The banner of ‘Anurag Kashyap Films’ has been typically associated with gritty, grim films exploring the dark side of contemporary life; films like Dev D, Gulaal and Udaan.  Its newest film Shaitan, written and directed by Bejoy Nambiar is no different. In fact, I would rate it as perhaps the most potent and engaging film to have come out of Kashyap’s stables.

Shaitan begins as a story of a mentally unstable girl (Kalki), who is still unable to come to terms with her mother’s death and the subsequent second marriage of her father. Then she finds a group of friends, who are just like her, rich, aimless, living on the edge and giving two hoots to the worldly norms. Drugs, alcohol, smoking, sex, crazy dares…. that is the life of this group and the party just goes on and on, without a care in the world.

But then fate strikes. A late night car-race goes horribly wrong and the group’s car ends up crushing two people. A corrupt cop demands a huge sum to bury the case. Faced with the prospect of jail and not having the money to pay off, the group decides to stage a fake kidnapping of the girl and demand the ransom from her rich father. Their calculations go awry when the media and the cops enter the equation. Now hunted by the police and couped up in a dingy lodge, they all have to confront the demons that they themselves have unleashed!

Bejoy Nambiar’s story is realistic to the core. Many of the events and incidents seem to be inspired by recent and not-so-recent tabloid headlines. As a director, he handles the complexities of the plot and the characters exceptionally well and never lets the pace falter. The young actors deliver top-notch performances and the casting is almost perfect. Kashyap’s unmistakable stamp is evident time and again in the film’s tone, texture and technique. The bearded film-maker even makes an appearance to announce that the film does not support drugs or any such vices!

Shaitan is a penetrating commentary on today’s times and trends. It portrays a terrifying picture of a rapidly spinning-out-of-control world, which is full of desperation and depravity. This young generation is growing up in an extremely complex era, often lacking parental love and guidance; having no real role models or moral values and driven towards self-destruction by boredom, materialism and peer pressure.

Shaitan raises some disturbing questions about all these issues and it also painfully makes us realize that there are no easy answers in sight!