Movie Review: Shaitan

Director :  Bijoy Nambiar
Music : Prashant Pillai, Amar Mohile, Ranjit Barot and Anupam Roy
Lyrics : K.S. Krishnan, Sanjeev Sharma, Colin Terence, Abhishek and Shradha
Starring : Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Pandit, Rajit Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiya, Kirti Kulhari, Rajat Barmecha and Neil Bhoopalam

 

Rating: 4/5

Debutant director Bejoy Nambiar, in a pre-release interview of SHAITAN revealed that he was in the process of making the film since four years. Reason? Because no producer was willing to produce the film. Finally, just a week before the film went on floors, Anurag Kashyap decided to co-produce it and things started falling into place.

It's baffling to know why producers turned down a script like SHAITAN, which had all the ingredients of a taut thriller. Anyway, the film is finally releasing. And that is the good news.

'It's not mischief... It's not lust...It's not rage....It's not excess... It's that moment...that brings out the SHAITAN in you' read the text in SHAITAN's promo. This line aptly describes our five youngsters, who live life as if there's no tomorrow. Amrita Jayshankar aka Amy (Kalki Koechlin), Dushyant Sahiu aka Dash (Shiv Pandit), Karan Chaudhary aka KC (Gulshan Devaiya), Zubin (Neil Bhoopalam) and Tanya (Kirti Kulhari) just want to have fun. All's hunky-dory until they meet with an accident and kill two people on a two wheeler.

Their attempts to cover up the incident turn futile as they find themselves in a deplorable situation. Inspector Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal), who has been suspended for throwing a high-profile person off the first floor for cheating his wife, is handed over the responsibility to fetch the youngsters.

Bejoy has come up with an ace in his very first film. Right from the script to direction to narration to execution; everything is just about perfect. There's hardly any dull moment throughout the narrative. The riveting plot offers copious twists and turns which are shrewdly done. There are enough light moments to make sure that the proceedings don't get too heavy. The way the story unfolds in the end is very convincing.
 
Although there are many things to talk about, the two things that stand out are the camera angles and the background score. They are simply out of the world! Watch the scene in which Mathur's character is introduced or the chase scene in the second half with Pintya playing in the background and you'll marvel at the technical brilliance. The songs are superbly interspersed with the narrative. In fact, they elevate the impact to a great extent. Sreekar Prasad's editing is too good.

Rajeev Khandelwal impresses and how! He plays the honest and vulnerable cop to perfection. RJ-turned-actor Shiv Pandit is brilliant. Kalki Koechlin is efficient. Gulshan Devaiya shows promise in his work. Kirti Kulhari is decent. Neil Bhoopalam is good. Pawan Malhotra is effective. Raj Kumar Yadav, who was recently seen in RAGINI MMS, is excellent in his special appearance. Rajat Barmecha (of UDAAN fame) is hilarious in his cameo. Sheetal Menon, who plays Rajeev's wife, doesn't get much scope.

SHAITAN is a spellbinding thriller with 'awesomeness' written all over it. Splendid shaitaniyat!