Tanya Maniktala And Sahil Mehta’s Six-Episode Thriller Is A Tale Of Greed, Grit And Guns In A Promising Crime Drama

Title: Loot Kaand

Director: Ruchir Arun

Cast: Tanya Maniktala, Sahil Mehta, Gyanendra Tripathi, Mihika Vasavada

Where: Amazon MX Player

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Directed by Ruchir Arun and created by Saurav Dey, this six-episode thriller is an enticing cocktail of crime, deception, and desperation.

Set in 2005 in the sleepy yet sinister town of Purulia, the series plunges into the murky alleys of West Bengal’s crime world, weaving an electrifying tale of survival, redemption, and betrayal.

At the heart of the narrative are siblings Latika (Tanya Maniktala) and Palash (Sahil Mehta), who embark on a desperate bank robbery to save their ancestral home. But fate, with its wicked sense of humour, entangles them with ruthless gangsters and corrupt cops, and a missing arms cache that would make even the serious mafia drool.

Brij Bhushan Shukla’s Burman-da, the local crime lord with political dreams, who is still hunting for the infamous 1995 Purulia arms cache, looms large over the town like a malevolent deity, with his loyal lackeys Batul (Akash Sinha) and Pinaki (Gyanendra Tripathi), the latter being an intelligent teacher who seeks his favour. Meanwhile, Munna (Manwendra Tripathy) and Toofan (Saad Bilgrami), Burman-da’s other henchmen, decide to pull off a bank heist on their own, inadvertently colliding with Latika and Palash’s grand plan. Adding to the mix is Inspector Dhar (Nitin NS Goel), the quintessential corrupt cop who wants his share of the loot.

The writing is taut, the screenplay astute, and the narrative focused — for the most part. The series sprints through its first five episodes, weaving tension and suspense with finesse. The gritty backdrop of Purulia is beautifully captured, with the darkness lurking in its alleys feeling palpable. However, in the sixth episode, the narrative takes a calculated shift to a more passive tone, which derails the telling. Here, instead of allowing the emotional weight of the characters’ choices to sink in, it unnecessarily distracts.

Performance-wise, Tanya Maniktala excels as Latika, conveying the story’s emotional weight with quiet intensity. Sahil Mehta, as Palash, complements her perfectly. Their sibling dynamic is both tender and tumultuous. Gyanendra Tripathi as Pinaki is earnest, while Mihika Vasavada as Soni aka Sonu, a young girl disguised as a boy to participate in a football tournament, delivers a debut performance that is heart-wrenching and heartwarming. Her involvement in the heist, motivated by loyalty to her teacher Latika, adds an unexpected layer of poignancy to the chaos.

Saad Bilgrami as Toofan and Akash Sinha as Batul are deliciously unhinged, living and breathing their roles with such authenticity that your heart bleeds for them. The corrupt Inspector Dhar, played by Nitin NS Goel, oozes sleaze perfunctorily.

The series thrives on its atmosphere of doom and deception, where trust is a myth and betrayal a certainty. Yet, at its core, it remains a simple, believable tale, making it easy to connect with its characters and their struggles. At the end, it doesn’t falter; instead, it delivers a subtle yet impactful conclusion that lingers long after the screen fades to black—like biting into a perfectly spiced samosa and finding the filling just as rich and fiery as promised.