BALI (Rishi) and his siblings (played by Deviyani Sharma and Jaffer Sadiq) have been raised by their single mother, who becomes a cop’s mistress to sustain her family. A brutal man, the cop goes on a rampage one day, and rapes Bali’s mother and sister. To protect them, Bali murders the cop. This is the start of his journey into the dark side, and some years later, we see him joining forces with the Naxalites, intent on assassinating the Home Minister.
This is the premise of Shaitan, created by Mahi V Raghav, who directed the super-hit show Save The Tiger just a few months ago. The makers of Shaitan made no bones about the fact that this series would be along the lines of a Mirzapur or Pataal Lok. Shaitan delivers on that claim, while using the familiar backdrop of a Naxal crisis.
One thing is evident on watching Shaitan: such a series hasn’t been made in the Telugu OTT space so far. The violence factor isn’t dialled down even the slightest, and it lives up to its “adults-only” tag with its gore, curse words and killings. While Raghav showcases his characters in an authentic enough manner, one does begin to weary of the foul language after a while.
That said, the screenplay stays on point and avoids too many detours. Web series these days have far more subplots than main story, which in turn affects the pacing and leads to boredom. Shaitan eschews these, which makes the episodes — under half-an-hour each — a breeze to watch.
While Shaitan has scenes of rape, decapitation and more, the narrative does go beyond such gratuitous violence to underscore the amoral nature of Bali’s actions. It fumbles when it moves the lens away from him and his family though. Scenes depicting the cops are less than impressive, and the need for better actors is evident. On the other hand, Rishi and Deviyani both nail the nuances of their roles perfectly. While Jaffer too is memorable in his part, the one grouse would be his lack of screentime. Kamakshi Bhaskarla, Shelley and Ravi Kale are competent in their turns.
Shaitan has a familiar premise and does not show anything novel in terms of story or twists. However, the manner in which Raghav has packaged the entire show, with its gritty, seamy atmosphere, is what engrosses you in its world.
