Vikramaditya Motwane's film starring Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha is a screen adaptation of renowned writer O'Henry's classic story The Last Leaf.
Apparently, when the two actors were given the story to read, they couldn't help but weep. Buzz is that Sona's character is based on the female protagonist in the short story.
Producer Vikas Bahl says, "Yes, Lootera is based on O'Henry's story. It's a beautiful touching story and Vikramaditya has fleshed it out beautifully."
Also, buzz is that Motwane had his heart set on this poetic piece of prose from the time he decided to make movies. Bahl further informs that the writer would be duly credited in the titles of Lootera.
"We are proud to have such an evocative story for our film," says Bahl.
The Last Leaf is a story of a dying girl who believes that the day the last leaf from the tree outside her room falls, she would die.
Says a source, "Motwane wrote Lootera even before Udaan. He's fascinated by the story. However, it was obviously too wispy for a feature-film adaptation.
Motwane wrote a whole new first-half that didn't exist in O'Henry's version. But the second-half of Lootera, which is being shot in Kashmir is based on The Last Leaf. The original story is set in the early 20th century. Lootera has been set in the 1970s.While Ranveer Singh's character is Motwane's creation, Sonakshi is the girl from O'Henry's story."
Another O'Henry adaptation
Rituparno Ghosh's first Hindi film Raincoat featuring Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgn was adapted from O'Henry's The Gift Of the Magi.