Shaitan

I learned about this movie couple of weeks ago through a facebook page. The storyline caught my attention and decided to watch it.and am glad i did.It is dark,dramatic and a bit of humor.I had to mention humor because it wasn't like those comedy scenes that you find in other Bollywood films.It made sense and that went with the story.'Shaitan' is realistic in every sense.

Movie has five main characters and the whole story revolves around the 'events' that they did.It shows the life of 5 young friends who is living life like hell.They drink,they shop lift,they fool around,pretty much everything that makes you feel alive.But a bit too much adrenalin rush followed by some unwise decisions turns their life around.

I absolutely loved the cast.Especially Kalki Koechlin and Rajeev Khandelwal.The direction was different and amusing.Although it was directed by Bejoy Nambiar, one can really see the hands of Anurag Kashyap behind this film.Its also said that this is an upgraded version of Kashyap's 'Paanch' which actually has to go through a lot of trouble with the sensor boards because 'it was too dark'.'Shaitan' has everything that i love in a movie.and i am so glad that they didn't destroy it with the cheesy songs and dances.I expect to watch more like these from Bollywood. Such movies can create a respectful place for Bollywood In Indian Cineam.

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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Anurag Kashyap .... yes.. that's the name everyone looks before going to watch a movie which has new actors, director, music directors, weird movie title (every body expects the title "Shaitan" to be associated with a horror one). And Anurag did it again by just being a produce. Its like "the MIDAS touch".

First, i was never going to watch this movie, but just gave a shot coz i am a huge fan of Anurag Kashyap. And.. taddaa ! I was not disappointed, even though the director is Bijoy Nambiar.

About Direction - Nambiar has his own style, can say the Guy Ritchie of Bollywood. Super slow motion, more involvement of camera as a character, fast paced flash backs, witty narration and good background music.

About actors - Really believable.. 'that's what is required in a movie'. Most of the lead actors were new ,but were well seasoned campaigners from the TV channels. Rajiv Khandelwal's role was very impact full, so was all the support actors.

About Music - Perfect ! just fitted the movie. It was just a character of the movie. Am really upset and wondering that ... y the songs.. "Khoya khoya chand and Hawa hawai" is not there in the OST? :(

About the Movie - Its the best Bollywood has to offer after "3 Idiots". Its... stylish, has good action, acting, music and its a zero VFX movie. The whole movie is real in its look (the roads, buildings, character, story). We can relate it to our own daily life routine. That's where the movie scores its mark. And above the all.. you can OR just watch this movie in theater... simply superb ! for its action, music, run chase, super slow mo scenes.

Aaah ! Shaitan ......

Shaitan, when i first heard of the title i thought it was was weird. Anurag, the producer has always been associated with different cinema, some great (Udaan), some quite bad (No Smoking) and some weird (Dev D). I thought that this would also be in the later category of weird. But I was curious, I wanted to check it out. Some subconscious inside me was telling me that this is gonna be good. Well my subconscious was spot on. This is one film that is not to be missed. To all my international friends who think bollywood is all about song and dance will sit up to this movie. On the downside this movie is not for everyone. The old and the still not adult category may not like it. It has some disturbing shots but are actually a piece of art. This is what cinema is all about, The ART. The film excels in all the departments, both on and off the camera. screenplay and direction are of the highest quality, cinematography and editing is breathtaking, background score is superb and the music is in sync with the film. The film has an ensemble cast and each and every character shines in their respective roles. Very good characterization also helps in their performance. This film like Udaan has a long long way to go. Everuone like it or not, But do WATCH IT

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.