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Shaitaan

Farhad Dalal
By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
3 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

What if I tell you that I was one of the few folks to witness the Gujarati film Vash in a theatre? I remember penning in my review of Vash that it is a landmark film for the Gujarati Film Industry in many ways who were slowly venturing into other genres other than the familiar ones featuring a family drama. If not for the budget constraints, Vash was an incredibly well made horror thriller that literally had me on tenterhooks for most parts of the runtime. And I was lucky to experience the eerie atmospherics of the film in a theatre because Vash has still not made it to an OTT platform, more than a year after its release. And a ‘Demon’ is the reason behind it! 

Thank God It Is Friday and this weekend brings with it, the much anticipated Hindi film Shaitaan which is the official Hindi adaptation of the original Gujarati film Vash. The makers of Shaitaan made an important creative decision of buy off the OTT rights of Vash, and as it turns out, majority of the folks have not watched Vash, something that gives Shaitaan a fighting chance to flourish at the Box Office. There was a certain buzz especially after its immaculate trailer that was cut well to evoke a sense of excitement. Although, I personally could see that many of the frames were similar to that of Vash, it certainly looked promising. And hence I ventured into Shaitaan with a lot of hope, does it manage to impress, let’s find out.

Story & Screenplay

An Official Adaptation of the original Gujarati film Vash, Shaitaan follows the story of a family vacation gone awry after a stranger starts controlling the character of the daughter. Will they survive his demonic presence? The story here is powerful and it is because I had witnessed Vash prior to this, something that had added a new dimension to the regular horror flick by being more eerie with its atmosphere. Shaitaan is that too but slightly more on the sanitized side. The screenplay standing at well over 2 hours is engaging for most parts although I would have wished that the makers had absolutely gone bonkers with the original material in terms of its rawness which would have further enhanced the overall viewing experience. However, I wish to write more on its disappointing final scene(at the end of this section) which was a major deviation from the original source material. 

The drama opens with a scene of a dead rat being picked up from the wild, something that acts as a foreshadow later on in the film. This, before a demonic rise transpires amidst the rolling titles that sets a great precedence for the rest of the drama to follow. As a part of the world building, you are introduced to a family featuring the protagonist, his wife and their two children who collective plan for a family vacation in the forest. It is only along the way that they meet a stranger whose actions although friendly are even more stranger with the daughter who slowly starts to get controlled by him. The conflict in the drama is simple – for the protagonist to save his daughter and safeguard his family from the clutches of the devil. 

Now because I have watched Vash, I was also familiar with the beats of Shaitaan going into the film as well. If I were to treat Shaitaan as an independent film, yes it does work. But if I happen to compare it with Vash, it is a lesser product. In fact, it is more sanitized with its setting whereas Vash did go full throttle with the external factors. For instance, the house and the atmospherics play a significant part in the film Vash. The house is almost like a prison acting as an intimate form of an atmospheric horror, which like a pressure cooker keeps the tension in the drama intact. The rain is another very important factor that adds to the ambience in the drama. On both these accounts, Shaitaan falters while not quite being consistent with the utilization of these aspects in the drama. This is not to say that Shaitaan is not watchable, in fact it is engaging with multiple sequences being terrifying and well executed. But there are momentary lapses in between that squeeze the tension out of the drama which really could have been relentless. 

I would like to stress a bit on the events leading up to the final act. In Vash, although these set of events made sense, you could make out the budget contraints that limited the makers to create an extravagent demonic atmosphere, wherein the drama did feel curtailed(and a point that I did not mention in my review given the budget constraints in an industry that was trying something different). But here, Shaitaan does spread out that entire sequence in a rather impressive manner wherein you feel the building tension in the proceedings leading upto the end. But the makers falter at the finishing line in trying to do something different from the original! 

The issue was not in attempting something different but doing it for the sake of it which was a far cry from Vash wherein the protagonist wasn’t presented as a ‘Hero’ because whatever he chose to do, deep within he knew what he had lost. The ending here is so much more sanitized that presents the protagonist in a ‘Heroic’ act while the stakes in his life as compared to Vash are much lower with the ending that it chose to stick with. That for me was disappointing and kind of reduced to overall impact of Shaitaan in my eyes. But the screenplay still has plenty of engaging moments to keep you invested. 

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues are quite good here and they create an atmosphere of fear in the minds of the viewers. The music and BGM are outstanding here while heightening the atmospheric horror in the drama efficiently. The little chant right after the halfway mark will give you goosebumps because it is so well complimented by the BGM. The cinematography along with the production design creates some solid frames with appropriate lighting that creates an ambience of fear. The editing was pretty good for most parts of the runtime as well. Director Vikas Bahl returning after the forgetable film Ganapath – Part 1, finds some form here wherein he is able to create an atmosphere of fear while accounting for some engaging sequences. The area wherein he briefly stutters in is the utilization of external factors to amp up the drama and the sanitized final act which was more to do with the writing. The direction overall though is good.

Performances

The performances here are pretty impressive. Angad Raj as Dhruv has an easy sense of energy to begin with and he performs really well in intense moments too. Jyotika as Jyoti is well restrained and she delivers a dignified performance by expressing beautifully through her eyes. Ajay Devgn as Kabir is quite good particularly in scenes of high intensity and I must say that he is one actor in the A league who is consistently experimenting with genres, so kudos to him. Janki Bodiwala as Jhanvi(who by the way played the same character in Vash too) is once again impressive particularly because her character demanded a lot of physicality in her performance. I liked how she let go of herself and completely surrendered to the vision of the makers Krishnadev Yagnik in Vash and Vikas Bahl here in Shaitaan. Another towering act by a talented performer. Madhavan as Vanraaj is outstanding to the core in a character wherein he could have so easily gone overboard with. There is a sense of playfulness to his character coupled with his intimidating presence and you needed a skilled actor to execute these varying emotions. And Maddy is just brilliant to watch.

Conclusion

Shaitaan is a sanitized but efficient adaptation of the Gujarati film Vash that makes for a satisfying one-time watch. Available in a theatre near you.

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