Mumbai: After the success of the first two seasons of Lootere – Bandits of British India, comes the third instalment of the series that features stories of the famous bandits of India who were branded hereditary dacoits by the British striving to attain mastery of a land and people they were still struggling to understand.
Times were tumultuous in 19th century India. The waning Mughal power and the upsurge of the British Empire was eradicating old ways and setting new trends. There were many who suffered in this cusp of cultures. Some turned to looting the rich; not always distributing amongst the poor. Lootere brings alive these troubled times with the thrill of a cops and robbers chase.
Sharing details about the show, Akul Tripathi, Content and Programming Head, EPIC TV, said, “Local communities and tribes such as the Waghers, Bheels, Sanyasis, and Banjarasresorted to lootingand plundering in a time of great social and political upheaval. Often, for the acts of some, entire tribes were branded as hereditary dacoits and kept on the fringes of society – a wrong that was corrected only post-independence.Season 3 of Lootere tells the story of these tribes.”
Some of the popular Bandits of British India are Bhils, Sanyasi Rebels, Waghers and Banjaras.
Bhils lived inthe forests and hill ranges of Khandesh and Rajputanaand enjoyed good relations with the Rajputs and Marathas who ruled this region, Sanyasi Rebelsare theFakirs and Sanyasis used to travel to North Bengal to visit various shrines and pilgrim sites.
The Waghersare rulers of Okhamandal, were a major landowning community in the Dwarka sub-division of present day Jamnagar District in Gujarat.
The Banjaras were an ethnic community that included acrobats, singers, dancers, tightrope-walkers, and fortune-tellers. When the livelihood for the Banjaras started depleting. A fair share of them chose highway robberies, cattle-lifting, sheep-stealing and kidnapping children to make ends meet.
