OUT OF THE SHADOWS

JAI MEHTA makes his directorial debut with Disney+ Hotstar's web series Lootere

- Suhani Singh

For a long time, Jai Mehta's identity was defined by his famous father, the National Award-winning director Hansal Mehta, best known for his indie filmmaking credentials. Mehta Jr assisted the senior on acclaimed films like Shahid and Aligarh before finally graduating to earn co-directing credits on the popular web series Scam 1992. During the decade-long association, he admits being a bit of an idealist after each project ended. "I'd be like iske baad main film banaoonga [I'll make a film after this]," says Jai. After eight years of pitching scripts-he has written five features-Mehta finally got to sit in the director's chair, all by himself. With Disney+ Hotstar's web series Lootere, Jai shows off his cinematic prowess, vision and even flair. And going by the five episodes so far, it'