Move over the SRK-Chopra-Johar Camp and the now extinct RGV Factory, here is another school of cinema that will simply blow you away. If Black Friday was on a National tragedy, DEV D another take on a classic, Gulaal on caste politics, Udaan for the so called ‘critics’; SHAITAN is an uncompromising in-your-face thriller inspired by real life news stories.
SHAITAN is a rare movie that delivers all that it promises and much more. Produced by Anurag Kashyap, the expectations were obviously high since his last production Udaan was one of the best of 2010, if not THE best; however my doubts lay in the brilliant promos that were too good to be true and on the lines of some of the recent wannabe YRF ‘youth’ films. Directed by first timer Bejoy Nambiar, Shaitan is about Kalki (as Amy), who with her father & stepmother shifts to India from US and has never got over the death of her mother who she thinks is locked up in a mental asylum. She befriends Gulshan (as KC) - a rich businessman’s son, Shiv (as Dushyant) – part time waiter & part time drug supplier, Neil (as Zubin) – a geeky student & Kirti (as Tanya) – a struggling actor. In one of their recklessness night out and in a moment of madness they set out on a path of deceit and self destruction trying to conquer their own inner demons. Another protagonist of the movie is a cop, Arvind Mathur, played by Rajeev Khandelwal who cannot tolerate injustice to women and because of it often ends up on the edge of the law. He also has his own issues and a divorce to battle.
Shaitan is loosely inspired from a few recent news headlines but extremely well scripted and directed that it all comes out as a marvelous piece of ‘dark’ cinema. Top of the list is the background music by Prashant Pillai which is whacky and truly gives the movie a totally new dimension and zing. The cinematography and the camerawork is topnotch, infact, some of the scenes are brilliantly shot and extremely original. One of the high points of the movie is the scene where you can actually see both the background score and the camerawork combine together to give you a version of the golden hit ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ that you will never ever expect and forget (unfortunately it cannot be downloaded due to copyright issuesL). The songs are good as well, probably not the quality of Dev D, but certainly well integrated into the movie and situation. And unlike most other dark movies, this does boast of some really humorous scenes which depict how well the script has been written such that it makes it entertaining as well as thoughtful.
About performances, Kalki as the disturbed Amy is first rate and proves that Dev D wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Gulshan looks perfect as the rich, arrogant & crazy KC, Neil after enacting Shayan Munshi in ‘No One Killed Jessica’ is decent as geeky Zubin, Kirti also does well as Tanya. But it is Shiv Pandit who really looks the silent shaitan (devil) as the mysterious Dushyant who leads them from one situation to another. Rajeev Khandelwal, again proves after Aamir, that he has it in him to make it big in movies after ruling the television arena, hopefully he won’t go the SRK way doing clumsy trying to be serious films but continue to do these offbeat and hard hitting ones. Supporting cast led by Rajit Kapoor is also apt and Raj Kumar Yadav also puts in a good performance after ‘LSD’ as the corrupt cop who starts it all. Nikhil Chinappa as Rajeev’s sidekick surprisingly does well as the tough cop and breaks the trend set by fellow VJ Rannvijay of doing bad filmsJ.
A lot has been said about Shaitan being inspired by Anurag Kashyap’s unreleased debut movie ‘Paanch’, stuck in cans thanks to the Censor Board. If at all that is the case, I just pray that ‘Paanch’ gets released soon maybe not theatrically but on YouTube or DVDs. I can’t imagine how brilliant that movie could be directed by Mr. Kashyap himself if Shaitan is this awesome. One special mention, it was RGV who successfully introduced Anurag Kashyap to Hindi Movies and who in turn is mentoring such trendsetting writers/directors; hopefully RGV will realize how good he was and go back and make movies like Satya again after trash like Agyaat! Also hope that Anurag doesn't become obsessed with making movies around drugs as RGV was with the Underworld!
PS – do notice presence of Mr. Abhishek Bachchan in one & only significant movie in his life till date thanks to an Idea adv. in the background:P! (Apologies to the AB jr. fans, just could not stop myself noticing this!)
My Rating – 9/10
(Script - 9/10; Direction – 9/10; Performance – 9.5/10; Entertainment - 9/10; Music – 9/10)
(Script - 9/10; Direction – 9/10; Performance – 9.5/10; Entertainment - 9/10; Music – 9/10)
Starring: Rajeev Khandelwal (Aamir), Kalki (Dev D), Shiv Pandit, Gulshan, Neil Bhoopalam (No One Killed Jessica), Kirti
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Producer: Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Udaan, Gulaal), Sunil Bohra
Writer: Bejoy Nambiar, Megha Ramaswamy
