Backed by a poignant premise and powerful performances, director Vikas Bahl generates some genuine moments in eerie situations
Cast: Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Jyothika, Janaki Bodiwala
Storyline: Held inside their farmhouse, a couple battles to free their daughter from the spell of a mysterious stranger true colours and turns out to be an Englishspeaking occultist who has possessed their daughter Janvi ( Janaki Bodiwala).
It is the nimble treatment and creepy twists that make Shaitaan leap at you at times in the darkness of a multiplex. For instance, in makeorbreak situations, Vanraaj asks Janvi to laugh or dance, ensuring the sense of helplessness of parents percolates through the screen. A lot of credit goes to Krishnadev Yagnik’s story which is aware of making the characters go slightly against the lay audience’s expectation from a supernatural setup.
Madhavan, who is known to play docile characters in Hindi films, is cast against type, making the eerie experience relatable. He lends Vanraaj a pitch that oscillates between lifelike and largerthanlife. If Ajay taps the vulnerable side of a father, Madhavan explores the mean streak of the demon well. Similarly, Jyothika lends freshness to the mother’s role and provides an element of surprise for those who have grown up on the romantic beats of Madhavan and Jyothika in Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001). Janaki, who reprises the part she played in the original, is not bad either.
Had Vanraaj been given a credible backstory, the film would have got a lot more depth or one should say Gehrayee (1980), the ArunaVikas classic horror that was also about a girl possessed by a spirit. It had a strong undercurrent on the horrors of lopsided development but here, from the charm of fake news to the spell of a demagogue on blind followers, there are plenty of possibilities and metaphors that seem waiting to be addressed but the writers prefer to keep it a straight battle between black and white. Even the verdant potential of a name like Vanraaj and the presence of transgenders in his team have neither been exploited nor explored.
Perhaps, the fact that Devgn is also the coproducer of the film came in the way. Perhaps, the makers sought to retain the U/A certificate for a horror film that showcases black magic with a disclaimer that it doesn’t support it. Otherwise, with a little more author support, it would have become a Madhavan show all the way. After a smart flourish in the denouement, the postscript feels forced to keep the heroic status of Ajay intact but it is Madhavan who makes sure that one shuts the door the next time one comes across a smoothtalking stranger.
Shaitaan is currently running in theatres