Debutant director Bijoy Nambiar bravely treads a path that other debutant Hindi film directors steer clear of. Shot with style, 'Shaitan' is dark and twisted. Even though the story elements such as reckless teens causing a fatal road accident and teens staging their own kidnapping may have been used many times before in Hindi films. But, 'Shaitan' combines these with other story elements and does it with more grit and is given a unique treatment.The visuals look raw. The solid screenplay, sound effects and editing, the score which freshly and comically tributes many classic Hindi songs, the excellently choreographed action scenes and chase sequences create a tense atmosphere but one that is full of energy and adrenaline. Once the film gets going, especially after the accident sequence, there's always something happening on screen.Of the five actors who play the wild young friends, Kalki Koechlin stands out as the traumatized, disturbed and insensitive Amy. Rajeev Khandelwal is terrific as the no-nonsense copper determined to find Amy. Rajit Kapur and Pavan Malhotra provide great support. Rajat Barmecha makes a funny appearance.To say the least, 'Shaitan' is refreshing, dark, funny, gritty, gory and wicked. Anurag Kashyap has done it again and Bijoy Nambiar seems to be among the promising new directors of today.

What a cheap joke coming from a cheap director. This film is filled with cheap B-grade actors and they are ugliest bunch of misfits I have ever laid eyes on. How they managed to worm their way into mainstream Bollywood cinema is a mystery to me. The film is simple enough: a group of friends while driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs cause an accident in which the victim is fatally injured and dies on the spot. They flee from the scene instead of going to the police station and giving themselves up, going immediately to a lawyer, or going to their parents.They decide to bribe a police inspector who demands a hefty sum of 25 Lakh Rupees. They are unable to figure out how to raise this sum and so decide to fake a kidnapping of one of their friends: Amrita (Kalki Koechlin). This proves to be a wrong and disastrous step for them as her parents immediately go to the police, who assign this case to police inspector, Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal). Verdict: This film starts of well but then sinks like the Titanic. Avoid spending your hard-earned money going to the cinema to watch it. Rather go and have a hearty meal at your favorite restaurant. If you still want to see this film, watch it online for free or rent it cheap.I saw another film called Musaa: The Most Wanted (2010). This film also has a kidnapping theme and is better in all aspects.

Truly speaking it's an upgraded version of Anurag Kashyap's own debut film made almost a decade back, which was banned by the censors. The film was titled "PAANCH" and it was also a story of 5 friends who find themselves in a fix due to some unforeseen circumstances. Interestingly it was supposed to be the debut movie of Tejasvini Kolhapure (Padmini Kohlapuri's sister) too. Written on the same theme SHAITAN also revolves around a group of 3 boys and 2 girls who suddenly get involved in a bloody accident killing two innocent men on the road. And then to save themselves from the Police they unwillingly have to make further plans which bring in more trouble for them. Apart from "Paanch" the main theme of the film also reminds you of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997) and "Very Bad Things" (1998). It starts off well with a brilliant collage kind of first few minutes which has Anurag Kashyap stamp all over it along with the well composed and arranged background score. The first half an hour has got nothing much other than the introduction of its characters which makes the viewer a little restless to see something more thrilling happening on the screen. And then there comes the shocking accident which brings in the pace and in a few minutes the film gets converted into a bloody thrilling drama. But sadly, post intermission it all gets a little messy, lengthy and repetitive which even becomes tedious to watch till the end.No doubt, the debutant director Bejoy Nambiar proves his talent with a strong grip over the performances, camera angles and presentation of the movie. He shows a remarkable sense of shooting tense sequences and action packed chases with interesting musical tracks being played in the background. But as far as the content and plot is concerned he has nothing new to offer and also leaves too many loopholes in the script which could have been easily avoided.For instance, 1. There is no account of the 2 innocent people murdered in the accident in the whole film. 2. The dream scenes of Koechlin and her mother seem to be inserted deliberately to give it an artistic touch and for justifying the mysterious character of the girl which fail to make any kind of impact. 3. Post the kidnapping plan all the five friends keep wandering in the market and even go out for a movie in a theater, wearing white shinning sports shoes under their black burqas and no one ever suspects them. 4. The side track of Rajeev Khandelwal's broken marriage is neither interesting nor gels well with the theme of the film. Though the silent moments within the couple are well conceived, but the track could have been easily edited out to keep the duration short. 5. The attempted rape sequence of one of the girls again looks out of place, when in a very questionable scene (just before that) the girl is shown standing in the mid of a dark staircase with her revealing dress, a lighter and in a posture like a prostitute . 6. The film is quite long and becomes very tiring towards the climax. And supporting my observation I would like to mention, the voice I heard coming from my back in the hall, just before the climax, which said, "Arey Yeh Kab Khatam Hogi?"Performance wise, I found everyone putting their best but still not hitting the bull's eye due to the incomplete characterizations given to them by the writers. The whole cast is fine but somehow you can't relate to them while watching the film. Rajeev Khandelwal excels everyone else, in the role of a tough cop and is terrific, but still he doesn't come up as hard as it should be. Raj Kumar Yadav, of LSD and RAGINI fame, is once again very realistic and likable as the corrupt police official. Koechlin is improving with her each film and perfectly suits the role written for her, but it's high time she should come out of the image of a psycho person. Kirti as the second female lead looks beautiful but gets less scope in comparison. Out of the three boys, the best act comes from Gulshan Devaiya as KC followed by Shiv Pandit and Neil Boopalam. In the supporting case Pawan Malhotra & Rajit Kapur are just fine, Nikhil Chinnappa is hardly seen and Rukhsar successfully manages to catch your attention.The other worth mentioning merit of the movie apart from its impressive treatment and striking Cinematography, is its interesting Soundtrack including the background score. Although the film should have been a song less thriller, but still the intelligent use of the songs in the backdrop add a different perspective in its narration which really works.So, if only you are interested in watching a movie for its treatment, cinematography and few great chase sequences then do go for SHAITAN. But if you are an avid viewer of English Cinema then you may not find anything fresh in this over lengthy venture made on a seen before plot. To be straight, I only found one enjoyable scene in the film, when Rajeev simply kicks the auto-rickshaw and forcibly sits in after the driver refuses to go and that's it.

Anurag Kashyap .... yes.. that's the name everyone looks before going to watch a movie which has new actors, director, music directors, weird movie title (every body expects the title "Shaitan" to be associated with a horror one). And Anurag did it again by just being a produce. Its like "the MIDAS touch". First, i was never going to watch this movie, but just gave a shot coz i am a huge fan of Anurag Kashyap. And.. taddaa ! I was not disappointed, even though the director is Bijoy Nambiar. About Direction - Nambiar has his own style, can say the Guy Ritchie of Bollywood. Super slow motion, more involvement of camera as a character, fast paced flash backs, witty narration and good background music. About actors - Really believable.. 'that's what is required in a movie'. Most of the lead actors were new ,but were well seasoned campaigners from the TV channels. Rajiv Khandelwal's role was very impact full, so was all the support actors. About Music - Perfect ! just fitted the movie. It was just a character of the movie. Am really upset and wondering that ... y the songs.. "Khoya khoya chand and Hawa hawai" is not there in the OST? :(About the Movie - Its the best Bollywood has to offer after "3 Idiots". Its... stylish, has good action, acting, music and its a zero VFX movie. The whole movie is real in its look (the roads, buildings, character, story). We can relate it to our own daily life routine. That's where the movie scores its mark. And above the all.. you can OR just watch this movie in theater... simply superb ! for its action, music, run chase, super slow mo scenes.Aaah ! Shaitan ......