Shaitan

Cast: Rajeev Khandelwal,Kalki Koechlin,Shiv Pandit,Rajit Kapoor,Gulshan Devaiya,Kirti Kulhari,Rajat Barmecha

Neil Bhoopalam,Pawan Malhotra,Nikhil Chinnappa,Rukhsar,Abhijeet Deshpande,Raj Kumar Yadav

Director: Bijoy Nambiar

We all subconsciously inhibit our inner demons and in a typical Freudian explanation of human psyche involving the Id, Ego and Superego. We all harbor our twisted thoughts and deviant feelings in the desirous Id which in turn gets suppressed by the moralizing Superego. It's only in the case of few that the regression takes over unleashing the devil within. Debutante filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar terrifically encapsulates this state of mind in his snazzy film Shaitan.

Set in Mumbai, Shaitan is the story of 5 youngsters Amy (Kalki Koechlin), Dash (Shiv Pandit), KC (Gulshan Devaiya), Zubin (Neil Bhoopalam) and Tanya (Kirti Kulhari). Young, intelligent, good looking and 'uber cool'. With no hang ups and no boundaries, excitement is what they seek till an accident changes everything. Enters Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal) who is righteous and intolerant towards crime and he is out to bust the. The attempts and actions to cover up the assassination of two people on a scooter lead these five friends through a series of incidents bringing out the inner shaitan in all of them.

Shaitan unabashedly brings in a feast potpourri of emotions, sex, cynicism, danger, drugs suppressed for long in the commercially and socially normative Hindi cinema. It sure is disturbing but since when did facing the insidious, neurotic, inner regression become pleasant? Debutante filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar's plot may certainly not be too ahead of its time. The lives of high-society devious young guns have been tackled in the past too but it's the menacing eccentricity and the nonconformity to the potboiler norms that makes Shaitan devilishly thrilling. It is an edgy film with characters coming up at every turning point keeping the audience glued to their seats.

The story does slack in many points so does the narrative appear far-fetched in some places (read, the entire media fracas surrounding the high profile kidnapping is over the top). Even the duration of the film seems lengthy leaving a room for at least a good 15 minute deduction but what still gets the audience going is the maverick cinematography which is nothing short of a visual treat. Kudos! To cinematographer R Madhi for presenting the new-age cinematic genius. The slow motion accident shot is just mind boggling! Another key point that aides the story line just right is the stupendous background score by Ranjit Barot. It's difficult to ignore the brilliant remix of Dev Anand's Khoya Khoya Chand or the background work during chase sequence of Rajeev Khandelwal and Rajkumar Yadav.

Talk of the acting and all the five actors Kalki, Shiv, Gulshan, Neil and Kirti leave you in awe. Kalki's acting as that of a psychedelic is outstanding. Rajeev Khandelwal as the cop who busts their crime is just perfect. Rajat Barmecha in his cameo is entertaining. The only actor unappealing is Rajkumar Yadav who brings nothing new with him. His acting seems just as that in Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Ragini MMS. To sum it up, Shaitan is blatant, unabashed and impishly pleasing. A must watch for its devilish excellence and cinematic brilliant. You cannot ignore this Shaitan. 'Shaitan' isn't a comfortable film to watch. Yes, there is humour, a lot of it actually, especially in the first half. However you know that somewhere down there in a dark corner, there is danger lurking around. There may be laughs here and there but this is certainly no Riverdale. This isn't an extreme dark alley in a slum either. It is an upmarket setting but just like it happens in a Ram Gopal Varma film where a cost surrounding could suddenly lead to a bloody setting, the same is pretty much the case in 'Shaitan' as well where it takes just one incident to turn around the mood of the film, and in the process bring out the 'shaitan' in you.

At the face value, the storyline of 'Shaitan' is pretty simple. Five youngsters - Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiya, Neil Bhoopalam, Shiv Pandit and Kirti Kulhari, are living the kind of life which is made of booze, drugs, love and sex with no place for 'dhokha'. Though there are no 'janmon-nama ki kasam' between any of them, a mutual understanding is for all to stick together in thick and thin. Well, until an accident changes it all. In their heart they want to be together but their mind plays around 'shaitani' games that ends up challenges their resolve for good.

This is apparent in the very opening sequence of the film where all characters are introduced as the opening credits start rolling. Watch it for it's pace, shot taking and an overall cutting edge appeal. This isn't where the fun ends. Watch out for the extended sequence where all youngsters get into a road rage and the incident that follows next. The entire Raj Kumar Gupta (playing a junior cop) episode is well laid out too while the series of events that convert an accident (followed by a kidnapping episode) into a high profile case is narrated extremely well as well. The second half is good as well but misses the crispness of the narrative in the first half. The film starts taking the route of a slasher thriller where you know that one after another, most of the characters would be dumped. The 'Kaante' hangover looms large as well where you know that difficult situations would lead to protagonists ending up betraying each other.

Not that the film is bereft of any striking moments in this half. The pre-climax and climax are well laid out as well where Pawan Malhotra (playing a Police Commissioner and natural to the core) has a couple of 'true' conversations with cop Rajeev Khandelwal (who is asked to solve the kidnapping case) explaining the dilemma of the department. However the entire episode involving Rajeev and his wife is completely unwarranted. Yes, their scene in the Court does bring on some laughter but in the bigger scheme of things, the relationship here was best left on the editing table.

What works as a superb ally is music with 'The Sound Of Shaitan', 'Josh', 'O Yaara' and 'Fareeda' accentuating the narrative further. Amongst actors, the ones who stand out are Kalki and Gulshan. Rest assured, they would be seen in many more films from here. Shiv is just okay in a role where he could have done wonders. Neil is good though he was better in 'No One Killed Jessica'. Kirti shows vast improvement over her 'Khichdi The Movie' debut. Rajeev deserved a few more meaty scenes to justify his presence. Rajat Barmecha (of 'Udaan' fame) is 'oh-so-lovable' in a cameo and shows what he is made of.

To think of it, the basic plot isn't the most innovative of all. In a different shape, format and plot with a similar conflict, films like 'Kaante', 'Plan', 'Agyaat' and at least half a dozen more films in recent times have followed the same thread. The kind where friends are together to begin with but are willing to opt out if it makes for a better life ahead. This is where first time director Bijoy Nambiar comes into picture. He creates the kind of atmosphere that lends a unique feel to 'Shaitan'. He makes good use of the technology made available to him and ensures that coupled with an innovative story telling technique, he has a winner in hands. If there were any doubts about 2011 being the year of reckoning for Indian cinema, "Shaitan" with its mounting mood of ricocheting restlessness puts all doubts to rest. The skillful interweaving of strong storytelling and powerful performances is underpinned by a wild sense of humor that shows up at the oddest of places to remind us that cinema is not about following all the punctuation rules of storytelling. It's about knowing when and where to rev up the drama to just that right pitch to carry us into a tripped-out world of hedonism and redemption.

This stunning tale of five misguided youngsters (no relation to Anurag Kashyap's "Paanch" as reported) from the uppercrust displays a flair for unleashing an energy that leaves us breathless with anticipation. It's tough to keep up with the film's unbridled zest for momentum. From the opening montage showing poignant scenes from Kalki's childhood with her troubled mother to the dying moments when the five protagonists are rendered either dead or damned or both, this work of pop-art just sweeps you into its furious folds of angst and anxiety. First-time director Bejoy Nambiar doesn't waste time in introducing the characters. We know them almost instantaneously.

A huge USP in many recent films set in the madness of the urban jungle is the raw energy of the outdoor locations. "Shaitan" assails you with the tension and the anxiety of people on the run. The camera is never inattentive. The street scenes and the sound-design are absolutely brilliant. With devilish dexterity, we are taken into the homes, minds and fetishes of the five youngsters. In the first 25 minutes, Nambiar constructs a cool case study for the young quintet's self-destruction. Then he watches the trendy fund-flush world of designer labels and other costly indulgences come apart at the seams. Some of the scenes are deliberately designed to exude the terror of over-indulgence. Fortunately, most of the pay-off happens almost of its own volition. "Shaitan" is a morality tale with a gut-wrenching twist. It dares to venture into the psychedelic world of the affluent urban young and then rips the veil of ecstasy apart to reveal the emptiness that defines every life lived on the edge of extravagance. Miraculously, "Shaitan" is a morality-tale that doesn't moralist. It creates a world of self-destructive pleasure pursuits but doesn't sit judgement on that world.

Nambiar gets terrific support from his cinematographer (R. Madhi) and editor (Sreekar Prasad) in creating a world that is cinematic and dramatic and yet real enough. Comparing Nambiar's style of storytelling to Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie or Nambiar's mentor Mani Ratnam or Anurag Kashyap would be as self-defeating as comparing "Shaitan" to the other recent films on the young and the doomed. Namibia creates his own world where the quirky and collapsible are constantly jostling for attention. The narrative is loose-limned, yet never flabby or self-indulgent. The film exudes the unbridled energy of a rock song but doesn't forget to include a melodic underbelly in its com positional range. The madly idealistic cop's (Rajeev Khandelwal) disintegrating marriage to a woman (Sheetal Menon) who just won't talk remarkably creates a space for itself in the stifling bustle of this film's main action.

A special word for debutants Shiv Pandit, Gulshan Devaiya, and semi-newcomers Neil Bhoopalam, Kalki Koechlin (her malice in blunder land act is haunting) and Raj Kumar Yadav the "Ragini MMS" hero in top form here as corrupt cop. Also Pavan Malhotra as a senior police officer. As for Rajiv Khandelwal as a twisted cynical successor to Amitabh Bachchan' angry cop from "Zanjeer", this is a skilled actor with ample star-potential. "Shaitan" is a work of many virtues about the myriad vices that plague the life of the young and the rich. It doesn't preach. It doesn't use Hindi abuse words for effect. And the camera chooses to focus on sagging moral values rather than heaving breasts.

The music blends into the volatile theme. There is a quaint remix of the Dev Anand-Mohd Rafi-S.D. Burman classic "Khoya Khoya Chand" as an ironical homage to the independence that the past generation fought for, and got. "Shaitan" looks at the sub-zero level of moral values among a section of the urban young with a whimsical zest for a new kind of cinematic voice that is far removed from films about cops and desperado that we've come to know over the years. This is a defining moment in Indian cinema.