop, you hear the same scenario, twice over, making it a little boring and redundant for us as an audience. However, Shreya Dhanwanthary does a terrific job monologuing as a confused bride who must choose between one suitor who loves her and another who will give her a cushy life.
This film is definitely not an actor’s medium, despite their terrific performances. The title track by Jay Anand and Sidhant Mago, adds to the adrenaline rush throughout the film. However, the true heroes of this film are its technical crew, and it’s very evident.
