“Shaitaan,” starring Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, and Jyotika, opens in theaters today, March 8. Prior to seeing the movie, read our review.
The definition of a villain, according to Google, is “(in a play, novel, or film) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.” The adversary in “Shaitaan” by Ajay Devgn-R Madhavan acts evilly, although his intentions are still unclear. Expectations were high for a compelling supernatural drama that Bollywood has been lacking when the movie’s trailer was released. The writer-director team’s first half effectively piqued your interest, but the second portion left you restless and wondering about everything that was happening on screen. “Shaitaan” is a perfect illustration of how a skillfully crafted trailer can entice viewers to the theater, only to let their expectations down.
Unquestionably, the plot is intriguing: a man uses black magic to break into a family’s home and take control of their little daughter. The parents stand by helplessly as their once-bright daughter is subservient to the desires of an unknown person. The’shaitaan’ has total control; she can be seen dancing to his songs, attacking her father, and even trying to hurt her younger brother. By the halftime break, speculations on why Madhavan’s character, Vanraj Kashyap, singled out this girl, put her under hypnosis, and tried to drag her away are abundant among the audience. However, because of its shoddy narrative, the movie falls flat even with its strong feeling of menace.
Shaitaan
Vanraj claims to want to be unstoppable, but the movie doesn’t go into detail on how or why he came up with this plan. How did he turn into the “Pied Piper,” gathering young girls to offer themselves as sacrifices? What history did he have? What made him turn into such an egotistical person? How did he pick out his targets? Too many inquiries, sadly with no responses.
Screenwriter Aamil Keeyan Khan, who won over both the public and critics with his precise writing in “Drishyam 2,” falls short with this script. “Shaitaan” doesn’t work because its creators either didn’t think their viewers were smart enough or were too indolent to add more details.
You are kept interested in the first part as you begin to perceive this invader—who goes by the name “bhagwan”—as a threat. But in the second part, Madhavan’s depiction of the’shaitaan’ goes into gimmicky area to just *scare* people. The overblown ritual sequence and his appearance, which is reminiscent of Amrish Puri from the Naagin movie, only make matters worse.
In terms of performances, R Madhavan is outstanding in “Shaitaan.” Despite the fact that you could still recognize him as Maddy from “Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein,” he pulls on a convincing performance as the devil, complete with no Prada. He comes off as more cruel due to his carefree demeanor and insane behavior. However, writers, why did you force him to occasionally change to English in the middle of a dialogue?
Regarding Ajay Devgn, there are scenes where you want him to be the leader, but instead he’s made to feel like a defenseless parent. You don’t really get to see him at his best until the very end. He deserves praise for accepting roles in hatke flicks and films of his era, whereas most heroes these days only adhere to romances. But the final scene seemed a bit rushed, like it was meant to be a means of forcing Ajay to deliver a tearful farewell speech.
In “Shaitaan,” the two women are genuinely the redeeming factor, with Jyotika giving a strong performance. The performer makes an impression by portraying the anguish of a mother seeing her daughter go and by throwing blows to stop her. Janki Bodiwala plays the young girl again after the original Gujarati film “Vash,” and she is able to elicit empathy.
The only truly scary scenes in the movie are probably when Madhavan’s character makes Janki, who plays Jhanvi, “laugh” and “cry like a child.” Additionally, the scene in which Vanraj gives Jhanvi the cursed candy and she gulps it down without question makes you think of the time your parents forewarned you not to take a piece from strangers. The fact that Kabir’s (Devgn) young son chastised his father for body-shaming his mother earns the creators some brownie points.
Humans tend to take their free will for granted. Though the majority of our activities are dictated by our responsibilities, the thought of losing autonomy is unsettling. In the movie “Drishyam,” Ajay Devgn excelled as a regular guy who goes above and beyond to save his kid. The creators had the opportunity to use this exciting and eerie story to replicate the same charm. Regretfully, they fail miserably, perhaps doomed by a shoddy script and the demands of directing a remake. We must admit that it was a really lost chance.
“Exciting news! Sejal News Network is now on WhatsApp Channels
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!”
