Shaitan: of Humans and Horrors

Hey fellow listeners, welcome to the Intellectual Masturbation Podcast. In this episode I have along with me a friend of mine, Hussein, and we are going to discuss Shaitan. It's a film which came out in the year 2011. It's available on Netflix. So without any further ado, let's jump right into the discussion. Hey Hussein. Hello wife, Sagar. Hi. Hi. When you talk about alternative cinema or films and filmmakers but who haven't got their due yet.

I thought of coming up with a list of filmmakers and watching their films, especially their debut films and analyzing their work. So Hussein, why don't we start with What interests you in Shaitan? Ah, so like that's all you were saying about the alternative or the filmmakers which have not got their due credit. There was this conversation since a long, long time that you someone like Andra Kasheb has been like the pioneer of this entire moment.

of uh having uh someone from this uh what do we say the the filmmakers who never got uh their due credit. But you know, there are quite a lot of names in the same list. And I could say that someone like Antalman, there are many names. actually uh dig in and try to speculate that. And you know, uh there was this entire Not only filmmakers, there were a lot of actors who started that way. Someone like Rajkumar Rao and Ayushwan Khurana.

These people live a kind of cinema which exists on a parallel note and it never got a due credit. And Mijan Amir is definitely one of those. Uh, in the industry. And one of his very famous works, which I personally feel, is Tolo in Malayalam. Yeah. That's one of the things, you know, like one of the work you see of a director and you're like, Okay, I think we should explore him or her.

वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ नंब्यार वेज़ His debut short film, it's a silent short film called Reflections. And after that he made Shaitan, and after that he made a bilingual called David. After David

His work started getting really interesting. And even I watched Solo. The first Bijan NBR film I watched is Solo. Uh we'll get into that a bit later. And after that I got to know that he he even got a credit as a writer for uh karma. which is another beautiful film and In twenty nineteen he there there is this Eros now web series called Flip. So I was like, wow, man, I need to extort this guy's films and everything. And I was like, yeah, why don't we start with Shaitan Bolton?

I immediately choose Shaitan. Like since you were talking about uh him as a filmmaker and his works, you know, like personally speaking, apart from Shaytan obviously, which we will be discussing.

And the ki uh kind of character it has been built. Uh so the plot of Shaitan is pretty simple. There are these five privileged characters. whose life is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. And they are involved with an accident and it changes their life. to go into a bit more or less about the technical aspects of the film and how it forays into this zone.

I have a lot to say about the cinematography of this film, actually. I mean, I must mention the... I give a due credit to the cinematographer of this film, R. Madhi. His images are like brilliant, man. Like it shows their journey from like light to darkness, literally, through this man's cinematography. Yeah, definitely. Cinematography, oh god. I think he has something here. very uh smart choices and he has a very c uh good clarity as a director about his demands from a cinematographer.

This uh scene these two scenes I really admire in this uh one of this scene comes where there's this entire gang who are playing this game there. So they just flip this bottle. And uh this one scene in which uh you find that the camera was placed inside the bottle and the uh camera was rotating instead of bottle.

And in another scene there the camera just becomes a plaything an actor is playing with. It's like a ball flipping and like, you know, revealing what other camera is. In the later half of the film. It's kind of his pushing. The camera and the perspective is off the ball. The French films and especially the French new wave films, they use this term called the camera stylo. Which means the camera pen.

So the director kind of uses the camera as a pen to tell the stories he wants to tell. I believe, you know, with these unique camera angles and everything. It is not like, you know, we haven't been exposed to these camera angles or something, but This is definitely something we haven't been habituated to and we haven't like used much in our films. So that offers this uniqueness to his camera. And he has also a great sense of lighting and colours.

He plays well, I think. He plays well. In solo. Yeah, exactly. I was about to say. Solo is an anthology. Solo is an anthology. And every story has a color. and an element of nature connected to the color palette and the story. And they're in the relation. Oh, that's uh study material kind of a thing if anyone wants to like you know, properly study uh director like Vijayana Mir, his choices.

as a character. And you know, since we were talking about the cinematography, this is another amazing scene which I really loved. It I I felt that it was unique in itself. So this one scene, it comes in the later half of the film where these guys are escaping. And uh they happen to wear Burka to not to get uh recognized. And that's when you just uh see that um A câmera comes from the first-person perspective.

And you don't find these guys running, wearing a burqa. Instead of that, you just see this one thing running a burqa. And the second thing, you know the perspective, how would one feel? Or how would it how the vision be for someone who is wearing murha? That becomes the perspective. That that's where the camera is placed. Yeah. You can see that small partition in between and that's very little vision after you wear something like that.

And also a lot of handheld camera shots too. Yes, yes, yes. Which almost like, you know, puts you in the place of these characters because they are constantly on the run from something. It is like maybe, you know, they are not facing their demons and they are running away from their demons. Yeah. Which is in a way intermediate with the theme of the sun. So speaking of themes and everything else, I think this is the warning point.

From this point on, there will be spoilers. You know, you can always come back and continue. Trust me, after you finish this film, you are gonna need us. This film starts with a montage, you know, and surprisingly it starts with invocation to God. There is Haji Ali shown and after that there in someone's place there is a Havan going on. And slowly the camera starts turning these three sixty degrees angle meh. And we see all the lead characters kind of indulging in while like their voices.

Uh all of them are like indulging, completely indulging in their vices. Kfi is like making out with someone. Tanya is hungover and almost ready to puke. Zubin is jerking off. Dushanty is on drugs. And you are like you are very beautifully introduced to the worlds of these characters. And slowly after that at last you get to introduce I think the binding thread Of all these people, and one of the principal characters, Amy played by Kalki. And with Amy, the things are different.

things instantly get slowed down and like we see her uh like life and we see she has newly moved and Amy is kind of an uh absolute opposite to all these characters. I mean she doesn't really smoke and all and the other parallel you find all the characters were completely opposite and you know a plot in which character like that going to meet all those kind of people. So you you have

all different sort of preconceived notions, I should say, when you hear that this kind of character is going to meet these kind of people. Yeah, you just have this, okay, yeah, maybe something will happen.

you start having you know those thoughts in your mind and very beautifully the director i should say he allows you to think yeah but he takes it into a very different direction the entire plot and like Casey and Amy's meeting happening Casey is played by Gulshan Devya and like their meeting is really beautiful in terms of cinematography there are these string lights all around

And these guys are playing with each other and there is this little bit uh you know, like if you do some reading in between lines. There are a lot of reading in between lines you need to do with a film like this. Starting from a character like Amy. Yeah. Who has who is new to a place. who already has psychological issues. And to add on that, she has a strange uh family history and now she's kind of meeting people, going to make be friends with people. نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن نحن

Which look like some sort of a high society admission test kind of a thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know this actually uh the best thing he did was the choice which was made obviously while writing and showing the characters that they definitely had a choice to pair her up with someone. But they resisted. Yeah they resisted from showing something of that sort. Had that been taken place it would have been uh

pure cliche piece of art. Yeah, yeah. And uh even if you see if you look at this particular scene visually, the Casey is wearing a pyre tie.

And he says things like, you know, like Jabtak Tum Hamare Satho there will be no problems with you. If you read in between the lines you know what's happening. That jabtak tum hamare satho is no problem. He is the like that is the invitation for the problem and he has only one thing trust is important you have to trust that But that whole trust thing itself is broken and then they talk about this friendship without rules and friendship for fun absolutely so like

It is out there that when one of them gets into a problem, the others are not going to stick together. It gets very evident after a point in the... It sets the pace for the film and like... Amy rightly sums it up, you know, like she says something like being a part of something makes you feel so powerful. These five people maybe in a way represent the mob.

और दे पॉब्लिक, इब आट तोगेदर, नो, like she says something like, राइट्स में लोग इस थी ये इतना वाइलेंट हो जाते हैं क्योंकि बिए पार्ट अपर्ट मेक्स ये फिल तो पावफल these are in a way a modern bunch of satanic cult Yeah, maybe. Yeah. We we we may call it that way.

Without even them knowing they they get into the darker zone. And the cinematography of the film also moves into the darker zone slowly. Like The starting there is a lot of light, there is a lot of speed in the music, electric guitar. So music is another admirable aspect of this film, you know. It is done by more than one artist. Can be like, you know, sometimes too many chefs spoil the dish and sometimes they don't actually. They offer you more than what you require.

Mm. It's like some sort of a buffet. So on one side there is this Punjabi dole which is going on. And there is the other side, the Malayali Chanda Melam which is going on. The inclusiveness. Yeah, the inclusiveness and also there is like some electric guitar and action. And boom, suddenly with this so-called accident. that the whole spirit with which the film is going comes to a heart. Uh, you know, we can actually call that as a

barely as a turning point in the plot. When they actually stepped into the car and the way they were racing it, you know, it actually called for a drama. Yeah. So behind the head all of us were thinking that this journey of cars Can't end on a note. on a anti dramatic note. They was there was a call for something. It was a pretty well prepared build up. The way they were driving driving, the way they were challenging the vehicles all over all aside and the way the accident happened.

It was a call for it. There were repeated reminders. They were like, one one left and the other one left. Then they have entered slightly a narrow road. No, it was spelled. You know, it's not ending this way. Definitely not. So over here like uh the these people the slow mo you see. They introduce the slow mo and that slow mo is like literally brings their life too slow almost. and the significance of that slow motion and the way again the choice the choice of you know

There are there are different ways obviously to show uh an accident and the way everything gets into a slow motion. And uh for a minute you're into a toss. Okay. I think the guy who was driving Is seriously injured or something. Yeah. And then you see no, there's something bigger. Someone who was outside. has got screwed up, has come in be in between their vehicles. And that scene is very difficult to watch in a way.

जे रिवर्स द वेहिकल और यार वो आत्मी माना नहीं होगा पहली बार में और अन्या सेस्टिंग्स लाइक हम हम उन्हें बच्चा सकते हैं गायस और अल and at that time what a mission really like surprises us यहां कोई नहीं रहता है उदर कौन रहता है And I feel that constant battle of evil and good or like God and the shaitan. No, no. They are obviously good and evil. And it also spoke a lot about their maturity in general. The way they had a conversation after an accident about what someone saw.

kind of response she gave obviously anyone would uh uh run for their life and all. that would be that would be one of the perspective in a story. But you know that that amateur kind of a dialogue, the amateur kind of a thing said by someone at that situation. It also said that okay, this character is not matured me. Not matured because there's always a choice. You can you can also call an ambulance and a trespasser that

You know, something of this sort has happened here. Can you can you please come? If there have been a mature character in that, if there if there have been a character who was being portrayed as a mature one, something of that sort would have been expected. Yeah. But that didn't happen. It had all the justification because the plot had to go in a different way. It had its own uh journey and it was justified that way. Well get into like a few darker territories.

And like as we mentioned, everything the mood, the music, the cinematography, everything is followed by. Which is a good thing, you know, like because a lot of our mainstream cinema doesn't follow all these conventions. Yeah, yeah. To maintain a mood, to maintain a particular mood and all. So after that I think we need to jump into discussing the themes of these films. unique uh which had to spill a lot and I think we should we should leave it for the for the discussion. Yeah, so uh like

If I see into it, obviously if I can go into the depths and reaches of the film I can find even more themes. But on the surface level there are only two main themes. First is Trust and second is guilt. Yes. And like trust cannot be symbolized through any of them, but guilt in a way, Tanya is always like constantly pushing these guys.

And uh the kind of girl she has, the kind of uh state of mind she has to the point when she says her mother's name in that cool I guess. Yeah. In in that in the last closing scene. So it speaks a lot. And yeah, something about and the relationship between Amy and Tanya is a lot. I mean it was not about two characters talking for me. I felt that okay. Two sides talking in a way. Yeah. Two sides Because she says to uh she says to Amy when she pretends to like that uh

like almost that middle-class Mumbai down and like she says like you know in kata amari ganda ki pasand hai ya foreigner logon ko. I thought it was like a conversation between cultures it was conversation between two different upbringings I showed her and they're constantly these people constantly you know like When Dash says, when they are like asking everyone the money. And she's like, you know, we'll get $1500.

Iskian which padras of Maghri, that's what I said. She's one of the characters which is said to be a little uh less privileged economically. Yeah. Uh compared to all the other guys. The other characters are shown big short kind of a peop kind of people. and she was a little grounded and this made her approach also w in one of such. So for instance when you see the entire disaster had happened. She was almost raped and they had killed two people um through that accident in that car.

She said it to him. Zubin. So they had this conversation out of this theatre and she says that you don't feel like anything. I mean Zindakiya Bazal. Something like that he says. And she was a character who was giving the reality text. I was like, Oh man, this lady, she was the one who kept giving reality checks to the audience and constantly all of them are wearing those black burqa

That that color is also like a s a sort of a symbolism. In a way it is all these people's journey from light to darkness. Yeah, uh in a way yes. Apart from uh coming into, you know, like face to face with these people's demons. Uh in a way it is, uh clearly that uh apart from uh you know, sh hiding their face and all it also symbolises

also it's kind of you know if you you we can say that art so something about darkness. And also I want to talk about the uh there is a lot of uh what what shall we call it?

The representation of the system in the film land. ¡Suscríbete al canal! The police, the elite the politicians, the media and how these things are intertwined into this storytelling. Because you know, uh there are like there is one dialogue. This line is still relevant with whatever is happening in media today. Yeah, that's a different, you know, kind of a game. There are films like Peeply and Peeply Live and Shaitan.

kind of speak about media and like how it affects us or how like this whole media game and show runs. It came up in 2011, that is a decade ago almost, and these topics are still relevant, man. Yeah, these topics are really very important even today in our lives, firstly. And you know, uh since you were mentioning about how the system goes and how the I really love that the complications

The same amount of complication even the policemen are facing. Yes. The same amount of complication as well as their life. And the same is there in the policeman's life. If you look at the personal life of Mathur, he has his own issues, he's about to get divorced, and that's where he gets a case, which he is supposed to solve. Uh undercover. He has to solve that case undercover without revealing much of it.

That was his first this thing. So the these people when they go to catch, I mean get hold of these guys. they end up finding another another person altogether, another drug arcade getting bursted altogether. That was a different thing, you know. That and after that you see that how the entire issue escalated just because of the policemen in a major way and that man's greed in a way like this whole story this like the greed one is by this policeman and the other is by the red dad

Because even he gets a bit greedy and he is like, तब के पेरेंट से पैसे मांगें गया. But he isn't there, इसका कोई घरबाद नहीं है. पाइसा उठाके मैं अपना देख लेगा, मैं भाग जाएगा। and that whole chase sequence यार जो होता है like that whole dahi-handi thing happening and this policeman is chasing माथूर इस चेजिंग अनदर पोलीस ओफिजर पिंटिया प्लेट बाइड राज कुमार राओ और राज कुमार राओ यह लोग इसा हवा में पिरमेड बना रहे होते हैं वो दही हांडी तक पहुंचने के लिए

That pyramid falls, you know, by the time he's changing. In a way it is showing that, you know, the collapsing of a system or something. Yeah. एक चोटा सा मुझे लगा कि ये एक sort of a symbolism है

Which is there because uh like there is a lot of symbolism and this pill. I I am sure hoha because then it's true here, reason to keep I mean uh a production point of view if we look at it आनदर रियालिटी चैट इस गाई माधर रेसीव फ्रम जुबेन सेइंग कि उनो पोलीस पे भरो सा यह था बेक पोलीस ओपिसर के वाज़े है सेपी हुआ है Martur is someone who is very proud of his job and you can see the reasons why whatever is going on in his life is going on clearly.

वो अपने जॉब को लेके बहुत सीरियस है। No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. we all I repeat all of us want to see in the society. So he was representing our idea of police. In that picture, not through a very, you know, Singham kind of a thing. Not that I I am criticizing that, but you know, he he didn't show it. in that way but it was different in itself and we had that kind of an idea

who looks beyond the things and who does things. Anyways, even he was a plot character if we go in depth. He was a plot character in itself.

And uh Uski Bhadmi, you know how this amazing scene uh in the hospital and that's where the head inspector and uh Mathur uh both of them are talking. यह कोई चोखने वाली बात नहीं है कि अगर कोई อาจมิน สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ สตริษย์ सच और सच्चाई में से तुमको एक पैस ला देना पड़ेगा इने लिए लिए लिए लिए लिए लिए लगा तुम इंटर्प्रेट करो कि भाइस क्या है सच्चाई क्या है

So I may say something, you may say something, third person might say something. But he says he's such for such I may say. अब ये बात उसमें माथूर को बोले, बिल्कुल सही, माथूर के साथ हुए, वो पॉडेल्स के लिए लिटी, You decide it for yourself. వా సచ్ అసచ్చ్రి ని చిండిం సిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండిండి

Yeah, you you you have seen it, uh you interpret it for yourself and yeah, you're most uh welcome to do that in whatsoever way. The climax of this film in the church is like very symbolic in a way like the shaitan like these media people say outside things like Yeah. So something which I liked uh in that event seed we were just saying. You know, so it was firstly it was uh

Jahase light R A and then you have Mathu standing. This is the highest point in the film uh in the plot. So this is Mathu standing and Vahase you find Amy. रानिंग रानिंग रानिंग और कमिंग तौर्ड माथो नाओ बात यह है कि कोई जानता नहीं है कोई नहीं जानता ना इह जानती है ना यह जानता है कि मैं वहाँ जाती हूँ, फिर आंदिले, फिर हाग रहे। अब यह तुम्हारे लिए भाई, कि तुम निकाल लो इसका इंटरपरेशिन, कि हैंने लिपेट कर सकते हो कारो.

यार अगर यह मुवी बिना देशे अगर हम किदी को प्लॉट सुनाएंगे ना मतलब एक अपने ही आलाग एक क्रेजी तरीके से अगर हम इसको सुनाएंगे वही पाँच राइस मतलब बंदे बंदे आये इनको किसे ने केड़नाफ कर लिया और मेडिया इनके पीछे पड़ी है इनको किरना किसने किया था If we read it that way, the amount of attention is triggering. Oh, I saw. Yeah. And all the answers. Yeah. I think this is where you know like it It starts out in expected territories and familiar territory and takes you to some completely unfamiliar territory.

and leaves you there. اب تم بھکتا. تم سوچو. यह ज्यादा तर हम बोलते हैं कि you know like a film we don't understand some kind of film what it's trying to tell you it is not out there it is not outright loudly telling you what it wants to say it is for you to interpret मैं कहता हूँ, इस आफ नौट बड़ बड़ बड़ इन अवे, you know, like the kind of Just watch this film. I'm saying just watch this film. See if it's talking to you and watch it again in order to get something from it.

Yeah. No, I think that would be a good way to leave it to your hands if you haven't watched it. Yeah. The film ends with these lines called, Khayalon mein Shaitaan hai. Yeah, and that I believe is a very powerful line to end with. Connecting it with the title, connecting it with the beginning because you see everything coming into a full circle over there. Like the story starts, the story escalates because of a hit.

These guys hit and run someone. And the story comes to end when Pintia is hit by that lorry or water tanker. And like these guys are all in black and Amy like goes to that convent all in white. And you see in the last frame of this film a cross by her side. So like I don't know like these are a few observations of mine aapko kaite interpret karna hai aap kari jiye

We'd love to continue this as a series uh of study of your particular filmmakers. So thank you for joining us, Hussein. Thank you, Al thanks Alan. Yeah, well that's it for today's episode, guys. Thank you for listening. Before you guys leave, I have a small request to make. We have started a budding Cinefile community on Instagram. We are there on Instagram at the rate classics underscore covered.

There are a lot of visual details you miss out on this podcast and I want to share those short scenes my Instagram page. So if you guys don't want to miss out on them, make sure you follow us. I hope to see you guys over there. Thank you.