2013 · Film
Lootera
Vikramaditya Motwane's 1950s period romance about a zamindar's daughter in rural Bengal and a charming young archaeologist who arrives to excavate near her family's temple.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Lootera is free to watch in India on Prime Video.
- Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
In 1953, in the village of Manikpur in West Bengal, Pakhi is the only daughter of an old zamindar. She suffers from asthma, dreams of becoming a writer and is fiercely loved by her father. One day a young man named Varun arrives at the mansion, introducing himself as an archaeologist who wants to dig on the land around the family's temple. The zamindar invites Varun and his friend Dev to stay. As newly independent India moves to abolish the zamindari system, Pakhi and Varun grow close over painting and literature.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A slow, quiet love story for viewers who enjoy period detail and old-style romance more than pace, running about two and a quarter hours. It includes some gunfire and police action in its second half, and is better suited to teens and adults.
Genres:RomanceDramaHistorical
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Lootera is Vikramaditya Motwane's second film as director, after Udaan (2010). He wrote the script with Bhavani Iyer, and the second half of the film draws on O. Henry's 1907 short story "The Last Leaf". It is set in the 1950s, when the newly independent Indian state was abolishing the zamindari system. Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap and Vikas Bahl produced it, and Amit Trivedi composed the songs and score with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
The film opened in India on 5 July 2013. Wikipedia lists a budget of about ₹32 crore and a gross of about ₹46 crore. Bollywood Hungama gave it four stars out of five and Rediff gave it five. At the 59th Filmfare Awards it received four nominations, including Best Actress for Sonakshi Sinha, and won Best Female Playback Singer for Monali Thakur's "Sawaar Loon". Vikrant Massey plays Varun's friend Dev.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Period romance, Drama
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Director
- Vikramaditya Motwane
- Cast
- Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Barun Chanda, Vikrant Massey, Adil Hussain
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Lootera in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Lootera is free to watch in India on Prime Video.
- Is Lootera in Hindi?
- Yes. Lootera is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Lootera?
- Lootera runs for 2 hours 15 minutes (135 minutes).