If you are looking for a typical Hindi film, this movie is not for you, and don't even bother to read this review. Even if you think you are cool, Shaitan jolts you out of your cosy reverie, once too often
Shaitan
A; Thriller, drama
Dir: Bijoy Nambiar
Cast: Kalki Koechlin , Shiv Pandit, Rajeev Khandelwal, Kirti Kulhari, Gulshan Deviah, Neil Bhoopalam
***1/2
If you are looking for a typical Hindi film, this movie is not for you, and don't even bother to read this review. Even if you think you are cool, Shaitan jolts you out of your cosy reverie, once too often.
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And that's the kind of experience that is sorely needed for viewers and filmmakers, who have perhaps become too complacent in the regular dal-chawal fare.
Shaitan is the story of five youngsters, who think they own the world and nothing is beyond their reach. Bharosa (trust) is all they ask of each other and are happy in the shallow knowledge that they can trust each other, no matter what.
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Life seems like one joy ride in a fancy yellow Hummer, till reality hits them hard... and then the devil within them starts peeping out.
Bijoy's confident and fabulously quirky directorial debut talks about a troubled character, Amy (Kalki), who cannot get over her mentally ill mother's death.
When she moves from Los Angeles to Mumbai and meets highstrung KC (Gulshan) and his wild gang, it looks like she has finally found home. But what unravels afterwards is something that none of them could have ever imagined.
While the story flows freely without any hiccups, there is only one scene which I thought was a little forced and out of context a scene where a police informer gets ready to attend his own nikaah.
Kalki is excellent as Amy. And so is Rajeev, who plays Arvind Mathur, a cop, struggling through life, dealing with his troubled marriage and temper issues.
However, a lot of credit should go to the technicians. Highly creative and out-of-the-box cinematography, editing, background score (R Madhi, Sreekar Prasad, Ranjit Barot respectively), takes the movie to another level altogether.
A scene that I watched with my mouth open in admiration was the one where one of the the youngsters cooped in a dilapidated house, plays tennis and the camera moves with the tennis ball.
And of course, there is a chase sequence unlike any other. The background music thrills you, excites you, elates you as the mood of the film is.
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I must make a special mention of a sequence where remixed version of old classic Khoya Khoya Chand in the background transports you to another world. Script (Bijoy, Megha Nambiar) and dialogues (Abhijeet Deshpande) are near perfect.
Shaitan is the kind of film that actually gives you no option, while taking you along with it on a merry ride, making you feel the fear, anxieties and excitement of each of the characters involved. Watch it to know what we should expect from movies in future.
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