The first two episodes of Lootere introduced us to its protagonist, Vikrant Gandhi. He was running for the position of president of the port authority after holding onto that “throne” for several years. But, according to Taufiq, he was about to be dethroned by Yakub because the members of the board wanted someone who was Somali and not an Indian. As soon as Gandhi removed Yakub out of the way, he learned that an expensive shipment coming from Ukraine, on a ship called the UK KYIVAL, was about to be checked, and its contents were going to be used to jeopardize his bid for the presidential post. So, via Bilal, Gandhi sent pirates to stall the ship and remove his precious consignment before it was checked by the police. However, a tiff between the pirates and the crew of the ship led to the death of one of the crew members, thereby messing up the already complicated situation. Let’s see if Gandhi manages to quell these issues or aggravates them.
Spoiler Alert
Ajay Kotwal faces his father.
Episode 3 of Lootere opens with Salmaan teaching a bunch of kids how to use a gun, and that group includes Ismael. We see him rescuing a kid from getting bullied to hell, thereby establishing that even though the circumstances are pushing these kids to take up arms, some of them are trying to preserve each other’s innocence. Back on the UK KYIVAL, which is heading towards Harardhere, Barkhad is seen reprimanding Kumbe for killing Mudit. Barkhad tries to make him understand that if they keep killing people, then they won’t be able to ask for a lot of money. Kumbe nods, but it doesn’t seem like anything goes into his head. Zafar and Captain Singh get into a tiff because the former used his religious identity to make the pirates relate to him in an effort to save his life. Zafar says that he isn’t ashamed of doing everything he needs to survive and go back home. Additionally, Zafar blames Singh for sending Mudit to his death and for dooming the rest of the crew. Barkhad tells them to put a lid on it and act like the hostages that they are. Avi and Arya, too, have an argument because of Ismael’s disappearance.
Bilal brings Vikrant and Gupta to the shores of Harardhere, and everyone heaves a sigh of relief because at least the ship that is carrying a precious consignment is now visible. Vikrant is happy, but that’s when he spots Ismael in Salmaan’s group of kid pirates, which disturbs him a lot. He makes sure that that kid is actually Ismael, but then he doesn’t take him back to his family instantly because he assumes that something must’ve gone wrong to make Ismael pick up arms. Instead, they all proceed to board the ship and take care of the consignment and the crew. Kumbe finds out that Gulrez has a wife, and given how her clothes are in a closet, it means that she is on the ship. So, he makes it his mission to unearth her and any other woman that is in the vessel. Ayesha heads out of her hiding space, leaving Satwinder all by herself, to get some food and water. Back in Kyiv, Raman Kotwal confronts his son, Ajay, regarding the hijacking of the UK KYIVAL. Ajay tries to assure Raman that he and Vikrant are handling the situation. However, Raman says that Desai is going to negotiate the deal between the pirates and Vikrant because, at the end of the day, the consignment belongs to the Kotwals.
Avi Meets Walid To Talk About Ismael
Bilal learns about Mudit’s death and tells Barkhad that it’s going to complicate things. He introduces Barkhad to Gandhi. Captain Singh sees all this from afar and realizes that their chances of making it out of the ship alive are dwindling. Gulrez is tasked with putting the container that has Vikrant’s consignment on a boat. Ruhaan, who is locked in a room, tries to escape. Ayesha tries to get some food. Zafar is taken to the engine room to make him point Kumbe in the direction of the women. Since they’ve been moved, Kumbe finds nothing and returns Zafar to his crew. Vikrant tells Ahmer that, in addition to the consignment, they have to return Ismael to his mother. Ahmer says that that’s only going to complicate things, and that’s why they should only focus on the consignment. That said, while shifting the consignment from the ship to the boat, the cables snap due to the change in weather, which causes the container to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Vikrant snaps, and he finally reveals that that container was filled with guns worth $5 million that were meant to be sent to the Al Muharib. So, now Vikrant will be hunted by not only the Kotwals but the Al Muharib as well, and that’s going to totally kill his election campaign.
Avi and Jamilah approach police officer Bashir regarding Ismael’s case, which has seen no activity for quite a while. Avi’s presence makes no difference, as Bashir decides to delay the investigation by a whole month. Vikrant calls Avi to check up on how she is doing, and she basically gives him the cold shoulder because Vikrant isn’t actively helping her find Ismael. I want to point out that this is bad and very cliche writing. The man is busy dealing with real issues, and the woman is only whining. If this doesn’t smell of misogyny, I don’t know what to tell you. I am not even going into the religious angle that Jai Mehta and his writers are playing with when it comes to Zafar, Singh, and the pirates. If I think too much about it, I will blow a gasket. Anyway, Vikrant sends Gupta to Mogadishu to ensure that Avi and Arya don’t leave the house because he feels that they’re going to face the repercussions of the botched consignment job. Before Gupta can put her under house arrest, Avi goes to Walid, the commissioner of Mogadishu police, and she essentially asks him to speed up the process of finding Ismael because Jamilah is getting increasingly impatient and anxious.
Is Ayesha captured by the pirates?
Barkhad and Kumbe coax Captain AK Singh to reveal the location of the female crew members, but Singh refuses to budge. Singh says that he doesn’t trust Barkhad or any of the pirates, no matter what they say, because Mudit is dead. Barkhad talks about the plight of the people of Somalia and why they resort to pirating. He says that if Singh had cooperated instead of hatching a plan to take control of the ship, nobody would’ve died, and Barkhad would’ve safely handed over the consignment, gotten their money, and then headed home. But due to two consecutive mishaps, now they are in a deadlock, and the captain has to play by the pirates’ rules. Kumbe takes Singh back to the control room and humiliates him. While this is going on, Ruhaan starts to make some headway in terms of opening the locks of the room he is in.
At the end of Lootere, episode 3, Ayesha gets captured by Kumbe. Vikrant, who is holed up somewhere in Harardhere with Bilal, gets a call from Faizal, one of the heads of Al Muharib, asking him about the guns because he wants to “fight the government” and take over Somalia. Vikrant lies to Faizal and tells him that he is going to get his shipment soon. Bilal comes up with an idea. He says that they should join hands with the pirates and use them to make the Kotwals pay a huge amount of money. They can divide the money between the pirates, cover the losses of the Al Muharib, and then take the rest with them. Ahmer advises Vikrant to not do this, but Bilal is too loud to allow Vikrant to think straight. Of course, this is going to worsen the situation, especially if Ajay and Raman learn that Vikrant is doublecrossing them. In case it’s not clear, nobody is really thinking about the crew of the ship. So, it seems like things are going to get worse for them.
