Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated 3/5 stars and wrote, "Lootere deserves points for originality and novelty."Read at source
Lootere (TV series) 2024 
Synopsis
Lootere (TV series)
Lootere (transl. Looters) 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.
- Director
- —
- Release
- 2 May 2024
- Studio
- —
- Run time
- 50 min
- Language
- —
Reviews
10 Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.
Critics' consensus
Mixed
Critics' aggregate for Lootere (TV series) is 66/100 from 7 scored critic/publication reviews.
Synthesized by AI (gpt-5-codex-omdb-enricher) from 11 source-backed reviews — verify against the linked sources.Common praise
- performances
- direction
- writing
- visual craft
Positive 10
Jha gave it a perfect 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "An Edge of the Seat Experience." He commended the director's vision, writing, and cinematography and said, "This is a series designed for the large screen.Read at source
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated 3 out of 5 stars, praised its writing, cinematography, and direction for incorporating the personal and the emotional in the wider, wilder world that the show is located in, and wrote "The marital drama strand, bolstered by strong performances from Gomber and Khanvilkar, adds emotional depth to the plot.Read at source
Swaroop Kodur of The Federal reviewed "Lootere is an enjoyable watch that has many bright moments and a gripping storyline...Read at source
In The Hindu, Shilajit Mitra called Lootere "ambitious hijack drama" and summed, "The series has a tendency towards graphic brutality for shock—bleeding noses, severed limbs, a head popped open over lunch—which feels both desperate and a little surprising, given Mehta’s relative control over the material."Read at source
Shubhra Gupta for The Indian Express also gave it 3 out of 5 stars and stated "This is a tense, high-wire hostage drama which doesn’t dial back on danger, and manages to keep its stakes high: I enjoyed it, and the addictive title theme by Achint Thakkar is my newest earworm."Read at source
The Times of India reviewer Ronak Kotecha wrote in his 3.5-star review that it "remains buoyed by its thrilling narrative and engaging performances, sailing through turbulent waters to deliver ample entertainment and intrigue to its audience" and mentioned, "What really pushes the show forward is its adrenaline-pumping action onboard the ship and in the dusty bylanes of Somalia, deftly captured by Jall Cowasji."Read at source
Sonal Pandya for Times Now gave the film 3/5 stars and said it was unique for Indian audiences, stating, "The hijack thriller led by Hansal Mehta has its moments, but sometimes it feels like it's circling the same point again to stretch out the suspense."Read at source
Tushar Joshi of India Today gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 while distinguishing it from Tom Hanks’s 2013 Academy Award-nominated Captain Phillips, who wrote, "Comparisons are bound to happen.Read at source
Varsha Yadav of Punjab Kesari awarded it 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "an attempt has been made to show something new in Indian cinema.Read at source
Details
Soundtrack
- Lootere Theme Music
- Aap Ki Aadatein Nikita Ahuja
Technical specs
- Release date
- 2 May 2024
- Run time
- 50 min
- Country
- IN
- Distributor
- Disney+ Hotstar
Trivia
- Lootere became the first Indian series to be filmed on the African continent, with principal photography taking place in Cape Town and Khayelitsha, South Africa.
- The series marked Jai Mehta's independent directorial debut, as he previously only co-directed projects like Scam 1992 with his father Hansal Mehta.
- Casting director Mukesh Chhabra recommended Gagan Dev Riar for the role of Telgi in Scam 2003 instead of the role of Vikrant, which ultimately went to Vivek Gomber after a six-month audition process.
- The production team opted to use real African actors for the pirate roles to achieve authenticity, moving away from their initial plan to cast Gujarati actors who resembled Africans.
- The show was inspired by true incidents involving the hijacking of an Indian ship by Somali pirates, and the writers studied an Oscar-winning short film by a Somali filmmaker to understand piracy in depth.
Tags
Indian Series2024ActionReleasedNot listed in source page
