Haiwaan Story
Shyam Rane (Saif Ali Khan) does not let visual impairment come in between his heightened sensibilities to smell, touch or hear. Working as a society manager at an upscale gated community in Mumbai, he earns for his siblings following the untimely demise of his father and also commands the respect among the members of the said housing society. Primarily among them is retired Chief Justice Pradhan (Boman Irani), who considers Shyam as a friend. During a road trip together, Pradhan confesses to Shyam about the lone case where his verdict weighs down heavily on his conscience.
Pradhan recalls about a case where he accorded punishment to Parshuram Gokhale (Akshay Kumar), in a rape case despite him pleading for innocence as the evidence presented was against him. Following the verdict, Parshuram’s family faces humiliation resulting in his father poisoning the family to death and also dying by suicide. The grief of watching his loved ones dead before him leaves Parshuram shattered and deranged. He swears revenge against Pradhan before being sent to a mental asylum.
In the current timeline, Pradhan mentions that Parshuram has been released from prison, leaving the former anxious. He fears that Parshuram will come for him and his young daughter in his quest for vengeance.
During the celebrations of a wedding in the society, Shyam finds Pradhan murdered and himself in the line of suspicion. Will he learn the truth? And does Parshuram return?
Haiwaan Review
Director Priyadarshan sticks to the screenplay of his 2016 Malayalam original ‘Oppam’ starring Mohanlal and P. Samuthirakani till the final frame. From the production design, the dialogues by Rohan Shankar, to the background score by Ron Ethan Yohann featuring the crucial interval block theme that has been retained, many can argue that the original could’ve been dubbed in Hindi for the Hindi-speaking markets, instead.
Although to give the film it’s fair credit, ‘Haiwaan’ is skilfully shot by cinematographer Diwakar Mani. The film is set in Mumbai and the VFX by Sidharth Priyadarshan ensures that the city is integral to the story and not a mere backdrop using CGI. Although, it’s amusing to watch the hilly terrains of Vagamon in Kerala and Ooty in Tamil Nadu being passed off as Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
Despite replicating the screenplay of the original, ‘Haiwaan’ is ridiculously slow-paced with the runtime stretching out longer at 164 minutes, in comparison to the original at 148 minutes. Firstly, the remake arrives a decade later than the original but the opportunity to present the story from a differing perspective is wasted. To make matters more worrying, the music by Pritam, is forgettable.
‘Haiwaan’s redeeming strength lies in its star cast. From late Asrani reprising late Mamukkoya’s role from the original, as society watchman Hussain who messes up names, to Sharib Hashmi’s aptly exaggerated turn as the investigating police officer Sanjay Shinde, from Rajesh Sharma’s empathetic but exasperated SP Vardhan to Rajpal Yadav playing rickshaw driver turned probable witness Chhagan, Priyadarshan knows how to draw his laughs from seemingly tense situations.
Shriya Pilgaonkar as househelp Naina and Saiyami Kher as ACP Varsha Joshi are suitably cast with both actresses displaying the tremendous potential they possess, that has gone criminally underutilised by filmmakers. ‘Haiwaan’ makes a solid case for how both women are capable of delivering much more if presented with the right opportunity. Suchitra Pillai reprises her role as the headmistress who assists Shyam in keeping Pradhan’s daughter, safe and secure.
Akshay Kumar in Haiwaan
But, when it comes down to the leading men, Saif clearly takes the mantle from Akshay. It is indeed a casting coup to give Saif the lead, essayed by Mohanlal in the original, considering the actor has always played the supporting actor to Akshay in the films they’ve starred in together since the 90s, featuring the likes of ‘Yeh Dillagi’, ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’, ‘Tu Chor Main Sipahi’, ‘Keemat’, ‘Aarzoo’ and ‘Tashan’. For the sake of nostalgia, bringing both actors together is a novel choice.
But while Saif is effective in Shyam’s vulnerable and tender moments, the instances where he gets into physical combat require immense suspension of disbelief. In comparison, Akshay’s Parshuram is lacking in menace and evil. Although Samuthirakani had kept it subdued too, it was required as per the scale the original was mounted on. For the larger Hindi-speaking demographic, Akshay’s portrayal needed to be larger-than-life and unbelievably despicable to create the right impact, something which the actor has achieved in the past with ‘Jaanwar’ or in recent years ‘2.0’. That sadly is the makers’ worst predicament.
What’s worse is that even a welcome cameo by Mohanlal is let down by a poorly-written dialogue that explores Indian mythology, for context.
Haiwaan verdict
Given the scale and star cast, Haiwaan had the potential to be so much more than just a solid script. It isn’t unwatchable by any means, but the opportunity to create a home run featuring Hindi cinema’s most loved leading men from the 90s together, needed a lot more meat.
