By S Rao 
When 2020 turned out to be so dreadful, every now and then we need a dose of humor to cheer us up. And that is Lootcase for you.
Set in the city of Mumbai, the story revolves around a politician trying to get his 10 crores delivered in a red suitcase along with a file containing the documents of his shady land dealings to his superior. A bunch of opposing gang members end up fighting with each other during this process only to end up losing the suitcase.
While all this chaos is going on, an aam admi like Nandan played by Kunal Khemu a printing press worker living a simple life with his wife and son in a cramped house with everyday problems like tight budgets and the lack of small luxuries happens to find it and the rest of the movie is about how he is going to hide this suitcase from his wife and is unaware that a bunch of goons, a police officer and a politician are all desperate to find this treasured item.
The comedy is clean, no double meanings or elaborate complicated twists to make it funnier. The performances by the lead actors Kunal Khemu and Ranvir Shorey are very watchable and on point with their characters. The quirky elements of Nat Geo references by Vijay Raaz as a technique to train his men and the new villain avatar of the usually ever smiling Gajraj Rao was a nice touch to the movie.
Some sweet moments in the movie is the chemistry between Nandan and his wife with their efforts to be intimate without making it obvious to their son by using Chinese food lingo and trying to act pious even when it comes to sex.
Rasika Dugal who plays Lata, Nandan’s wife, is annoyed with their penny pinching lifestyle but cannot handle black money and she is the main reason why her husband is unable to spend his loot out in the open. She does a decent job with the limited screen play she is offered.
What is so relatable is the way Nandan tries to hide the suitcase as every middle class Indian knows there is no space in our homes to hide extra luggage and even if you do, it will be discovered. And spending more than the usual is noticed by everyone in a family hence he can neither spend the money nor hide it!
The supporting cast like the politician’s men and the Don Vijay Raaz’s men have done fairly well with their banter and the way they gang up on the inspector in an old forgotten crime scene towards the end of the film.
The film flows well but unfortunately ends up having an unnecessary Bollywood number trying to show the way the ‘chawl’ that Nandan stays in celebrate small events. The climax scene is also very predictable with total chaos as all the characters come together for the first time. There is no surprise element as such. Also, the humor could have been used in much more of the film when most of the actors in this film have good comic timing.
An iconic line to quote from the climax that I loved was when Nandan is asked by the goon pointing a gun to his head ready to shoot him, “Kiska admi hain tu?” and Nandan’s response out of fear is “Mein Lata ka admi hu!” leaving the goon in utter confusion.
FF Ratings: ***
