After the initial thriller-suspense-occult mix, the narrative plunges into the Bollywood mould.
Film: Shaitaan
Director: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Jyothika, Janaki Bodiwala, Angad Raaj
Parbina Rashid
Long live Bollywood binary! The makers seems to be in no hurry to let go of the good boy-bad boy concept. If anything, with every project, they bring it back with renewed vigour. Just when we were getting used to the bad boys from the neighbouring country, Vikas Bahl introduces us to a new variety.
Bahl’s bad boy is not just another kohl-eyed, bomb-strapped human form, but one with occult power. And he is on a mission — to make the world dance to his command. We are soon coming to the hows and whens!
First, we are given a peep into the Kabir family (Ajay and Jyothika), with two children, teenager Janvi (Janaki Bodiwala) and her brother Dhruv (Angad Raaj). However, it’s not difficult to sense the impending doom that lurks beneath the joie de vivre. In one of the early scenes, Janvi tells her father that she would not return from her trip to Ladakh, and Ajay retorts by telling her that he would seek her out from anywhere in the world. She looks happy, secure in the love of her father, and we are convinced of witnessing the victory of good over evil — another tried, tested and mostly failed formula of Bollywood.
After ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Bholaa’, Ajay once again becomes the daddy who has to save his daughter from the evil (literally, in this case). Unlike the earlier two outings, he talks less, does even lesser in ‘Shaitaan’. Maybe the fatigue of portraying a similar role thrice in quick succession has set in!
The evil is introduced to us in the form of a stranger, Vanraaj (Madhavan), whom the family befriends on the way to their farmhouse. This English-speaking trendy occultist, who casts a spell of vashikaran over Janvi, is a delight to watch, with smirks and all.
The first half unfolds like an engaging hostage drama. The setting of the story seems perfect (shot mostly inside a big farmhouse) and the creepy twists are capable of instilling fear. Vanraaj makes Janvi do things in order to demonstrate his powers that make us cringe. Janaki is good in parts, especially in a scene where she crouches on a leaking gas cylinder, ready to strike a matchstick, her face contorted in fear and anger. While Ajay and Jyothika add intensity to the drama, Dhruv brings in some comic relief, which is a welcome diversion.
Krishnadev Yagnik’s story scores. With simple acts like the victim gulping down tea leaves, laughing non-stop or dancing till she is ready to drop, the writer can evoke fear.
It is difficult to say how faithful Bahl has been to the original Gujarati film ‘Vash’, which he has adapted for his debut horror movie, but after the initial thriller-suspense-occult mix, the narrative plunges straight into the Bollywood mould, with Vanraaj turning into the larger-than-life occultist inhabiting the jungle with 108 girls and some transgenders who remain under his spell.
His voodoo-meet-black magic act would have worked in the 1960s, but in 2024, it’s just mumbo-jumbo, which only manages to bring the plot down. In the era of CCTV cameras and satellite images, managing such a huge group of girls who are officially named as missing persons is a tad far-fetched.
Wish Vanraaj stayed the real-life contemporary occultist throughout, who we were beginning to like. And wish Vanraaj had been given a back-story. Just to know him a little better. With a deeper character arc, Vanraaj would have been able to carry this plot on his two able evil shoulders. And that would have at least challenged Bollywood’s triumph of good over evil narrative for once.
But with Ajay co-producing the film, there is no scope for any such things. So, what have we! Kabir, who remains helpless and mute while Vanraaj is in his house, springs into action, and brings an end to a crucial ritual and the man, with well, a tongue-wagging worthy climax and an equally bizarre post-script. If it does anything, it gives the good guy an extra coat of goodness. All said and done, between the good and bad exists another reality — the money power!
