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A couple is looking forward to spending a fun vacation at their farmhouse with their family, but the holiday turns into a hellish experience when an eccentric stranger intrudes into their home and exerts an unsettling satanic hold over their teen daughter Janvi.
Directed by Vikas Bahl, “Shaitaan” is a remake of Krishnadev Yagnik’s Gujarati horror movie “Vash” and features a rather unexacting “good versus evil” tale in the form of an ordinary family fighting for their daughter’s life against a demonic man called Vanraj Kashyap (Madhavan).
Madhavan is theatrically entertaining as the evil Vanraj, who, under the pretense of needing to charge his phone, makes himself comfortable at protagonist Kabir’s (Ajay Devgn) farmhouse. Kabir’s wife Jyoti (Jyotika) senses something off about the man and asks Kabir to make him leave. However, Vanraj refuses to leave, and then proceeds to demonstrate how he has their teen daughter Janvi (Janki Bodiwala also played the same part in “Vash”) under his control. To the couple’s shock, Janvi obeys Vanraj’s every command, behaving like a puppet with no free will, regardless of how bizarre the instructions are. At their wits end, the couple must find a way to save their daughter from the grip of the “Shaitaan” who has entered their home in the form of Vanraj. Will they?
Much like Ajay Devgn’s “Drishyam” movies, “Shaitaan” first establishes the idyllic image of a happy family, only to thrust the parents into an unprecedented situation that threatens their daughter’s life. However, “Shaitaan” is no crime thriller, and is a surprisingly straightforward supernatural-horror tale, but with little scope of eerie moments or surprise scares. Of-course, the makers create some significant suspense over Vanraj’s end-game, yet, they spend too much time in him playing puppet-master with the teen Janvi to break her parents. It’s unsettling to watch, but not scary or spooky enough for the horror genre.
Janki Bodiwala is excellent in portraying a helpless young girl under the vice-grip of a “Shaitaan”, it’s no wonder the creators chose to let her reprise her part. Jyotika feels under-utilized as Janvi’s mother, even though she outshines Ajay Devgn with her subtle, nuanced performance, despite having lesser screen-time. Instead of leaning on the clichéd “dad saves the day” trope for Ajay Devgn fans, the creators should have adjusted the script to give Jyotika’s character more depth, which could’ve made “Shaitaan” feel less formulaic.
The climactic scenes of “Shaitaan” are excessively cinematic, and Vanraj’s end-goal feels exaggerated and formulaic. However, if you’re simply seeking a classic horror film with elements of black magic and a familiar cast, the leads of this movie makes it worth a watch.
Rating: 6 on 10. Stream “Shaitaan” on Netflix.
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