Director Vikas Bahl creates some authentic moments in unsettling situations, supported by a sensitive idea and compelling performances, but he shockingly shows a straight bat in the slog overs.
Stories of fathers saving daughters throughout the globe keep many elderly action heroes competitive in the box office. This is the third consecutive movie, following Drishyam and Bholaa, in which Ajay Devgn plays an overbearing father who is racing against time to save his beloved from a monster. The action star’s invincibility was undeniable in Bholaa, but in Shaitaan, like in Drishyam, he faces an intimidating wall named R. Madhavan, which makes the competition much more equal and hence interesting.
It’s interesting to note that Shaitaan’s plot is adapted from a regional movie, just as Drishyam. With different degrees of success, director Vikas Bahl is tackling a new genre with each film, and in Vash, the Gujarati film, he has created a frenzied sensory experience. Even though it is difficult to sell a supernatural event in 2024, Vikas succeeds in making an emotional connection with an unconvinced audience, much like Ram Gopal Varma did in the past.
The narrative is straightforward and first seems to have been covered in the 140-second teaser. Ajay and Jyothika portray an urban couple who are having difficulty disciplining their worldly-wise children. While visiting their farmhouse, they meet Vanraaj, a stranger (Madhavan). He presents himself at first as a kind man in need of assistance, but he quickly reveals his actual identity as an English-speaking occultist who has taken possession of their daughter Janvi (Janaki Bodiwala).
