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 movie review…
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.
Set in the urban-scape 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.
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 (inner demon). 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.
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.
Cast of Shaitan:
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
Credits & Crew of Shaitan:
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
Shaitan – movie review