Movie Review: Looop Lapeta / লুপ লাপেটা

About a million years ago, I took a cute girl on a date to see the cult movie Lola Rennt. I felt pretty cool for knowing all about hip German cinema. I eventually married the girl, so she must also have thought I was pretty cool.

Well, a few days ago, I found out that Netflix remade the film last year. In Hindi!

Looop Lapeta (লুপ লাপেটা - literally "Crazy Situation Looping") is a hyper-modern update of the original, and it is joyous. It's lovely seeing a film made by someone who likes film-making. Most Netflix films are content to point static cameras at actors and hope for the best. This absolutely revels in cinematic trickery. The updates contain lots of subtle (and not so subtle) nods to the original. The whole cast are gold, but it's Shreya Dhanwanthary who shines with an absolutely scene-stealing monologue in a deftly filmed uncut shot.

It doesn't have quite the tension of the original and is perhaps a little stretched out. The use of flashbacks is fun, but the slow-motion sequences do drag a bit. The Gappu & Appu comic relief felt a bit tacked on.

I can thoroughly recommend it as a delightfully bonkers film.