Shaitan Review: disturbing yet pleasant

Story

Film Shaitan borrows from the real life devil. This story is about five youngsters set in the urban scape of Mumbai. Young, intelligent, good looking and cool, they have no hang ups and boundaries. In short they are prone to excitement and change in life.

Amy (Kalki Koechlin) reaches Mumbai when her NRI dad (Rajit Kapoor), who stays in LA, decides to
relocate. Amy had a disturbed childhood and therefore has grown up to be a disturbed teenager. After coming to Mumbai she joins a group of rich, reckless and aimless young people, who are hell-bent on living life on the edge. Drugs, speed, racing cars is a sure element in their lives, until one such race that ends in an accident. That is where the story begins. They fall into a vicious pit, full of crime and violence. They come to a situation where everything takes a back seat, be it sanity or morality. And the fact that most of them are carefree, strikes the notes in the film.

Plus Points

With Shaitan, the Indian audiences will experience a total new genre of cinema for the very first time. The reality, edginess and awkwardness that stays with the viewers after the show, proves the proficient work of the writers (Megha Ramaswamy and Bejoy Nambiar) and director (Bejoy Nambiar). Shaitan brilliantly investigates the darker side of the freedom, which is aggressive, sexual, brutal, edgy and well aware of everything happening around. Producer Anurag Kashyap's films have always been labeled 'dark', but the tinge of wickedness and reality that its carries is also seen in Shaitan.

The truth that when the inner demon in everybody comes out, it makes one blind and violent. This has been brought out very well with Shaitan. This film is totally a director's work. First-timer Bejoy Nambiar is magnificent and succeeds in striking the right pulse in people. Bejoy brilliantly looks into the psyche of youngsters through Shaitan.

Camera work is superb with interesting shots and angles. The high speed shots make it an
exhilarating cinematic experience. The spectacular cinematography [Madhie] is hard-hitting and the forceful dialogues [Abhijeet Deshpande] and marvelous. The background score [Ranjit Barot] is superb. The chase sequence [Jaaved Ejaaz] in the second hour is simply remarkable. The sound design [Kunal Sharma] is top notch.

Over all, all these elements come together to fill in the thrill that Shaitan imparts.

Performances

The beauty of the film is that there are no heroes like a typical Bollywood cinema. The protagonists are all victims who face the consequences. The cast of the film is superb. Rajeev Khandelwal gives a nailing performance as a cop fighting his inner demons. Kalki is excellent and shocking. Neil Bhoopalam is first-class. Shiv Pandit is good. Kirti Kulhari is efficient. Gulshan Deviah is top notch. Rajat Barmecha is interesting in the cameo.

The supporting cast are fine at their job. Pavan Malhotra is first-rate. Rajit Kapur leaves an impression. Nikhil Chinnappa is good. Rukhsar is okay. Rajkumar Yadav gets it correct.

Loopholes

The first hour of Shaitan is not that weighty. It looked like the best was reserved for the second hour. The Rajeev Khandelwal marriage track seemed to be unnatural and forceful. Narration could've been little precise, probably without the marital discord. With such hard-hitting and dynamic content, Shaitan could've easily been a songless film, though the soundtrack is fantastic.

Overall

On the whole, Shaitan is contemporary, thrilling, intense and hard-hitting. It connects instantly with the audience. The film is disturbing and pleasant at the same time. Don't miss it! Take a chance for a change of taste.

Cast & Crew

Starring :Rajit Kapoor, Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Pawan Malhotra, Shiv Pandit, Gulshan Devaiya, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari
Director : Bejoy Nambiar
Producer : Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra, Guneet Monga, Meraj Shaikh
Screenplay : Bejoy Nambiar
Music : Prashant Pillai, Amar Mohile, Ranjit Barot, Anupam Roy
Cinematography : Madhie
Editing : Sreekar Prasad