Budget Can Never Limit A Filmmaker's Vision: Hansal Mehta On Lootere

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who started his career with the television show Khana Khazana and later moved on to directing films like Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar! and Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? and Woodstock Villa, to name a few, need no introduction. Currently, he is making headlines for the recently released web series Lootere on Disney+Hotstar.

In a recent media interaction, the National Award-winning filmmaker shared many of his experiences with the recently released show, which is currently garnering everyone’s attention. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta spoke about his “single largest” contribution to Jai Mehta’s Lootere. He said that he played the role of someone who used all the tricks of the field of Indian filmmaking.

Hansal Mehta, the showrunner of Lootere, further said, “The biggest challenge was to make a series like Lootere on such a scale within a budget. How does one achieve a story like this with a scale like this without going overboard with the cost, without compromising on the storytelling, and without compromising on the director’s vision?”

“Without compromising on how Jai wanted to tell the story, My role was primarily to see that Jai’s larger vision did not get compromised because of any constraints and that he could tell the story feel,” Hansal said.

He further added that he played the role of somebody who used all the tricks in the Indian filmmaking book. He also learned one thing as a filmmaker: that cost can never limit one’s vision; the cost can never limit any thinking, and that was his main contribution to Lootere.

Talking about the action series, Lootere was created by Hansal Mehta and Shaailesh R Singh and directed by Jai Mehta. The show revolves around off the coast of Somalia. When the passengers of an ill-fated ship are taken hostage by pirates, an unlikely hero must step forward to save them all.

The series stars Rajat Kapoor as the ship captain, along with Vivek Gomber, Amruta Khanvilkar, Aamir Ali and Abhishekh Khan in the pivotal roles.

Jai Mehta is the son of Hansal Mehta and an associate director to some very renowned filmmakers. He has contributed to movies including CityLights, Shahid, Gangs of Wasseypur 1 & 2, and That Girl in Yellow Boots. Apart from this, he also worked on numerous ad films and television shows as a director and associate director.