Certain stories spark so much interest that you’ll do all it takes to translate them on the big screen. Shaitaan was one such movie for Ajay Devgn. The superstar, who hasn’t explored horror often on screen, was so impressed by the script that he decided to not only front it but also come on board as a producer. The dates, however, posed a problem. So what did the leading man do? He cut short his annual family holiday to London to shoot for the R Madhavan and Jyothika-starrer.

After filming Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, Devgn was contemplating his next when producer Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak narrated the story of Shaitaan to him last April. An adaptation of the Gujarati hit, Vash (2023), the supernatural thriller revolves around how a man protects his family when a sorcerer—played by Madhavan—casts a spell on his daughter. A source from the creative team reveals, “Following the narration, Ajay immediately agreed to play the protagonist. The actor then approached Vikas Bahl to helm it. Though the director was initially hesitant about being able to do justice to the genre, Ajay was confident Vikas was the right man for the job.”