Loot Kaand (Season 1)
Introduction
In an early scene in the new Hindi series Loot Kaand, you are witness to a potential heist being equated as a football match. The positions of the players on the football field was an interesting analogy to the position of the characters in the potential crime scene. In that regard, the writers also are successful in establishing the tone of a black comedy that pretty much runs through the veins of the show. And interestingly, the writing works best when it sticks to this tone while considerably flattening out when it chooses to deviate from it. As a result, the results are a mixed bag wherein the journey is more interesting than its destination. That said, the journey itself is laced with an interesting bunch of characters that contribute to the partially looney chronicles of a small town in Purulia in West Bengal. The initial signs of the same are prevalent in an opening act that showcases an elderly woman being overwhelmed by elephants in sight, only for a passer-by to intervene that the huge ‘greyish’ objects were not elephants but instead arms that were dropped from an airplane. And this sole incident acts as a fulcrum in the drama that spans over decades.
Story & Screenplay
Written by Ruchir Arun, Ritu Shri and Aman Mannan, one of the interesting facets of the first season of Loot Kaand remains the world building and characterization. There are a bunch of characters that are introduced in pairs – Latika (Tanya Maniktala) and Palash (Sahil Mehta) are debt-ridden siblings who hatch a plan with a little girl-turned-boy Sonu (Mihika Vasavada) to loot petty cash-coffers at a bank. Toofan (Saad Bilgrami) and Munna (Manwendra Tripathy) are brothers who are literally side-lined from their duties by a local mafia turned politician, who have a point to prove. The local mafia turned politician Burman (Brij Bhushan Shukla) and his wife Paro (Ronjini Chakraborty) indulge in a game of riddles to assign a huge task and a smaller task to members of their gangs. Pinaki (Gyanendra Tripathi) and Batul (Akash Sinha) are on a treasure-hunt until they stumble upon a secret. And Inspector Dhar (Nitin NS Goel) and his subordinate SI Mithu (Prashansa Sharma) carry out an investigation around a bank robbery while having to conceal their identities. Stay with me, there is a lot going on. But at the center of things is the arms drop incident that in turn would change the fortunes any of the above characters mentioned, something that immediately masks itself as the primary conflict in the drama.
The mood of the drama finds a middle ground between being serious and funny, with the latter being more situational in terms of humour with incidents that are laced with black comedy. For instance, in a scene you see Latika coaxing her brother Palash to earn good karma points before their theft by helping a couple of characters, even as they witness their car having a breakdown. Incidently, the two characters are the ones who hamper their plans of a robbery by looking to rob their banks themselves. In another scene, you see two characters investigating inside a dam before the time is set for water to be let through. You see a character exclaiming on how his watch is waterproof, but hilariously in the very next moment, he realises that his watch has actually stopped working and that they are doomed and at the mercy of the water in the dam. These moments are hilarious and act as hinges in the drama while adding texture to the proceedings, even in terms of the setting that boasts of an interesting set of characters.
Another positive in terms of the writing remains the character dynamics. Toofan and Munna share a bittersweet relationship that is similar to Latika and Palash, with the common thread being that of a blood relation. So no matter what issues transpire between the duo that often results in a verbal spat, they remain thick as thieves (oh the irony) while not allowing a third person to dictate terms to them. These are the emotions that ground these characters in reality while allowing room to invest in their journeys. This also extends to the layered dynamics of Pinaki and Batul, both of whom are looking forward to earning a pat from their ‘master’ while briefly indulging in a game of one-upmanship. This, although there is a dynamic between them wherein they look out for each other.
The twists in the drama are pretty good and they actually keep you invested in the proceedings. So long as the tone of the drama remains playful while being laced with a sense of black comedy, the revelations at key junctures in the drama actually works. This also extends to the body count rising in the drama, wherein the writing steadily raises the stakes while keeping you entertained. The issue arises when the drama starts to take itself a little too seriously while indulging in the politics of the land and trying out too many things all at once. That not only deviates from its original tone of the drama that was set, but also makes the drama a tad too heavy and convoluted. The shifting dynamics in the drama suffered from a bout of transition that didn’t allow the viewers to settle into the changed tonality of it, while also accounting for a brief lag in the screenplay. Even the (pre) final face-off at the end didn’t have a similar impact because the sequence was interspaced with a voiceover, almost unfolding in the form of a storytelling session. And while the setup for the next season is interesting, I couldn’t help but think that the writing did taper off in its final act thereby reducing the screenplay strictly to a decent entertainer.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues by Anurag Shukla are crisp and praise-worthy because they account from frequent bouts of humour that seldom allow the drama to be bogged down. The BGM is decent while adding a dash of urgency to the proceedings every now and then. The cinematography comprises of frames that create an interesting ambience in the drama, with respect to the setting and its characters that distinguishes itself from a regular crime drama, or even a heist drama. The frames inculcate a sense of dark humour that accounts for sequences that are hilarious and entertaining even during the most serious situations in the drama (like say a character being killed off). The editing is wonderful for the first half of the series (or even the first 4 episodes) but slightly tapers off on the account of lags that seep into the drama in the final act, even as the drama does get dense. Director Ruchir Arun does a solid job here with his world building and characterization while infusing it with a lot of humour that eases out the heavy-duty drama in the first place. His slight issue lies in the transition of the character dynamics wherein the tone of the drama remains compromised, that slightly lowers the impact of the drama. Even the action set-piece at the end did not require a storytelling voiceover to add substance to it. Apart from these shortcomings, the direction remains pretty good.
Performances
The performances are pretty good by the members of the cast. Anushree Kushwaha as Mehuli and Dhaniram Prajapati as Raju have their moments to shine. Solanki Sharma as Pooja has a good screen presence in an overall job done well. Lima Das as Mrs Chatterjee, Ruma Mondal as Bharoti and Pavitra Sarkar as Ghatak are solid actors and all of them are quite dependable with their acts here. Akash Sinha as Batul is a layered character that is borderline goofy yet aware of the shifting dynamics around him. And he does tap into this trait rather effectively. Manwendra Tripathy as Munna does a good job while sharing a unique equation with Toofan that results in frequent bouts of humour. Saad Bilgrami as Toofan is outstanding here while balancing the traits of humour, dramatization and being a victim of the circumstance quite effectively. Brij Bhushan Shukla as Burman has a comedic streak to his character that cuts through his intimidating nature, thereby maintaining lighter undertones through and through. And he does a fabulous job here while understanding his character really well.
Ronjini Chakraborty as Paro has a trait of a seductress that is interspersed with subtle bouts of humour that adds texture to her character. And she definitely manages to do a solid job here. Prashansa Sharma as SI Mithu remains sincere and earnest while delivering a dignified performance. Nitin NS Goel as Inspector Dhar has a commanding screen presence in a layered character that makes him intimidating with his antics, and a potential game-changer in the second season. Mihika Vasavada as Sonu has such an interesting character that is a commentary on feminism and the preferance in our society over gender. And she is confident while doing a solid job. Gyanendra Tripathi has got to be one of the finest actors doing the rounds currently, simply because he has the ability to seamlessly get into the skin of his character. As Pinaki, he delivers an understated performance with a touch of unpredictability given how he doubles up as a chameleon here and switches sides (interestingly, it is a reference to a completely different object on yhe show). He definitely seemed in complete control with the transitions (despite the inconsistent writing), wherein he is tremendous to witness (yet again).
Sahil Mehta as Palash is a character that is street-smart and known to take shortcuts while wriggling out of any situation. And I liked Sahil’s approach here that was a simmering sense of aggression mixed with subtle bouts of humour. He is pretty solid here with his dialogue delivery that allows him to find humour at unexpected places. This is yet another solid performance from him after his incredible act in The Waking Of A Nation (2025). Tanya Maniktala as Latika is outstanding here. Her body language and mannerisms reflect on the monetary pickle that she finds herself in, while having to deal with various obstacles in the form of an ‘assaulting’ colleague, a good-for-nothing but street-smart brother and the occasional flashbacks from her past. She has such expressive eyes that do a lot of the talking even while exhibiting a raw energy onscreen with a tinge of humour and empathy. She was a treat to witness here.
Conclusion
Despite tapering off in the final act, the first season of Loot Kaand is a decently entertaining drama with solid performances that makes for a satisfactory watch. Available on Amazon MX Player.
