Shaitaan (2024 film)

Shaitaan is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror thriller film directed by Vikas Bahl and produced by Devgn Films, Jio Studios, and Panorama Studios. The film, a remake of the 2023 Gujarati film Vash, stars Ajay Devgn, R. Madhavan, Jyothika, Anngad Raaj, and Janki Bodiwala, who reprised her role from the original film. This is Jyothika's comeback to Bollywood cinema since her debut film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998) which was released 25 years prior.

The story of the film is about a family that finds trouble when their daughter falls under the spell of black magic cast by a stranger, and they set out to stop the possession and uncover the stranger's motives.

The film was officially announced in May 2023, and principal photography took place between June to September 2023, proceeding in Dehradun and London. The music was composed by Amit Trivedi, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti and Sandeep Francis.

Shaitaan was theatrically released on 8 March 2024, coinciding with Maha Shivaratri, and the film received positive reviews from critics. With a worldwide gross of over ₹211.06 crore crore against a budget of estimated ₹60–65 crore, the film ranks as the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 2024, the second highest grossing Hindi film of 2024 and the highest grossing Indian horror film of all time.

Plot
Kabir Rishi, a chartered accountant, and his wife Jyoti reside in Dehradun, Uttarakhand with their kids, Janhvi and Dhruv. On a vacation to their farmhouse at a remote hill station, they meet Vanraj Kashyap, an enigmatic man. Vanraj offers a laddu to Janhvi in exchange of her paratha. After eating the laddu, Janhvi obeys his every command like a puppet. Vanraj again offers a packet of biscuit later to Janhvi when she is in the car and ask her to eat it once she reaches the farmhouse.

Kabir and his family starts enjoying in the pool of farmhouse. Jyoti puts her wet phone in the rice box for drying then reaches the terrace. She found Vanraj standing at the farmhouse door. Jahnvi lets Vanraj in and he claims that his phone's battery is dead. The family is unsettled by his presence and Jyoti ask Kabir to send Vanraj out of the house. Vanraj starts talking to Janvi about her boyfriend and college. Dhruv asks Janhvi to play with him. Vanraj is disturbed with Dhruv and asks Janhvi to threaten Dhruv on the swing. Janhvi swings very high with Dhruv, scaring him as he pleads for help. Jyoti and Kabir reach there and take Dhruv down the swing. Kabir asks Janhvi to forget the incident but Vanraj interferes. Kabir asks him to leave but Vanraj denies. Kabir tries to kick him out but Janhvi, upon Vanraj's orders, prevents her father from kicking him out. Kabir asks Vanraj what he has done to Jahnvi and Vanraj reveals that he has hypnotised her through black magic; she will obey every command he gives. Vanraj orders Jahnvi to continuously stand and sit and she follows. Vanraj orders Janhvi to break all the phones, telephone lines and torments the family by dictating Janhvi to do strange and cruel things. Vanraj orders Janhvi to eat dry tea leaves and she does. Kabir stops Janhvi and she slaps her father on the order of Vanraj.

Vanraj asks Kabir and Jyoti to give Jahnvi to him, as he needs their permission to do so. When they refuse, Vanraj hits Janvhi and Kabir attacks him. Vanraj orders Janhvi to break the head of Dhruv and she does.

Later, police arrive at the farmhouse as Jyoti calls on the police helpline from the phone in the rice box. Seeing police on the door, Vanraj orders Janhvi to switch on the gas cylinder and sit over it by holding a matchstick. He threatens Kabir and Jyoti that if they tell anything to police, he'll order Jahnvi to burn the matchstick and kill herself. The family acts normal with the police and the police finally leave.

Kabir offers money in exchange for sparing them. Vanraj agrees and leaves the house but sets the money on fire, declaring that he has no use for materialistic things; he reveals himself to be a demon who aims to control the world, believing himself to be as good as God. He orders Janhvi to continuously slap herself and then orders her to dance for him. Janhvi continues dancing for more than an hour. Vanraj orders Janhvi to bring a knife and he then goes to sleep, instructing Janhvi to stab anyone who approaches. When her father tries to steal Vanraj's phone, Janhvi tries to deny him and  urinates in her shorts to stop him so she does not have to stab him. Vanraj wakes up and becomes very disappointed at this and as a result he asks her to undress herself and change her clothes.

Having had enough, Jyoti finally snatches the knife from Janhvi and attacks Vanraj. Later Kabir tied Janhvi on the stairs and starts attacking Vanraj. Vanraj orders Janhvi to laugh herself to death and reveals that even if he is killed, Janhvi will continue acting on his last order until her death. This compels Kabir to let him go. Vanraj instructs Janhvi to kill her brother. Kabir and Jyoti tried to stop Janhvi but she locked them in the store room. She started searching for Dhruv and finally found him on the terrace. Kabir and Jyoti break the store room door and try to save Dhruv. Janhvi threw Dhruv off of the terrace but he survived, though grievously wounded.

Realising their children might actually die, Kabir and Jyoti give Vanraj the permission to take Janhvi with him. Vanraj leaves by taking Janhvi with him.

Jyoti drives Dhruv to the hospital while, unbeknownst to Vanraj, Kabir trails him to his lair, having fixed a tracker in his cellphone earlier. It is revealed that Vanraj has kept 108 other girls similarly hypnotised. With Janhvi as the last addition, he prepares to sacrifice them in the fire. He orders all the girls to come closer to the fire on each black doll he throws in the fire. Once he throws the last red doll, all the girls will jump in the fire. This will complete the ritual for him to acquire the power to control anyone as will, as he believes humans do not deserve free will. Kabir tracks Vanraj and reaches there but is attacked by one girl. Vanraj puts his leg on Kabir and is about to finish the ritual. Kabir attacks Vanraj with a fire wood and finally cuts Vanraj's tongue off with the last red doll. Vanraj can't order anything to the girls and is now helpless. When the girls try to kill Kabir, he plays an edited recording of Vanraj's voice, in which he declares their freedom.

Earlier, Kabir had taken the home's security camera recording of Vanraj speaking to Janhvi that his father wanted him to release her. Kabir spliced his words together to make it seem like Vanraj is ordering the girls to go back to normal. Thus, the girls are freed from his control after listening to the recording.

As Kabir and his family recuperate at the hospital, Vanraj's hostages girls are safely returned to their homes by the police who inform Kabir that Vanraj has gone missing.

A year later, Kabir is seen going down into an isolated chamber, where he has, in fact, held Vanraj captive. He mocks Vanraj, who can no longer speak, for wanting power and states that true power comes from parents, who can go to any extent to protect their children. He declares that this is hell now and he is Vanraj's devil. He then tells Vanraj that they will meet again the next day and leaves while Vanraj continues to suffer.

Cast

 * Ajay Devgn as Kabir Rishi
 * R. Madhavan as Vanaraj Kashyap
 * Jyothika as Jyoti Rishi
 * Janki Bodiwala as Jahnvi Rishi
 * Anngad Raaj as Dhruv Rishi

Development
Hindi remake of the Gujarati horror film Vash (2023) was announced in May 2023 with Ajay Devgn in the lead role, to be directed by Vikas Bahl, while the official title Shaitaan was confirmed in January 2024. R. Madhavan was cast as the antagonist and Jyothika as Devgn's wife, marking their fourth collaboration post Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001), Priyamaana Thozhi (2003), and Magalir Mattum (2017), along with Jyothika's return to Hindi films after 25 years. Janki Bodiwala and Anngad Raaj were signed to play the children, with Bodiwala reprising her role from Vash.

Filming
The film was shot in London, Mumbai and Mussoorie with filming taking place from June 2023 to September 2023.

Soundtrack
The music of the film is composed by Amit Trivedi and lyrics are written by Kumaar. The first single titled "Khushiyaan Bator Lo" was released on 15 February 2024. The second single titled "Aisa Main Shaitaan" was released on 29 February 2024. The third single "Shaitaan Theme" was released on 8 March 2024 during release. The fourth single "Papa Tu Hai Naa" was released on 2 April 2024 after release.

Theatrical
Shaitaan was theatrically released on 8 March 2024, coinciding with Maha Shivaratri.

Home media
The film premiered on Netflix on 1 May 2024.

Critical response
Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Shaitaan is a nail-biting thriller laced with superlative performances and clapworthy climax that keeps you engaged". Dhaval Roy of The Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 and wrote "Even though Shaitaan’s narrative stumbles at times, the masterful use of atmosphere and top-notch acting elevate it into an unsettling experience worth having".

Sana Farzeen of India Today gave the film 2.5/5 and wrote "Shaitaan falls short, probably cursed by a weak script and the pressure of helming a remake". Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost rated 2.5 out of 5 and opined "Shaitaan could have been a good supernatural thriller, which we haven’t seen much in Hindi cinema of late, but it turned out to be a complete mess in the process of depicting the war of good vs evil. It’s a poorly made remake and the story is just not believable. Making the hero win at the end makes the film just too predictable". Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 1.5/5 and wrote "Jyothika is the only one in the cast who is able to rise a bit above the sheer absurdity of the proceedings. The two male characters and the actors playing them don't stand a chance".

Box office
As of 10 April 2024, Shaitaan has grossed inr 1779600000 in India, with a further inr 331000000 in overseas markets, for a worldwide total of inr 2110600000.