| Shaitan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bejoy Nambiar |
| Screenplay by | Megha Ramaswamy Bejoy Nambiar |
| Produced by | Anurag Kashyap Sunil Bohra Guneet Monga |
| Starring | Rajeev Khandelwal Kalki Koechlin Pawan Malhotra Shiv Panditt Gulshan Devaiah Neil Bhoopalam Kirti Kulhari Rukhsaar Rehman Rajit Kapoor Sheetal Menon Rajkummar Rao |
| Cinematography | R. Madhi |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by | Prashant Pillai Amar Mohile Ranjit Barot Anupam Roy |
Production companies | Tipping Point Films Anurag Kashyap Films Getaway Films Bohra Bros |
| Distributed by | Viacom 18 Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹110 million (US$1.4 million) |
| Box office | ₹397.6 million (US$5.0 million) |
Shaitan (transl. Devil) is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Bejoy Nambiar in his feature film debut and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra, Guneet Monga and Nambiar himself under the banners Anurag Kashyap Films and Getaway Films, which was co-produced and distributed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The script was written by Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy. The film stars Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah, Shiv Panditt, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari, Rajit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Rajkummar Rao. Based on the 2007 murder of Adnan Patrawala incident, the film revolves around five friends who wanted to live an adventurous life gets embroiled in a crime.
Bejoy Nambiar was initially planned the script of this incident, for Ashok Amritraj who wanted to produce the film under Hyde Park Entertainment. The film was supposed to be shot in English language, with Los Angeles as the principal location for this story. However, due to the disapproval of the production company, Nambiar decided to change the scripting and setting with the film taking place in Mumbai. The delayed progress attributed due to the company's exit and Anurag Kashyap joined the project in mid-2010, who heard about the similarities of this story with his unreleased directorial debut Paanch, based on the 1976-1977 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders. The film was shot entirely in Mumbai within 12 days.
Shaitan was released on 10 June 2011 across 575 screens in Mumbai. The film opened to positive response from critics and audiences, praising the direction, setting, storyline, screenplay, with praise directed on the performances and the technical aspects of the film. Additionally, it was a commercial success grossing ₹390 million against a budget of ₹110 million.[1] Additionally, the film received nominations at several award ceremonies, in which Shaitan won five Screen Awards and a Filmfare Award. It is considered as a "cult classic" and described by film critics as "one among the film's that defined the new wave of Bollywood".[2]
Plot[edit]
Shaitan starts off with Amy (Kalki Koechlin), who is mentally disturbed and deeply affected by the attempted suicide and eventual institutionalisation of her mother, Saira. She moves from Los Angeles to Mumbai, where she meets KC (Gulshan Devaiah) at a party her parents forcefully take her to. KC introduces her to his gang – Dash (Shiv Panditt), Zubin (Neil Bhoopalam) and Tanya (Kirti Kulhari). They lead a directionless life, having fun, drinking, using drugs and driving around in a Hummer. On one such occasion, they start racing a random car and win. In the celebration rush, they run over two people riding on a scooter, killing them instantly.
They quickly leave the spot but are easily tracked down by a slimy cop, Inspector Malwankar (Rajkummar Rao), who demands ₹25 lakh to drop the case. Dash tells them about a friend (Rajat Barmecha) who faked his own brother's kidnapping and extracted ₹20 lakhs from his own parents. After Amy volunteers to be the kidnapping victim, they hatch a plan. Upon receiving the ransom call, Amy's father, contrary to their expectations, immediately approaches Police Commissioner (Pavan Malhotra) for help. The Police Commissioner assigns an upright cop Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal) to solve the case unofficially, as he is on suspension after throwing a corporator from the first floor of his own house for allegedly beating up a woman. Inspector Mathur is shown to be having a disturbed married life and nearly divorces his wife.
The group of youngsters then hide in a shady hotel, acting upon the plan hatched by Dash. When Tanya is nearly raped by a man, they react violently and kill him. They escape from the lodge and hide out in a cinema hall, where Amy finds a packet of cocaine in Dash's satchel. Tanya is deeply disturbed by their recent actions, and convinces Zubin to take her home. While Zubin leaves to find a taxi, Tanya gets into an altercation with Amy. Amy, while under the influence of cocaine, is convinced that the phone call that Tanya was making to her sister was actually to the police. In the physical confrontation that follows, KC smashes Tanya's head into a wall and leaves her bleeding and unconscious. Zubin, upon returning, finds the gruesome scene, and thinking Tanya is dead, flees. He is later arrested by the police while attempting to leave the city. Dash takes Amy and KC to a church in the outskirts of Mumbai and instructs them to hide there while he tries to figure things out with Malwankar.
The arrested Zubin, in the meantime, reveals the entire scenario to the police. They track down Malwankar, who was attempting to escape with his wife. In the ensuing chase, Malwankar is nearly killed in a truck collision. While buying food, the exasperated KC sees his handicapped sister being traumatised by the media. He then calls his father and asks him for help. Using this call, the police trace the trio to the church. Upon returning to the church, KC tells the other two everything and tries to convince Amy to leave the church with him. Dash, however, confronts him, and the two get into a bloody confrontation. It ends with Dash beating KC to death. Dash then tries to get Amy to leave the church with him. However, a cocaine-fuelled Amy has a traumatic flashback involving her mother trying to drown her as a child. In this frenzy, she stabs Dash, who is trying to restrain her. She is then found by Inspector Mathur.
The police, despite knowing the truth, get the three surviving friends to sign a statement saying that Dash had kidnapped all four. This is done to save the reputation of the much-maligned police force. Mathur then meets his wife, indicating a possible reconciliation. The film ends with Amy being resigned to the convent, which she always feared, albeit with her mother's name (Saira).
