Shaitaan Review: Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan’s Film About Black Magic Is A Product Of Lazy Writing, Mediocre Performances
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1.5 / 5
Films on subjects like black magic or Vashikaran are quite rare. And if a movie promises to do so with a trailer as great as Shaitaan, then we go to the theatres with high expectations. But did it deliver the same? Shaitaan is the remake of the 2003 Gujarati film Vash and is directed by Vikas Bahl. It stars Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Janki Bodiwala, Jyotika and Anngad Raj in lead roles. The film revolves around a modern and happy family whose lives are turned upside down when they meet an uninvited stranger on their vacation. The crime-thriller that could potentially be such an intriguing watch loses its essence because of the weak storyline, bad execution and mediocre performances, barring a few positives. Here’s a detailed review to let you decide whether this Vikah Bahl deserves your attention or not!
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Plot
Shaitaan starts by introducing us to the happy family of four. Audiences are also made aware of Kabir (Ajay Devgn) and Janvi’s (Janki Bodiwala) strong father-daughter bond through some heartwarming scenes in the beginning. Kabir and his family take a trip to their farmhouse located amidst a jungle, but their getaway does not turn out to be as fun as they thought. They meet a strange man (R Madhavan) on their way who comes to their farmhouse uninvited only to leave the family with a horrible nightmare. The first half of Shaitaan gradually builds up to show how the stranger makes Janvi his puppet through black magic. The second half picks up pace but not so much. There is some violence and action as the parents try to protect their family from a man who uses their daughter to hurt them. It becomes a battle between good and evil but did Kabir finally find a way to end the horrors of this Shaitaan (Madhavan)?
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The Negatives
Story
Shaitaan is directed by Vikas Bahl, and written by Aamil Keeyan Khan and Krishnadev Yagnik. The plot of this crime-thriller is shallow and hardly has moments of thrill in it. A character as intense as Madhavan’s fails to have any lasting impact because of loose writing. There is no context to the character’s motive whatsoever. The plot follows a linear narrative with a few twists here and there. The first half of the film is very slow, and even after the interval, this film on black magic only has a few scenes to keep us on the edge of our seats, and it mostly happens when the mother (Jyotika) takes up the charge to fight the Shaitaan. The 10 mins of the film’s climax was quite interesting but there are many unnecessary additions to the plot that make the story look stretched. R Madhavan’s dialogues have little to no impact in creating the ambience of fear, and that disappointed us! It also has a lot of moments where we end up questioning the logic of this film. Firstly, the happy family is too good to be true, there is no backstory to Madhavan’s character and why he ends up targeting young girls only. It is also hard to believe that an illegal and dangerous activity carried out by this man with powers of black magic goes unnoticed by the police. Well, we see no reason why these questions are not bound to pop up in your mind while you watch the film.
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Also Read: Shaitaan Trailer: Ajay Devgn, Jyotika Promise A Chilling Supernatural Horror Film, R Madhavan Looks Terrifying!
Performances
Ajay Devgn- There is hardly anything to remember about his character as Kabir. While Ajay Devgn effortlessly meets the demands of his character as a father who goes to any extent to save the family, Kabir still does not have anything fresh to offer. His character suffers the consequences of lazy writing.
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R Madhavan- We certainly had our hopes high for Madhavan’s character as the Shaitaan. But the actor ended up disappointing us big time. His character had many flaws because of the writing but even Madhavan’s performances failed to make it look convincing to us. The evil nature of his character was boiled down to look funny and caricaturish. The lack of context for what drives his character’s evil motivations of gaining superpower through black magic is the reason we don’t establish a sense of fear with Madhavan’s on-screen portrayal as Shaitaan.
Janki Bodiwala- Janki as Janvi is impressive. The actress also played the same role in the original Gujarati film Vash. She does justice in portraying the role of a girl who unknowingly becomes a victim of black magic. There are moments in which Janki shines. At moments, the actress is bang on with her creepy expressions, but these moments do not last long in the film.
Jyothika- The actress portrays the fear of a hopeless and scared mother with a lot of impact. TBH, it is only her character that establishes an emotional connection with us. We feel the anger in her when she instinctively attacks the Shaitaan ( Madhavan). Her hand-to-hand combat with Shaitaan is the only scene in the film which gives us an adrenaline rush!
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Anngad Raaj: The actor is impressive as a smart and talented kid. His character physically suffers the most in Shaitaan. So sad!
Direction
We had a lot of expectations with Vikas Bahl exploring a supernatural drama through Shaitaan but unfortunately, this becomes one of his weakest storytelling to date. The magic that the director is known to create on the big screen with his cinematography is lacking in Shaitaan. A film which deals with the unsettling topic of black magic and Vashikaran falls flat due to its monotonous nature of storytelling.
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Positives
The Climax; The twist in the climax is a little engaging after the 2 hours and 12 minutes of watching a loosely woven script with boring characters. The last bit got our attention but that moment is short-lived.
Background Score: Shaitaan’s theme song as the background score at the beginning of the film was quite interesting to set the mood. The music is composed by Amit Trivedi, sung by Siddharth Basrur and lyrics penned by Kumaar.
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Verdict
Vikas Bahl’s Shaitaan is a remake that gave us many expectations after its trailer release, only to realise that it was all a sham! Despite having some great actors on board, the movie makes you want to bang your head against the wall because of its bad execution and writing. Madhavan’s character which looked so intriguing in the trailer falls flat in the film, and this is a shock that we will take a while to recover from. Shaitaan is bound to draw parallels with Vash in terms of the story and performance because the latter was hailed as one of the best films in this genre. Shaitaan is currently running in theatres, but if you love thrillers, then you should skip the Vikas Bahl directorial because it will only shatter your expectations!
First Published: March 08, 2024 9:58 AMLadies, Gift Yourself These 10 Self-Love Gifts This Women’s Day!
