Shaitan (Hindi)
Release Date:
June 10, 2011The 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.
I can care for a character if there's both good and evil within him/her. If I don't see the evil side, it scares me. If don't see the good side, what's my motivation to care? Shaitan doesn't explore any fights within, it's just one devil versus the other. If it weren't for the brilliant performances, Shaitan would look like it's Director, Bejoy nambiar and producer, Anurag Kashyap's urge to sew plainly written scenes with quirky treatements
Mixing drugs with violence in a movie or a novel is as easy and difficult as mixing business with pleasure. Easy because of the obvious associations and difficult because of the high risks involved in both the cases. ‘Shaitan’ is a figurative presentation of the psychology that plays evil and makes one a slave to the control of greed, drugs, power, and money thus making room for violence to establish its territory of anger and blood.
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.
Shaitan is a dark, disturbing story where you know the protagonists are heading straight for big-time trouble, but it still keeps you on edge. The direction is deft and the film is tightly paced. All the crazed characters are well sketched out, and you have a background against which to fit their deranged, surreal lives. Shaitan is violent and gory at times, with shades of horror. The film’s story treats violence almost casually, almost as something which has to happen, and this adds to the movie’s macabre mood.
A well-made, interesting film, I highly recommend “Shaitan”.
The first few shots with Kalki Koechlin are deftly captured. They keep you on the edge of your seat. You want more and it delivers. The film's high points - fine cinematography, brilliant performances alive n kicking music (that complements the mood of the film). But the second half seems too stretched and an abrupt end did not quite make it a memorable experience for me.
Five brash youngsters, on one of those late night-outs, ram their Hummer into a bike. That's when life shows its wrong side up. One misery leads to another. But the shocking turn of events force to expect a blast of an end. Instead Nambiar takes the edge off what could've otherwise been a roaring climax. The film has its moments but ends in quietude leaving the audiences wondering (atleast me) why it was even made.
Against a rocking 2010 (Band, Baaja...., OUATIM, Rajneeti, LSD, TBL, Udaan, Guzarish), 2011 (saving Chalo Dilli) seems to be sloppily chugging along. The next six months hopefully will bring better films. Eagerly awaiting Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara!
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