Shaitan (2011) (Devil)
Bejoy Nambiar
Hindi
Bejoy Nambiar’s Shaitan (2011) deliberately starts off on the wrong foot, presenting a hackneyed bunch of carefree upper class youth inducting one more into the gang, with a scene that seems more like endorsement than condemnation. (This is the sole scene when the five leads are their most comfortable, with a slack, indulgent, food-in-the-mouth kind of acting epitomized by Brad Pitt). It is only when we follow them all over Mumbai as they indulge in all sorts of puckish activities including casual robbery and midnight races that we realize that our identification is being severed and a critical distance developed. And it is only when the pack rams into a scooter that it realizes that a whole world exists underneath its (literally: under their car’s tyres). Speaking in collective terms here is justified, since not one role in the film is a character; all are types, with minute variants at best. The film itself makes no claims otherwise. (In a way, it is a final girl flick, full of caricatures, without any external threat). Ostensibly a film wanting to examine mob mentality – the gang, bevies of reporters, religious masses – and tyrannical impulses within us – the leader of the gang, the various law enforcers and their activities – Shaitan finds its bunny-ear-donning child-adult protagonists, who are initially blind to notions of class and religion, gradually being pushed out of their comfort zones into a minority and attempting to blend into larger groups for survival. (You have kidnappers thrashing kidnapers, police chasing police and rich kids with a money crunch!) The film is defined by its major ellipses which swing between smart telescoping of action (e.g. the suspension of the officer) and incompetent shorthand (the news channels, which have usurped the role of the narrator in Hindi cinema off late). But it is the bravura action sequence at the lodge, with its off-kilter, everything-is-allowed, anything-goes, Hollywood movie brat-like aesthetic that takes the rest of the film’s banal TV and ad inspired stylistic to a whole new level. Nambiar, it seems to me, is a natural when directing music videos and this sublime, provocative, magical scene, which cross cuts between slo-mo bullet rains and the gang dropping from rooftops in fluttering black purdahs like fallen angels onto a truck full of feathers, alone is worth sitting till and beyond it. Also includes an in-joke among Kashyapians involving Rajat Barmecha and a wordless subplot (if not the ultimate ignoring of the gang’s original crime) dealing with a miffed couple that might impress Nambiar’s south side mentor.
(Image Courtesy: First Post)
June 11, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Great to read your overall positive response to the film Srikanth, as I’ve plans to watch Shaitan tomorrow. Its always nice to see dark, edgy films being made in Bollywood once in a while, otherwise known for their run-of-the-mill song-and-dance melodramas.
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June 12, 2011 at 9:21 am
Yeah, it is exciting. At least, it holds attention all the way like a few films do. And it had the chance to go all the way.
Thanks Shub!
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June 13, 2011 at 3:04 am
“But its is the bravura action sequence at the lodge, with its off-kilter, everything-is-allowed, anything-goes, Hollywood movie brat-like aesthetic that takes the rest of the film’s banal TV and ad inspired stylistic to a whole new level. Nambiar, it seems to me, is a natural when directing music videos and this sublime, provocative, magical scene, which cross cuts between slo-mo bullet rains and the gang dropping from rooftops in fluttering black purdahs like fallen angels onto a truck full of feathers, alone is worth sitting till and beyond it.”
Yes, I would have to agree that ‘dark and edgy’ films in Bollywood are most welcome. But beyond that there are the impressive specifics of your review here Srikanth, which show some unusual appreciation for this kind of thing. I say this of course, knowing it’s unlikely I’ll ever get a chance to see this stateside.
Excellent work, though par for the course at this place.
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June 13, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Thanks Sam! You never know, it might hit some festivals.
Cheers!
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June 13, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Interesting stuff. Although I was curious to see this film because darkish films and subjects are usually the ones that have gotten good treatment from a certain section in Bollywood in the last decade, especially those related to Kashyap. He was a writer for RGV’s Satya which kicked this modern phase of dark crime films off more than a decade ago. Although after Black Friday his directed films have evolved in other creative directions away from straight forward underworld depiction. I found No Smoking, Gulaal and Dev D intense and engaging. Unfortunately, his directorial debut Paanch remains my one omission from his films and interestingly I have read that Shaitan is an updated version of Paanch.
Have you seen Paanch? Paanch struggled with an official release with the censors for years for its violent nature but since then many other films have been more bold with their depiction of violence and gotten away with an official release. So I would venture a guess that the violence in Shaitan is more graphic than that in Paanch?
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June 13, 2011 at 7:44 pm
It might be. I could sit through no more than 10 minutes of PAANCH, what with the kind of print I had and the kind of punk-anarchist cliches it seemed to mix. But I might be jumping the gun. I will have to see it fully before I can pass quotable comments!
Cheers!
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June 17, 2011 at 4:24 pm
No Aaranya Kaandam yet? Wanted to know your thoughts on that movie :)
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June 17, 2011 at 4:44 pm
It didn’t open in the theater near me. It looks like it might be screened tomorrow. Let’s see!
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June 17, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Do watch it….. I totally loved the movie. Brilliant characterizations with insane dialogues
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October 5, 2012 at 1:16 am
Dude you should watch Shankar Nag’s Kannada film called Accident which had similar theme.i thnk Accident is better than this movie,mainly coz it came in 80s.It was the time of melodramas and hardly very few Indians had the concept of drugs and drag races at that time.
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