Shaitaan Opens Well, Lovely Will Grow By WOM

Vikas Bahl, whose last film "Ganapath," was an unmitigated disaster, can start the celebrations. "Shaitaan" has opened to encouraging numbers and is improving with every show.

This writer spoke to the manager of a prominent multiplex in Mumbai who said, “The opening of 'Shaitaan' is better than Ajay Devgan's last picture, 'Bholaa.' The mistake they made with 'Bholaa' was converting the format to 3D at the last minute. 'Shaitaan' is a gimmick-free, entertaining supernatural thriller.”

That it is. "Shaitaan" minimizes shock props and lets the drama grow organically. There is a feeling of gathering tension in the way the outsider (Madhavan) insinuates himself into Ajay Devgan’s life.

One hears there is a sequel in the making with both Devgan and Madhavan reprising their roles. "Shaitaan" seems poised to be the second bonafide hit of 2024, with Karan Johar’s "Yoddha" next week to top off the hat trick of hits this year so far.

Director Balwinder Singh Janjua’s endearing "Tera Kya Hoga Lovely" comes to the audience with zero publicity and marketing. Randeep Hooda, who plays the lead, is busy promoting his historical biopic "Swantantra Veer Sawarkar" and seems to have no interest in promoting "Tera Kya Hoga Lovely," even though he is delightfully self-deprecating in it.

If we have never seen Madhavan so vulnerable as in "Shaitaan," then we have never seen Randeep so vulnerable. In "Tera Kya Hoga Lovely," he is a brilliant blend of the bashful and the brash as the dark-skinned Lovely’s prospective bridegroom who messes up his marriage prospects on account of his male ego and a meddlesome Mummy.

Hooda sportingly slips into the meek mode even when in the cop’s uniform. He has for company the remarkably sassy Geetika Vidya as a newly married constable.

"Shaitaan" and "Tera Kya Hoga Lovely" have one factor in common: they are both performance-oriented ventures reaching out to an audience that is yet to tell the difference between a sympathetic character and a good performance.

Hopefully, "Tera Kya Hoga Lovely" will grow by word of mouth. Sony Pictures, who are the film’s worldwide distributors, seem to have no interest in the film.