Shaitan (film)
| Shaitan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bejoy Nambiar |
| Produced by |
Anurag Kashyap Sunil Bohra Guneet Monga Meraj Shaikh |
| Screenplay by |
Megha Ramaswamy Bejoy Nambiar |
| Starring |
Rajit Kapoor Rajeev Khandelwal Kalki Koechlin Pawan Malhotra Shiv Pandit Gulshan Devaiya Neil Bhoopalam Kirti Kulhari Rukhsaar Rehman Sheetal Menon Sonali Sachdev |
| Music by |
Prashant Pillai Amar Mohile Ranjit Barot Anupam Roy |
| Cinematography | R. Madhi |
| Edited by | Sreekar Prasad |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Viacom 18 Motion Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹110 million (US$1.6 million) |
| Box office | ₹397.6 million (US$5.9 million) |
Shaitan (translation: Devil) is a 2011 Hindi crime thriller film, directed by Bejoy Nambiar starring Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiya, Shiv Pandit, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari, Rajit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Rajkummar Rao. The film was released on 10 June 2011.[1]
Plot
Shaitan starts off with Amy (Kalki Koechlin), who is mentally disturbed and deeply affected by the attempted suicide and eventual institutionalisation of her mother, Saira. She moves from Los Angeles to Mumbai, where she meets KC (Gulshan Devaiya) at a party her parents forcefully take her to. KC introduces her to his gang – Dash (Shiv Pandit), Zubin (Neil Bhoopalam) and Tanya (Kirti Kulhari). They lead a directionless life, having fun, drinking, using drugs and driving around in a Hummer. On one such occasion, they start racing a random car and win. In the celebration rush, they run over two people riding on a scooter, killing them instantly.
They quickly leave the spot but are easily traced down by a slimy cop, Inspector Malwankar (Rajkummar Rao), who demands ₹ 2,500,000 ($41,500) to drop the case. Dash tells them about a friend (Rajat Barmecha) who faked his own brother's kidnapping and extracted ₹ 2 million from his own parents. After Amy volunteers to be the kidnapping victim, they hatch a plan. Upon receiving the ransom call, Amy's father, contrary to their expectations immediately approaches Police Commissioner (Pavan Malhotra) for help. The Police Commissioner assigns an upright cop Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal) to solve the case unofficially, as he is on suspension after throwing a corporator from the first floor of his own house for allegedly beating up a woman. Inspector Mathur is shown to be having a disturbed married life and nearly divorces his wife.
The group of youngsters then hide in a shady hotel, acting upon the plan hatched by Dash. When Tanya is nearly raped by a man, they react violently and kill him. They escape from the lodge and hide out in a cinema hall, where Amy finds a packet of cocaine in Dash's satchel. Tanya is deeply disturbed by their recent actions, and convinces Zubin to take her home. While Zubin leaves to find a taxi, Tanya gets into an altercation with Amy. Amy, while under the influence of cocaine, is convinced that the phone call that Tanya was making to her sister was actually to the police. In the physical confrontation that follows, KC severely injures Tanya. Zubin, upon returning, finds the gruesome scene and flees. He is later arrested by the police while attempting to leave the city. Dash takes Amy and KC to a church in the outskirts of Mumbai and instructs them to hide there while he tries to figure things out with Malwankar.
The arrested Zubin, in the meantime, reveals the entire scenario to the police. They track down Malwankar, who was attempting to escape with his wife. In the ensuing chase, Malwankar is nearly killed in an auto collision. While buying food, the exasperated KC sees his handicapped sister being traumatised by the media. He then calls his father and asks him for help. Using this call, the police trace the trio to the church. Upon returning to the church, KC tells the other two everything and tries to convince Amy to leave the church with him. Dash, however, confronts him and the two get into a bloody confrontation. It ends with Dash beating KC to death. Dash then tries to get Amy to leave the church with him. However, a cocaine-fuelled Amy has a traumatic flashback involving her mother trying to drown her as a child. In this frenzy, she stabs Dash, who is trying to restrain her. She is then found by Inspector Mathur.
The police, despite knowing the truth, get the three surviving friends to sign a statement saying that Dash had kidnapped all four. This is done to save the reputation of the much-maligned police force. Mathur then meets his wife, indicating a possible reconciliation. The film ends with Amy being resigned to the convent, that she always feared, albeit with her mother's name (Saira).
Cast
- Rajeev Khandelwal as Inspector Arvind Mathur
- Kalki Koechlin as Amrita Jayshankar a.k.a. Amy
- Shiv Pandit as Dushyant Sahu a.k.a. Dash
- Neil Bhoopalam as Zubin Shroff
- Gulshan Devaiya as Karan Chaudhary a.k.a. K.C
- Kirti Kulhari as Tanya Sharma
- Rajit Kapoor as Amy's Father
- Shivani Tanksale as Amy's Mother[2]
- Pawan Malhotra as Commissioner of Police
- Nikhil Chinapa as Inspector Sandeep
- Rukhsaar Rehman as Tanya's elder sister
- Rajkummar Rao as Inspector Malvankar (Pintya)
- Sheetal Menon as Nandini (Arvind's wife)
- Rajat Barmecha as Shomu (Cameo)
- Imran Rasheed as Rehmat
Production
Director Bejoy Nambiar, who assisted Mani Ratnam in Guru, approached Kalki Koechlin to play a role in the movie. But since the film was not moving for two years, Anurag Kashyap agreed to produce it on a smaller budget.[3]
Reception
The film received positive response from critics in India. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave it 4/5 stars and said "Shaitan is bound to raise eyebrows thanks to its contemporary, thrilling, hard-hitting and forceful content. One of the most ingenious and entertaining thrillers I've seen in a long time."[4] Pankaj Sabnani from Glamsham also gave the film 4/5 and said "Shaitan is a spellbinding thriller with 'awesomeness' written all over it."[5] Nikhat Kazmi gave it 3.5/5 stars and wrote "it turns the camera three-sixty degrees and brings you the grime of a subterranean sub-culture that throbs amidst a certain section of metropolitan maverick twenty-somethings."[6] Anupama Chopra from NDTV gave 3/5 stars.[7] Mayank Shekhar from Hindustan Times gave 3/5 stars.[8] Ankit Ojha of Planet Bollywood praised Shaitan and its thematic element to a large extent, giving the movie 9 stars out of 10, writing, "Nambiar has managed to impress each and everyone of the discerning film viewer and movie buff. This is Hindi cinema finally coming of age! Recommended for more than one watch, as to absorb the totality of the film’s context and subtext! Outstanding stuff!"[9]
One negative review came from Raja Sen of Rediff.com. He gave it 2/5 stars and wrote "Populated exclusively by the very coolest of character actors, backgrounded by a blaring retro-loving soundtrack, and shot dizzyingly in hypertechnicolor."[10]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18th Annual Colors Screen Awards | Screen Award for Most Promising Debut Director | Bejoy Nambiar | Won |
| Best Background Music | Ranjit Barot | Won | |
| Screen Award for Best Cinematography | R. Madhi | Won | |
| Screen Award for Best Sound Design | Kunal Sharma | Won | |
| Best Film | Shaitan | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Bejoy Nambiar | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Kalki Koechlin | Nominated | |
| Screen Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role (Female) | Kalki Koechlin | Nominated | |
| Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast | Rajeev Khandelwal, Shiv Pandit, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiya, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari | Nominated | |
| Best Female Playback | Suman Sridhar | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay | Bejoy Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy | Nominated | |
| Best Editing | Sreekar Prasad | Nominated | |
| Screen Award for Best Action | Javed-Ejaaz | Nominated | |
| Zee Cine Awards 2012 | Best Background Music | Ranjit Barot | Won |
| 7th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards | Apsara Award for Best Screenplay | Bejoy Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy | Nominated |
| Apsara Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Gulshan Devaiya | Nominated | |
| 57th Idea Filmfare Awards 2011 | Filmfare Award for Best Background Score | Ranjit Barot | Won |
| Best Male Debut | Shiv Pandit and Gulshan Devaiya | Nominated | |
| Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director | Bejoy Nambiar | Nominated | |
| Best Cinematography | R. Madhi | Nominated | |
| Stardust Awards 2012 – Searchlight Awards | Best Director | Bejoy Nambiar | Nominated |
| Best Actress | Kalki Koechlin | Nominated | |
| Best Actor | Gulshan Devaiya | Nominated | |
Soundtrack
The music is composed by Prashant Pillai, Amar Mohile, Ranjit Barot, and Anupam Roy. Lyrics are penned by K. S. Krishnan, Sanjeev Sharma, Colin Terence, Abhishek, and Shradha. Ironically, Khoya Khoya Chand (remix song by Mikey McCleary, vocals by Suman Sridhar) is not included in the track lists by the producers. The popular number "Hawa Hawai" from the 1987 film, Mr. India, composed by the duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal has been reused (remix song by Mikey McCleary, vocals by Suman Sridhar) in the film.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Amy's Theme" | Sanjeev Sharma | Ranjit Barot | Suzanne D'Mello | 4:07 |
| 2. | "Fareeda" | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | Suraj Jagan | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Josh" | Colin Terence, Abhishek, Shradha | Amar Mohile | Colin Terence, Abhishek, Shradha | 4:05 |
| 4. | "Hawa Hawai" | Javed Akhtar | Laxmikant-Pyarelal | Prashant Pillai, Suman Sridhar | 4:54 |
| 5. | "Nasha" | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | Prashant Pillai, Bindu Nambiar | 3:15 |
| 6. | "O Yaara" | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | Kirti Sagatia, Preeti Pillai | 5:07 |
| 7. | "Pintya" | Sanjeev Sharma | Ranjit Barot | Dr. Ganesh Chandanshive | 2:58 |
| 8. | "Zindagi" | Sanjeev Sharma | Ranjit Barot | Ranjit Barot | 3:11 |
| 9. | "Bali" (The Sound of Shaitan) | K. S. Krishnan | Prashant Pillai | Farhad Bhiwandiwala, K.S. Krishnan, Preeti Pillai, Hitesh Modak, Kalloist | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Enter" (Music) | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | 1:20 | |
| 11. | "Nasha" (Rock & Soul Version) | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | Ranjit Barot, Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Bindu Nambiar | 4:17 |
| 12. | "Outro" (Music) | Sanjeev Sharma | Prashant Pillai | 1:36 | |
| 13. | "Retro Pop Shit" (Music) | Sanjeev Sharma | Anupam Roy | 3:17 | |
| 14. | "Unleashed" (Music) | Bhayanak Maut | 3:39 |
References
- ↑ "Shaitan : Complete Cast and Crew details". Bollywoodhungama.com. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ↑ "Shaitan movie review". indiatoday. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Anurag Kashyap nurtures talent". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ↑ "Shaitan movie review". Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Shaitan movie review". Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Gritty crime drama". Times of India. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Review:Shaitan". Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Mayank Shekhar's review: Shaitan". Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ↑ Ankit Ojha. "Ankit Ojha's movie review of Shaitan on Planet Bollywood". PlanetBollywood.com. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ↑ "Review by rediff". Review by rediff. Rediff.com. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
External links
- Shaitan at the Internet Movie Database