Shaitan

Since the trailers were first out I have been waiting for the film. The song Bali, suits the trailer best. I did miss the first day first show and a few more days and shows consequently, but today I finally got a chance. Shaitan starts with Anurag Kashyap giving a social message. Yes the 'lazy ass ranter', starts the film telling youngsters that alcohol, drugs, cigarettes etc., are bad for them. While if the dialog was start taking drugs, start life, the quote 'well begun is half done' would have been so apt. The scenes from the asylum give us a hint that the movie is on the insane end of brain, like most of Anurag's films are. Then again we have typical scenes, fast introductions, normal 'I hate my parents' people and alcohol and drugs and a lot of drugs. After wild parties, cranky dialogs and a couple of kisses, you reach the scene which has created the hype. The accident scene. And yes, the scene lives up to the hype, it is a great milestone in Hindi cinema. But just a few moment more and you'll have the moment. The moment you'll scream , "What the f***, this is the story of Paanch" and that would sure turn you off, completely! But as the film proceeds you do notice remarkable differences and slowly it attracts your interest. Then the fast paced action, the haunting music, Rajeev Khandelwal's grit and Kalki's neurotic expressions when she is high, makes you want to forgive all the negative aspects of the movie and makes you an instant fan. Remarkable scenes :- When KC asks Amy to open a 'joint account', the accident scene(of course), the crashing of the beer bottle and a TV set, by KC and Dash respectively, on the heads of two guys who were 'teasing' and 'more than teasing' their girls, Khoya Khoya Chand(thats already a rage), the shot where Inspector Arvind Mathur flashes from behind a bed and kills a junkie(though you can't possibly save yourself from machine gun fires with a mattress) and Amy's hallucinations of her mom when she is high in the 'Church'(thats Anurag Kashyap). The weak points of the movie were :- Obviously the script, it could have been better. The director was confused whether he was making a thriller or a black comedy. Too much time wasted on the camera work and special effects. The German girl wasn't really German. The good points were :- The camera work, indeed. Cinematography. The music, especially Bali and Fareeda. The acting – all of the actors have done a very very good job, but special credits to Rajeev Khandelwal and Kalki. In the end, Shaitan is a good film. It is definitely not great! And if you do think otherwise, watch Paanch. You'll know what Bollywood really needs. You'll know who Anurag Kashyap really is!

A yellow Hummer speeding down the road with five youths and an Audi speeds past them almost in a 'catch me if you can" style.Then begins the race.One of the guys in hummer making a video of the race on his mobile to capture the moment of winning,Others cheering him,after sometime Audi quits the race accepting its defeat,turns left on a roundabout.The guy driving Hummer, starts circling the roundabout with a triumphant joy,others cheering him again.Then suddenly they stop to a screeching halt ,everyone tumbles over.They get down to see something which gives them the horror of their lives and sets the plot for the rest of the film.

'Shaitan' looks straight into the face of the reluctant,not-so-eager Indian viewer and shakes him out of the slumber by introducing him to his own dark reality.People get used to complacency and are satisfied that what they are being served is what they only deserve, but when a filmmaker like Anurag Kashyap takes up the cause,he makes sure we get nothing but the best.

The film is about a bunch of kids(as they are supposed to be attending schools) who are rich and carry a devil-may-care attitude.A 'rebel without a clue', 'KC' ,who has a rich god-fearing dad,doesn't mind stealing his mom's jewellery when he and his friends are in trouble and need money.Amy an NRI joins the 'gang' later ,has a destructive mentality because she lost her mother at an early age and holds everyone in her family responsible for that.Tanya,a forced model who does a saree ad because her sister wants her to.Dash is the guy we know least about and 'Zubin' played by neil bhoopalam an ex channel 'v' video jockey a gadget geek who sheepishly smiles when he gets caught by his mom giving himself a hand-job and finally Rajeev Khandelwal as Inspector Mathur who impresses again as 'tough as nail' cop who would rather kick an auto-driver than arguing when he refuses to go to a certain place .

First time director Bejoy seems to have done his homework well and impresses with innovative camera techniques . There's a shot through a beer bottle during a song and the introduction of Insepector Mathur which is done in POV camera style.Producer Anurag kashyap is a prolific director himself and some of the scenes in the film seem like they've been lifted straight from his previous films like there's a scene in the film where a 'good cop' (Rajeev Khandelwal) chases a 'bad cop' through the narrow by-lanes of Bombay slums a la the 'great chase' sequence in his own movie 'Black Friday'.Producer further indulges himself by recreating another scene from his own film 'Paanch' which got shelved after a controversial face-off with the censor-board because of its violent and drug related scenes and still seem like too much for our iron-clad society even after more than 10 years of its making.

'Shaitan' scores some extra points when it shows some real gory and bloody scenes and creates a feeling of horror in the viewer who by so far was enjoying good music and trying to relive his own college days by watching the gang's juvenile antics.This film does, what 'Dil chahta hai' and 'Rang de basanti' did for the decade just went by,which is, showing another facade of the youth which can be all fun-loving at times but has the potential for being the most turbulent when its expected to be at its best.

I feel more films like 'Shaitan' should come out as these films are not made to send a message across but to make one feel that anyone can have an alternative side which he's not aware of and can wreck a havoc if not timely tamed.

The movie as I guessed earlier, is a revamped version of Anurag Kashyap directorial debut (which is still in the claws of Indian Censor Board) "Paanch" starring Kay Kay Menon.And now after almost a decade of his first yet unreleased movie, Anurag Kashyap producing this movie and getting it through the censor board without any cuts is a good slam to the Indian Censor Board. Clearly the movie is more intense and dark than Paanch. The movie is a way more profane with mild to severe abuses, implicit sex and nudity, and explicit violent scenes. And yet the movie has passed without a cut (showing a fact that censorship has improved a lot).

The movie is almost perfect on cinematic aspects. Casting and Direction is flawless.Cinematography is something best I have seen so far. Every scene is shot in the ultra stylish way leading to a brilliant story telling.Music and background score adds a new dimension to the movie.

First half of the movie is extremely engaging and entertaining, the second half lacks a bit by predictable turns and twists.

All the subplots of the movie like their characters are very strong take it as subtle love story of Rajeev Khandelwal (So graceful on the screen) or the one with Amy's mother, every character has its own story to tell and they tell it in their own ultra stylish way.

The "Shubhu" cameo (By someone who has done commendable job in AK's last produced movie) and Nikhil Chinnapa add the surprise factor to the movie.

Yet again a brilliant piece of cinema by Anurag Kashyap Production and kudos to Bijoy Nambiar.

Newbie director Bejoy Nambiar certainly has got himself an impressive if not a mind-blowing debut. And the young actors have done justice to his quirky script & storytelling technique.

You can recognize new age cinema with its 'hatke' script, youthful actors and edgy storytelling / narration. And when you go see Shaitaan you can see all of it there.

The story opens with brief introductory scenes of the lead characters that give you an insight into what each character's personality is like. The story unfolds to show an unruly group of spoilt brat teenagers who believe in the adage 'if you got it, you gotta flaunt it'.

A NRIs daughter Amy (Kalki Koelchin), with a traumatic past, is new in town. She joins the spoilt teenager group and finally starts to enjoy her life. After a night of partying, drinking, doing drugs & racing their Hummer on the empty roads, these guys happen to mow down two innocent people and subsequently flee the scene.

At this point the story actually starts taking pace. In order to escape judicial custody they make an arrangement with a cop who for a huge sum of money will take care of their case. Since none of them has enough money to pay the cop off, they hatch a plan of staging the kidnapping of Amy and demanding the ransom money.

From here the story starts to spiral towards things that neither of them imagined would happen. What was considered to be a harmless plan turns out to be something that will change their lives forever.

This movie is a classic example of how peer pressures and herd mentality can actually make the sanest of people do things that they wouldn't normally do, only to realize it when it's too late.

There is also a parallel track running of the cop Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal) who has been given the responsibility of handling the case. Along with his professional life, we get to see glimpses of his personal life & the problems he is facing in his marriage. In fact in the end you realize that it isn't easy being a cop where you have the responsibility of protecting the nation with a measly salary being paid for it.

The story is interspersed with clever narration techniques and flashbacks which make the film edgy.

The end makes you feel sorry for the characters & makes you question practicality vs. idealism.

A decent watch I say.

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"There Will be Blood" actor Daniel Day-Lewis once said, "I suppose I have a highly developed capacity for self-delusion, so it's no problem for me to believe that I'm somebody else."Indeed every mortal has an aspect of self delusion hidden within themselves which is reflected under the spell of specific situations.Every religion believes in the existence of Shaitan within us and we are just wearing mask for the peace of "cultured" society.The concept of God was thus created to give a positive direction to irrational mortals. Shaitan,the directorial debut of Bijoy Nambier under safe umbrella of Anurag Kashyap who is one of the pioneers of Dark movies in Indian cinema talks about existence of Shaitan in this god fearing society. The story involves five youngster from various backgrounds bonded through friendship.The friend circle comprises of Gulshan Devaiya playing the role of KC, a rich brat and a non-conformist living on the edge of reality.A parsi pervert (resembles Fattu of Paanch) Zubin played by Neil Bhopalam,Tanya (played by Kriti Kulhari) an upcoming film actress and a model, then Amy superbly played by Kalkie Koechlin.Amy is the disturbed daughter of a rich NRI father (Played by Rajit Kapoor)who is yet to accept her mother's death.Strangely her mother was a psychic patient who in her self-destructive mode tried to kill young Amy. Amy in her psychotic dilemma loves her mother and at the same time trying to come out of her mother's death web.The gang comes to full circle with Divyanshu sahu aka Dash (striking debut by Shiv Pandit) who is a drug peddler and a coffee shop waiter.Dash is connected to the whole group with the element of Lucy in the sky with diamonds.The friends gang with Screw rules faces an accident in a moment of ecstasy and thus follows the series of crime one after the other while they go into the self- delusional mode.With a dejavu of Paanch the young spirited minds came to terms with their inner Shaitan (satan). To solve the crime a self righteous cop Mr Mathur (played brilliantly and confidently by Rajeev Khandelwal) had been appointed. The cop is himself going through a turmoil in his personal life and while solving the case he finds a connect with the case and his life at a cognitive platform. As they youngsters and the cops life intertwined there are thousands of questions towards society, morality and inner devil raised in a subtle manner that forms the crux of the brilliant story. Anurag Kashyap is a brilliant film maker who understands cinema and gives break to brilliant new directors. Bijoy Nambier like Kashyap pens a unapologetic amoral characters who are reflection of today's rich youth who have no respect for anyone's life. Without going into any morality Nambier simple tells the story of a devil mind in a unique fashion. It is his execution that elevates the story to another plain and with a brilliant technical team he almost created a neo-realistic masterpiece. There are numerous sequence which deserves accolades specially the "khoya khoya chand" sequence which is one of the best executed sequences in recent times. With slow motion he plays beautifully with time and space while there is a background score of Khoya khoya chand. The scene where the Negros are firing Rajeev Khandelwal and instead shoots the German lady has an unique sexuality attached to it.The effect of hallucinogenic drug leading to the hallucination of Amy with her dead mother is a masterpiece execution specially the bathtub sequence towards the climax is a master stroke as real mixes with hallucination. The usage of geometric shapes within the narrative shows Nambier's eye for detailing and understanding of cinema. Apart from Nambier credit should be given to A Shreekhar Prasad for editing and Madhi for cinematography.The usage of light is captivating and meaningful.Nambier played with light to show the catharsis within Amy towards the end and also tried to portray The cop as anti-devil which is reflected by the scenes where the cop is standing with bright background light compared to the darkness in the same frame. There are plenty of situations where the camera and editing had the potential to compete with any world cinema.Moving to the music and lyrics each of the songs are appropriately placed in the narrative with the wordings taking the story forward. Dialogues of the film are cleverly written. Without going overboard they are kept short,crisp thus having an impact. The sequence between the commissioner and the cop is well written where the commissioner explains the difference between "sach" and "sachai". Nambier should also be applauded for inducing dark humour in the otherwise disturbing story. The flashback within flashback with a cameo done by Rajat Barmecha (of Udaan fame) will bring the house down. Also some witty one liners like "what will you call a moving vibrator? Dil-doh pagal hai" provides moments of laughter for the cine goers. The casting director did a tremendous job as each one of them gave a powerhouse performance. Rajeev Khandelwal stole each scene he was present in. Like a chameleon he went into the character of the Moral upright cop fighting with his own self as he tries to solve the case as well as his personal crisis.Kalki Koechlin as usual gave a superb performance as disturbed Amy coming to terms with her existence. The whole gang which comprises of new comers (Neil Bhopalam,Shiv Pandit,Gulshan Devaiyya,Kriti Kulhari) are all competent actors who have the potential to rock the industry. Veterans like Pawan Malhotra (as the politically incorrect commissioner) and Rajit Kapoor (helpless rich father of Amy) are the pillars of the brilliant ensemble supporting cast. Overall Shaitaan is another milestone in Indian cinema. One wouldn't expect it to be a blockbuster but it will be lapped up by it's target niche audience. More movies of this kinds need to be made in India. Take a bow Anurag Kashyap, Bijoy Nambier and the whole team.