Shaitan (2011)

The plot

Amrita Jaishankar aka Amy has a very trouble teenage life due to the death of her mother. She constantly thinks of her mother and she believes that her mother Saira is still alive. She doesn’t mix with her father and her step mom. She is basically very depressed.

Then she meets Karan Chopra aka KC at a party and she is introduced to a new gang of junky friends Zubin, Dash and Tanya. Amy joins this gang and bonds big time because she feels new. This gang goes about the town drowned in drugs and booze and cause a major accident where 2 are killed on the spot.

The investigating policeman Malwankar is after them for money to protect their identity from coming out. They plan a kidnapping drama where Amy would be kidnapped by her friends and her father would be asked for the ransom money which would be used to pay off the policeman. Dash is the planner and he gets this plan from Shomu who had planned a similar drama to perfection.

But this drama goes haywire as more deaths and a major media frenzy is created by the disappearance of the gang. Arvind Mathur is given charge of this case. He is an aggressive go-getter who has his own rules and is a real terror. He has a troubled family life with his wife.

Through his network, he gets to know of the truth. What happens to the gang of 5, who dies, who is alive at the end of the day, what happens to Arvind’s family life and what happens to the policeman Malwankar who is the actual root cause of the kidnapping drama, is what the ending is about. There is also a track involving a drug case with a German girl and 2 Kenyan drugsters.  

                                                                        

Hits

• The plot is stunning. Totally raw and highly impactful. Hollywood in style and execution
• Rajeev Khandelwal as the aggressive cop is terrific. The stubble, his handsome fit looks and the powerful eyes are a real treat. His intro scene will make any superstar jealous. 
• The gang of 5 have all done well be it Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Pandit or the guys who play KC, Zubin and Tanya. Very natural and highly talented. Life like performances
• The sound track goes along with the movie and is sort of cult like. Koya Koya Chand and Josh Junoon in particular are quite mesmerizing. 
• The cinematography and editing are top notch. Particularly the car accident scene and the way the reactions of the 5 are portrayed in the aftermath. Highly graphic images but brilliant nevertheless
• Some of the scenes are hard to stomach and very raw like the accident scene, Amy’s dope trips where she scratches herself, the rape attempt on Tanya, the mind-blowing shooting sequence between the Kenyans and the cops using the dead body of the German girl as protection. 

VERDICT

Indian cinema’s new age face. Lot of disturbing scenes but, that’s how Indian cinema should be in the future. Hats off to Bejoy Nambiar and Anurag Kashyap for this absolutely brilliant MUST WATCH film.