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Ajay Devgn seems to have cracked the formula. In his 50s, the actor is fit as a fiddle. Milking his only saleable screen proposition, on this date, Devgn’s successful films thrive on a thin line where he is a ‘daddy’ of two kinds – the literal and the drool-worthy. In Vikas Bahl’s Shaitaan, fitting trousers make way for urban chic and the beard is twice as natty. The torso appears ripped underneath the bright t-shirt and the legs are carved carefully in the gym. And then he’s a saccharine-sweet father named Kabir to an adolescent Janvi and an annoying 8-year-old Dhruv who mouths lines akin to a baby Neelesh Mishra. The quiet wife Jyoti (Jyotika) seems very happy to take care of this overtly happy bunch. Now, what’s an Ajay Devgn film where an outside entity threatens to wreck his family?
This time it isn’t a lissome Rakul Preet (De De Pyaar De) or a lecherous sex predator (Drishyam). Madhavan appears as a Vanraj, a black magician to hunt down Janvi. Unfortunately for him and predictably for us, Kabir is too smart a cookie for Vanraj to crumble.
Remade from a Gujarati film, Shaitaan‘s screenplay thinks too highly of itself. As if it were the best thing to happen in the thriller genre since Agatha Christie wound up. Besides a wet mobile phone in a box of rice and a child’s hobby of editing music becoming major plot points, the film contains a couple of foreshadowing tricks such as Kabir stacking a bag full of cash to make us believe he is an outlaw and Vanraj’s appearance is an act of vengeance. None of it fully works or interests an audience member who is fed far more intelligent content on streaming channels.
Speaking of Vanraj, he resides in a jungle mansion, with 100+ captives, lit up like a Bhansali set to have no cop discover it ever. To give the actor credit, Madhavan’s convincing act is menacing in the early reels. Later, Shaitaan prolongs the repetitive violence for a long period and the film’s short runtime feels excruciating. In a small detour, a top cop enters the crime scene to see all key players act normal. He smells something fishy between the trio and also a gas leakage from the kitchen. No inspection happens and the cop never returns – even when a huge mystery stands resolved in the end.
ALSO READ: ‘De De Pyaar De’ review – A formulaic family comedy that springs a pleasant surprise
Shaitaan’s resolve to demystify the effect of black magic is somewhat contradictory when it tiptoes to a suspenseful yet simplistically penned last act. The might of a wounded father smoothly topples a repugnant criminal. The episode also makes us wonder how the latter managed to kidnap many and the police force never got a tip-off on how he looked like. Again, the writers’ tendency to fast-forward the tricky portions makes the film’s loopholes glaringly obvious.
Heavily formulaic, Shaitaan isn’t a terrible film per se. The film does have its share of thrills besides sparing us of sidetracks, songs, flashbacks, a revenge track, and so on. That said, the actors have been cast well although the graph of their characters barely changes. Janki Bodiwala as Janvi screams convincingly but the acts of violence get tiring after a point. Jyotika is sober and effective despite the limited scope. Even Devgn isn’t required to flex any acting muscles as the character in an upper-class replica of what we saw of him in Drishyam.
Vikas Bahl’s love for the Jeethu Joseph-penned film does not end here. Shaitaan comes with an unnecessary and abysmal scene right before the credits roll. An odd interest in cinema aside, Devgn’s leading man from Drishyam never came off as a psycho. Kabir’s strange monologue where he serves sermons about a mother’s fight to save her kids (Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway, anyone?) propels him to look abnormal and silly. Who will save Bollywood lovers from yet another grotesque sequel?
Rating: ★★ 1/2
