Lootere is set entirely in Somalia; it takes place in 2016, and its protagonist is Vikrant Gandhi. Due to his marriage to Avi, he has inherited a lot of power, and he has used it to be the president of the port authority for several years. He intends to keep his reign intact during the reelection. But his right-hand man, Gupta, notifies Gandhi that, due to strict policies and scrutiny, he is probably going to face an uphill battle. Gandhi doesn’t pay heed to Gupta’s warnings, but as soon as he meets his voters, he realizes that Gupta is right. Gupta tells Gandhi that he needs to rope in Taufiq if he wants to stay in the race for the position of president of the port authority. Gandhi briefly asks about the consignment that’s aboard the UK KYIVAL and then meets with Taufiq to talk about the election race. Taufiq tells him that the voters don’t want an immigrant as their boss. They want someone who is Somali and black, i.e., Yakub. And while Gandhi deals with that, we are introduced to the crew of the UK KYIVAL, which is helmed by Captain AK Singh. How the paths of this ship and Gandhi collide is what forms the crux of the show.
Spoiler Alert
The UK KYIVAL is Captured By Somali Pirates
Captain AK Singh informs his crew that they have to work in three shifts to ensure safe entry and exit from Somalia. Zafar, one of the engineers, says that they don’t have enough crew members to pull it off, but the captain says that they have to push through and get the job done. Gandhi’s apparent rival, Yakub, is attacked and intimidated by Gandhi’s man, Ahmer, so that he doesn’t stand up against him during the elections. The interactions between Gandhi, Arya (his son), and Avi (his wife) in Lootere indicate that he isn’t always present, but he makes sure that they have whatever they want and whenever they want it. The following day, Gandhi is informed by Gupta and Ahmer that the members of the port authority are aware of the illegal cargo that he is bringing into Mogadishu. If its contents are made public, then Vikrant can book his and his family’s plane tickets to a place that’s not in Somalia.
Vikrant goes to Walid, who is the commissioner of police in Mogadishu, and asks him to carve him a way out of this predicament. Walid tells him that he can’t do anything. In fact, he tells Vikrant to take his family and get out of Somalia because things are heating up, especially due to the increase in the activities of the Al Muharib, a terrorist force. Vikrant captures the guy, Ali, who raised the alarm regarding his consignment, and he basically reiterates the fact that if Vikrant’s shipment reaches Mogadishu, he is done. Vikrant tries to reach Ajay Kotwal, the guy who is sending the shipment, but fails. So, he gets a hold of Bilal and tells him to come up with a plan to use pirates to stop the UK KYIVAL in its tracks, thereby buying Vikrant some time to deal with the consignment. Bilal employs pirates who live in Harardhere to get the job done. They are led by a guy called Barkhad, who is okay with wanton violence, but he’s not okay with bringing his brother along for the mission. However, he is coaxed by his friends to allow the man to get his hands dirty. At the end of Lootere, episode 1, when Captain Singh notices the oncoming pirates, he tries to outrun them. But the ship shuts down, thereby allowing the Somali pirates to board the ship and hold its crew hostage.
Ajay Kotwal Learns That The UK KYIVAL Has Been Hijacked
Before getting hijacked, Captain Singh managed to hide most of the crew, especially the women, in the remotest area of the ship. The ones facing the pirates are the captain, Mudit, and Gulrez. Mudit is badly injured for making a stupid attempt to keep the pirates out of the control room by not unlocking the door. Gulrez is hit in the chest with the butt of a gun for trying to help Mudit. The captain is relatively fine as he tries to cooperate with the pirates. That is until a helicopter of the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations approaches the ship and tries to get a reading of the situation. The helicopter is forced to retreat since the pirates threaten to kill the captain and his crew. Then, the pirates proceed to capture all the members of the crew who are hiding in various corners of the ship. Vikrant manhandles Bilal for using pirates to tackle such a sensitive issue. Bilal says that he has a good relationship with the pirates, and he is going to deliver it to him safely. Vikrant says that he’s going to go to Harardhere with Bilal to personally oversee the transfer.
Jamilah, the housekeeper at Vikrant’s palace, complains to Avi about the disappearance of her son Ismael, and Avi assures her that she is going to find him for her. Back in the UK KYIVAL, the pirates almost discover the hidden members of the crew, but they only get a hold of Zafar and an injured engineer. Barkhad orders Captain Singh to restart the ship. Zafar tries his best to stall the pirates, but since they start hurting Mudit, the captain orders Zafar to do the pirates’ bidding, and he obliges. However, that doesn’t stop the pirates from continuing to hurt Mudit, and he is hung from a pole on the ship. He is alive, but he is bleeding out, and that serves as an incentive for the captain and his crew to do anything that the pirates want them to do. When Ayesha learns that the pirates are searching for the crew lists, Sonam and Ruhaan use the labyrinthine nature of the vessel to get to those lists before the pirates do and destroy them. While all this is going on, Ajay Kotwal (who is in Kyiv) finally learns that the UK KYIVAL has been hijacked by Somali pirates, thereby putting his consignment in danger. And his biggest concern is whether or not his father knows about this mishap or not.
Is Mudit dead or alive?
Ajay tries to reprimand Vikrant regarding the handling of the consignment, but Vikrant shows Ajay his place. Sonam and Ruhaan manage to tear up the crew lists, but Ruhaan is captured and taken to the control room. He does put up a decent fight before getting overpowered. Zafar gets the ship restarted, and Barkhad tells the captain to take the ship to Harardhere. The captain tells Barkhad to get Mudit down from the ramparts of the ship, and then he’ll get the ship to move in whichever direction the pirates want. Barkhad obliges, and they resume their journey to Somalia. Vikrant gets a call from Taufiq, who tells him to pay $1 million to him if he wants to win the election and get his consignment delivered without any hiccups. Captain Singh starts to devise a plan to overpower the pirates and take control of their ship.
Ruhaan uses the secret exit in the bathroom to get Ayesha and Gulrez’s pregnant wife, Satwinder, into a hidden part of the ship so that they can’t be discovered under any circumstances. Then, one by one, the crew starts taking out each of the pirates until the numbers are manageable. At the end of Lootere, episode 2, Ruhaan holds Barkhad’s brother hostage and orders him to let his people go. In retaliation, the talkative and trigger-happy Kumbe holds Mudit hostage. Things get heated up, and Kumbe ends up shooting Mudit in the head, thereby killing him. This is going to change the already prickly relationship between the crew of the ship and the pirates. Captain Singh is probably going to feel extremely guilty for hatching this plan in the first place. To make things worse, Barkhad calls in reinforcements (one of the team members is Jamilah’s son, Ismael), which means that negotiations are going to be very tough for all the parties who are associated with the UK KYIVAL. We have to wait until next week to learn what happens to the crew, the consignment, the pirates, and Vikrant Gandhi.
