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Starring: Rajeev
Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Pandit, Kirti Kulhari,
Gulshan Deviaya, Neil Bhoopalam
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Plot Outline ‘If you are not living on the edge you
are taking up too much space ‘ the mantra that defines
the youth of today. But what happens when the edge gives
away.
Shaitan begins with real life like story about the lives
of the affluent youngsters and brashness of their lives
like a number of drunken driving cases that lead to
fatal accidents and also about kidnapping of moneyed
kids.
This motion picture brings to the fore the shaitan that
lurks within us. It is the story of 5 youngsters who
come from wealthy but dysfunctional homes. They are
friends and share same likes they are always high on
cocaine and they speed through the streets of Mumbai in
an expensive Hummer.
Inspector Mathur entrusted with the unenviable task of
chasing the youngsters down exposes the underbelly of
the Police system and crime while grappling with his
inner Shaitan. The confluence of the two sides brings
across the ultimate explosion of action drama and thrill
on Indian screen that is best described as real and raw.
Shaitan has that wickedness and showcases those
circumstances in life when the inner demons come to the
fore and people are forced to react in violent manner.
It is very well shot with cinematography exploiting the
novel angles and high speed exhilarating shots..
The film’s highlight is its
sound-track, which has five composers including Ranjit
Barot and Amar Mohile and a metal band, which is
somewhat notable. Performances by the young ones Neil
Bhoopalam as Zubin, Gulshan Devaiya as Karan and Shiv
Pandit as Dash, are very impressive. Rajeev Khandelwal,
who plays Inspector Mathur, a cop has acted well.
Credits &
Crew:
Banner - Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Getaway Films
Studio - Tipping Point Films
Producers - Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra, Guneet Monga
Co-Producer - Vandana Bhatti
Director - Bejoy Nambiar
Lyricist - K.S. Krishnan, Sanjeev Sharma, Javed Akhtar,
Colin Terence, Abhishek, Shradha
Music - Prashant Pillai, Amar Mohile, Ranjit Barot,
Anupam Roy, Laxmikant Pyarelal
Cinematography - R Madhi
Editor - Sreekar Prasad
Screenplay - Bejoy Nambiar, Megha Ramaswamy
Sound - Kunal Sharma
Dialogue - Abhijit Deshpande
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Set in the urbanscape of
Mumbai, the five friends - Amy, Dash, KC, Zubin and
Tanya are young, intelligent, good looking and ‘uber
cool’. With no hang ups and no boundaries, excitement is
what they seek till a ‘moment’ changes everything. An
accident and their actions to cover up lead them through
a series of incidents across the roads, streets and
bylanes of Mumbai and into the dark side which lurks
within all of us – The Shaitan.
They meet with an accident which takes lives of two
persons riding on a two wheeler. They have to come up
with big money to close the case. Asking their parents
for help is ruled out. So it is Amy (Kalki Koechlin),
who is one of them and is an NRI who suggests that her
friends fake her kidnapping so they can demand ransom
from her father.
Destiny has something in mind, and their plan spirals
wildly out of control, and that's when the devil inside
each of them decides to surface.
The supporting cast also
delivers fine performances especially Pavan Malhotra and
Rajit Kapur who leave an impression.
The chase sequence in the second half is simply
remarkable so is the top notch sound design by Kunal
Sharma. Thankfully it is not preaching anything but the
film explores how the addictive world of drugs and
alcohol is corrupting and devastating the youth. Its
what we see in the metros of India with what’s happening
to the so called rich cool teenagers indulging around.
On the whole, Shaitan is thrilling, hard-hitting and has
a contemporary story. A dark thriller.
- Amarjeet
Cast
Rajeev Khandelwal - Inspector Arvind Mathur
Kalki Koechlin - Amrita Jayshankar aka Amy
Shiv Pandit - Dushyant Sahu aka Dash
Rajit Kapoor
Gulshan Devaiya - Karan Chaudhary aka KC
Kirti Kulhari - Tanya Sharma
Rajat Barmecha - Shomu
Neil Bhoopalam - Zubin
Pawan Malhotra
Nikhil Chinnappa
Rukhsar
Abhijit Deshpande
Raj Kumar Yadav |
