Shaitan (Hindi)

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6.0/10
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6.5/10
Release Date:
June 10, 2011

The story is about Amy – Amrita Mathur. She is a 17 year old and has all the teenage angst and rebel attitude that go with that age. Amy makes some new friends in Bombay- the ultra rich KC and gang. One night of living on the edge ends up with them brushing against the law. A cop blackmails them to cover up the case. In order to pay up Amy stages her own kidnap with help from KC and gang. A simple plan which goes completely haywire forms the rest of the story. Intertwined with this we have a story of a cop – Tavde; who is put on the case to track Amy and the others. The cop is forced to deal with a personal crisis while he is on the case. How he manages to resolve it and simultaneously crack the case carries the story forward.

The story is about Amy – Amrita Mathur. She is a 17 year old and has all the teenage angst and rebel attitude that go... Show More

Sushovan Sircar

Editor   Jul 04, 2011 08:36  

The theatre where I watched the film had government sponsored “Bharat Nirman” commercials playing on loop prior to film’s beginning. Not such a good idea considering the film made the advertisement look like a joke. This infomercial showed young kids armed with the power of education in school uniforms running past green fields with smiles on their faces. They know they have a bright future. The characters in the film , sadly do not.


Bejoy Nambiar , it may seem on the surface is glorifying the ‘ameer baap ka bigda aulad’ attitude of the urban youth. However , a closer look will easily reveal how he is actually slyly mocking their idiotic lifestyle without them even realizing it. They zip around in a hummer and act all cool till they have blood on their hands.

Young India according to many is young , career oriented , educated , aware and responsible. The director however , chooses to focus on a small but visible section of the youth. These bunch of youngsters go neither for candle light marches nor to Jantar Mantar. For them Mamata means Kulkarni , not the CM of Bengal. They steal for fun. So what?


The devil wears Prada...and rides a hummer.

Parallels with producer Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch and Dev D. are unavoidable despite the producer insisting that there are no similarities whatsoever. Shaitan is a Bejoy Nambiar film. Even a cursory glance at his shots and direction would confirm that. The extreme slow motion treatment of action , the lingering use of music , the restless camera reflect a burst of originality. Yes , so there is violence , gaalis , dark characters , but that doesn’t amount to Kashyap-isation. Sorry.

Except for perhaps Kalki Koechlin’s Amy , most other characters have not been given enough motivation for their wayward lifestyles. The director throughout keeps hinting that these kids are spoilt but not bad. However , its difficult to sympathise with their foolery , wishing that their parents had given them a slap or two when they were little.


The climax , played out inside a church is apt. Maybe even divine intervention is not a possibility anymore for these rebels without a cause (or pause).


The film aims to raise a lot of questions. Fair enough. A confident beginning from a conmpetent film maker. A burst of originality.


The cameo by Rajat Barmecha of Udaan is the cherry on the cake. Or should I say the horns on the Shaitan.