Stranger Things
Film: Shaitaan
Cast: Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Jyotika
Directed by: Vikas Behl
Duration: 2 hours 12 minutes
Rating: * *
Based on the Gujarati film Vash (2023) written by Krishnadev Yagnik, Shaitaan is a rather tedious supernatural thriller that offers very little except an ultra loud background score that tries hard to create some chills. The basic premise is interesting but as a film, it stretches too thin.
The film makers were perhaps aware of this fact and they try to spice up the screenplay by adding some scenes that turn out to be to clever. Let’s start from the beginning for that. Ajay Devgn plays Kabir who goes to his farmhouse with his wife (Jyotika), his hyperactive son and young daughter Janhvi (Janki Bodiwala, who played the role in the original film). The poster of this film gives an indication that Madhavan is a suspicious character in the film and that is revealed in no time after his character is introduced. He meets the family at a dhaba when they are having lunch and before you or anyone knows it, he starts ‘controlling’ that daughter – as in she listens to his commands. Except that he offers her a sweet, there’s no explanation about how this possession works, but it works. But she obeys him, even if she has to act against her family.
Even though the film claims it doesn’t promote superstition there are elements which would prompt some to believe in the supernatural. Most of the action unfolds at the farmhouse, where the stranger asks the couple to willfully ‘donate’ their daughter to him. They meanwhile have to find a way to overcome this situation and it is all too filmy. Like the cops who come knocking on the door, you know exactly how that is going to pan out.
In the climax, Ajay Devgn rides a bike with a knife pierced through the palm of his hand. Devgn has played the action hero in many films but even by Bollywood standards, this scene takes things too far.
The set up is such that it creates intrigue about why is the stranger doing these and how? The answer, as and when we get it, and it takes a fair bit of time to come, is insipid. While the characters are interesting, a father trying to protect his family, even it means hanging on the roof top, and a maniac stranger whose motives are unknown, their actions are unconvincing. Also, the screenplay tries to pull a fast one on the audience by showing certain actions of the hero as a flashback but in the climax to justify how clever he is. The black magic element looks straight out of a 70s and 80s film.
Ajay Devgn has played the harrowed father before, so that comes easy to him. The ladies have to look scared and they play their part with conviction, especially Janki Bodiwala, who also has to act hypnotized. Madhavan seems to be having fun while playing the evil character.
All said and seen, Shaitaan made me miss the Ramsay brothers.