Haiwaan Director: Priyadarshan Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Boman Irani, Saiyami Kher, Shriya Pilgaonkar Rating: ★★★
An official Hindi remake of Priyadarshan’s own Oppam (2016), Haiwaan sees Saif Ali Khan step into the role played by Mohanlal in the original. But when the payoff lasts barely 20 minutes in a film that runs for two hours and 44 minutes, the imbalance is hard to overlook. The film is therefore left relying on its climax to do the heavy lifting and, to its credit, it manages to salvage some of what came before.
On paper, Priyadarshan ’s Haiwaan sounds like the kind of thriller that should have plenty going for it: a visually impaired man racing to save a young girl from an antagonist determined to kill her. The premise opens up all kinds of possibilities. But as the film unfolds, that promise is only partly fulfilled. What looks intriguing on paper becomes, on screen, a mixed bag. Yep, yet another Mohanlal film getting a Hindi remake after Drishyam. The first half, weighed down by Saif’s unconvincing performance and a mishmash of characters, is a dull affair. You find yourself waiting for the antagonist to arrive and inject some much-needed momentum. The second half is where the film is supposed to deliver the cat-and-mouse chase you came for. Instead, Priyadarshan increasingly treats Haiwaan like a stage play rather than a theatrical thriller. Pritam’s music is one of the film’s weakest links. The songs are forgettable, the compositions lack the spark one expects from a composer of his calibre. Their placement within the narrative is even more jarring. It is difficult to understand why these songs were included at all. Akshay Kumar could have done so much more with Parshuram had the writing given him more to work with. There are flashes of the performance and character that might have been, but they remain just that: flashes of potential that the film never quite realises. Shriya Pilgaonkar as Naina doesn’t leave an impact. Same goes for Boman Irani as Judge Pradhan.
The film leading up to the climax, however, is riddled with plot holes. Saif Ali Khan is not convincing as a visually impaired man from the very beginning. Shyam’s lack of sight is supposed to be compensated with a heightened sense of smell and hearing, yet he moves through much of Haiwaan as though his vision is barely a problem. That creates the first major disconnect. Yes, visually impaired people can memorise their surroundings and navigate familiar spaces. But that familiarity has its limits. It works for places they know, not seemingly every location they encounter.
