Biswajit Tripathy A NRI family shifts to Mumbai and the daughter Kalki makes friend with some spoilt brats who believe in one thing; life is to enjoy, minus rules. Gang includes a drug peddler, a model, and an idle guy.While they start enjoying their life, a hit & run accident in which the victim dies on spot takes the story to a complete new turn. The investigating officer finds out the truth & starts blackmailing them for paying him up a huge amount of money. The gang mutually decides to plot a fake kidnapping of Kalki and ask ransom from her parents. Inspector Rajiv Khandelwal who was suspended for throwing a politician from 1st floor of his building was asked to investigate the case. Everything goes wrong after that with distrust among gang, & a series of rape, murder, blast follows.Awesome cinematography by R Madhi, Kunal Sharma's sound design, Sreekar Prasad's editing, & a very beautiful director in Bejoy Nambiar. A beautifully made movie from the house of Anurag Kasyap. Some nice background scores makes this film a must watch.

SMcritic First things first..Bejoy Nambiar does really good as the first time director of this dark and gritty fare. The cinematography, background music and chase scenes are done brilliantly. We have seen Mumbai's raw , unadulterated face exposed in several movies but that does not make it boring to watch, especially when done right.The cast , most of whom are first timers do a pretty decent job..some more than others. The introduction scenes explains the basics without spoon feeding the audience. Some scenes are cringe worthy and too stark but it warns the audience that this won't be a sugar coated anything movie.Even the storyline is interesting But..yes there is a but here.Had shaitan been released a couple of years back, there would not have been that many movies for a comparison. However ,as standards for Indian movies get higher, bolder and even deliciously original expectations increase. Shaitan has the right tone but the characterization falls flat..and takes the plot down with it..When the characters got introduced there seemed to be a pattern emerging..KC was the rich kid with an unexplained violent streak, Dash was the initiator who gave a damn about anyone, Neil was the timid one with secret desires , amy the crazy one with ideas and tania the follower..Once the movie progresses all characters go haywire...Dash sets the plan but cannot convince anyone of anything...Amy goes crazy purely on her own devices...and KC who is supposed to be mean and violent grows a conscience and becomes scared..the rest just bolt. Since the friendship doesn't go beyond merrymaking , the falling out holds no merit...The only character which remains true to its form ( mainly because it was one dimensional) is the cop's. The other characters in the movie are not too bad..I haven't watched Paanch but looking at some scenes on youtube, KK Menon's character seems scary , wild and completely unpredictable...That's not the case here..The Shakespearean darkness of plot..the sense of pure evil is actually missing in here...Instead there are 5 kids who are ordinary in extraordinary circumstances..maybe I am missing something...A little more shaitani and we would almost be there...

i_attitude A yellow Hummer speeding down the road with five youths and an Audi speeds past them almost in a 'catch me if you can" style.Then begins the race.One of the guys in hummer making a video of the race on his mobile to capture the moment of winning,Others cheering him,after sometime Audi quits the race accepting its defeat,turns left on a roundabout.The guy driving Hummer, starts circling the roundabout with a triumphant joy,others cheering him again.Then suddenly they stop to a screeching halt ,everyone tumbles over.They get down to see something which gives them the horror of their lives and sets the plot for the rest of the film.'Shaitan' looks straight into the face of the reluctant,not-so-eager Indian viewer and shakes him out of the slumber by introducing him to his own dark reality.People get used to complacency and are satisfied that what they are being served is what they only deserve, but when a filmmaker like Anurag Kashyap takes up the cause,he makes sure we get nothing but the best.The film is about a bunch of kids(as they are supposed to be attending schools) who are rich and carry a devil-may-care attitude.A 'rebel without a clue', 'KC' ,who has a rich god-fearing dad,doesn't mind stealing his mom's jewellery when he and his friends are in trouble and need money.Amy an NRI joins the 'gang' later ,has a destructive mentality because she lost her mother at an early age and holds everyone in her family responsible for that.Tanya,a forced model who does a saree ad because her sister wants her to.Dash is the guy we know least about and 'Zubin' played by neil bhoopalam an ex channel 'v' video jockey a gadget geek who sheepishly smiles when he gets caught by his mom giving himself a hand-job and finally Rajeev Khandelwal as Inspector Mathur who impresses again as 'tough as nail' cop who would rather kick an auto-driver than arguing when he refuses to go to a certain place .First time director Bejoy seems to have done his homework well and impresses with innovative camera techniques . There's a shot through a beer bottle during a song and the introduction of Insepector Mathur which is done in POV camera style.Producer Anurag kashyap is a prolific director himself and some of the scenes in the film seem like they've been lifted straight from his previous films like there's a scene in the film where a 'good cop' (Rajeev Khandelwal) chases a 'bad cop' through the narrow by-lanes of Bombay slums a la the 'great chase' sequence in his own movie 'Black Friday'.Producer further indulges himself by recreating another scene from his own film 'Paanch' which got shelved after a controversial face-off with the censor-board because of its violent and drug related scenes and still seem like too much for our iron-clad society even after more than 10 years of its making.'Shaitan' scores some extra points when it shows some real gory and bloody scenes and creates a feeling of horror in the viewer who by so far was enjoying good music and trying to relive his own college days by watching the gang's juvenile antics.This film does, what 'Dil chahta hai' and 'Rang de basanti' did for the decade just went by,which is, showing another facade of the youth which can be all fun-loving at times but has the potential for being the most turbulent when its expected to be at its best.I feel more films like 'Shaitan' should come out as these films are not made to send a message across but to make one feel that anyone can have an alternative side which he's not aware of and can wreck a havoc if not timely tamed.

Chatswood The self realization process is always tough. You have to deal with inner demons and divinity. Some people call it Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence is about to know your emotions and being aware of how to express it. There are lot of among us who doesn't know how to express rage. They prone to rage instantly and make unfavorable decisions. Shaitaan talks about it but unfortunately in unorganized way. The director, cinematographer succeeds to set loud premises for the film, but then they fails to deliver organized, tight film. It is script that fails to realize resolution point. Director tried too many concepts but he never concluded a thing. This film ends with uncertain note. Director wanted to tell that inner demon can destroy you and there is also divine side which can be pulled out by love, sympathy, affection. Screenplay is real star of the film. Sequence where two protagonist fights in front of Jesus gives you multi-dimensional perspective. Shaitaan comes with surprises, because only predictability of inner demon is its unpredictability. Love can takes you away from your inner demon. It was justified in the film.Acting department has got new talent. Rajeev Khandelwal is the one who stands out. You can see maturity in his acting. Kalki's story is a high point of the film, especially opening sequence that exactly portrays inner demon. Actually director treats it as a part of personality rather than predefined emotion. Cameramen used similar camera movement in the introduction sequence of the film that enriches the experience. I enjoyed that part most. Background score is funny because it brings out the sarcasm. There are very small details that make this cinema more interesting. Things like original name of Amy that sounded like typical Indian rural name, which emphasis on contrast between personalities. Hammer car that denotes loud, care free attitude towards life.Somehow this film reminds me Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, may be because of care free attitude that portrays in both films. In the era so called entertaining cinema, this kind of cinema maintains balance in Hindi film industry,