Haiwaan Review: Priyadarshan Goes All Dark And Deadly In A Cat-And-Mouse Thriller

Transplanted from Kochi to Mumbai, a well-received Priyadarshan-helmed Malayalam crime drama that Mohanlal spearheaded a decade ago morphs in the same director's hands into a Bollywood thriller with the Kerala superstar in a surprise cameo.  

Textually similar, texturally different and tonally entirely its own beast, Haiwaan, starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, struggles to shrug off the shadow of Mohanlal and Oppam (2016).  

Comparisons here are not as odious as they usually are. They are, in fact, essential in understanding the trip that Haiwaan is on in the company of two Bollywood actors whose personas shape the film.    

One shy of his 100th directorial, Priyadarshan goes all dark and deadly in a cat-and-mouse thriller that blurs the line between the hunter and the hunted. It is hard at times to tell the feline from the rodent because it isn't the mouse that does all the running. The cat is often pushed to the wall and scurries for cover.   

Haiwaan, produced by KVN Productions' Venkat K. Narayana and Thespian Films' Shailaja Desai Fenn, marks a genre shift for both Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar, collaborating for the eighth time. Both seem perfectly at home in a world where death stalks the unsuspecting.  

The Mumbai star is cast against type as a man who comes out of jail and goes on a killing spree in and around Mumbai. He has scores to settle with the law.   

The serial killer, who acts the way he does because he was handed a seven-year sentence by a judge (Boman Irani, stepping in for Nedumudi Venu) for a crime he did not commit, runs into a blind man who proves to be more than a match.      

Samuthirakani, who was the psychopathic antagonist in the original, played the role strictly by the ear. In Haiwaan, allowances are made for Akshay Kumar's star power. His character is etched out with markedly thicker brushstrokes. The constituency being served is far removed from the one that the Malayalam film targeted. 

We do not hear the Oppam villain's voice - he merely hovers ominously around the blind lift operator - until we are well into the movie. In Haiwaan, Akshay is not one to be silenced that easily. He shrieks at the very first opportunity. More on that later.  

Bollywood gossamer inevitably seeps into Saif's character, too. In the guise of the congenitally blind Shyam Rane who turns into a fierce protector when the life of an unsuspecting schoolgirl is endangered, he is 'heroic' in every sense of the word.  

He isn't, of course, the first Bollywood protagonist to thus swing into action. Remember Hrithik Roshan in Kaabil, released a year after Oppam, or Taapsee Pannu in Blurr?          

Written by Rohan Shankar, Abilash Nair and Priyadarshan, Haiwaan does not have too many surprises in its repertoire despite the significant tweaks that the director effects in the process of rehashing a known product.  

The plot may not exactly keep the audience guessing (especially if one is familiar with Oppam), but the film is intriguing and tense enough to be watchable.   

Broadly speaking, the storyline is exactly the same, but the surface attributes of Haiwaan are dictated by the location and the presence of the two principal actors. Memories of Mohanlal's star turn linger as Saif and Akshay go toe to toe in a bitter battle for survival that strives not to come across as overly familiar.   

Oppam played out mostly in a realistic vein. Haiwaan seeks to deliver a heightened experience. It employs pronounced Bollywood methods in telling the same twisted story with a sprinkling of humour and suspense.  

Shyam, whose cash-strapped family in a village prepares for his younger sister's wedding even as a moneylender threatens to usurp their house, breaks into song during a boat ride back to Mumbai. Mohanlal's character, Jayaraman, a kalarippayattu exponent with exceptional olfactory and hearing powers, did nothing of the sort. It was against his grain.   

Shyam, infinitely more demonstrative, senses the presence on the boat of a man he had lent money to thanks to the sandalwood paste smeared on the latter's forehead. His sensory abilities are phenomenal, but the man isn't averse to having some fun.   

Matching Mohanlal is a tough ask, but Saif makes the most of the opportunity that the unusual role presents. He does not attempt any sort of imitation and is none the worse for it.  

The character gets an 'upgrade', and his environs are given a facelift. From being an amiable but tough liftman of a residential society to becoming a multi-tasking facilities manager of an even higher skyscraper. But that does not mean that Haiwaan scales heights that the Malayalam film did not reach.             

Akshay Kumar expectedly stamps his stardom on the role. While the film takes him away from the comfort zone of Priyadarshan's comedies, one sequence illustrates the difference between Oppam and Haiwaan. 

When we first see him, Akshay's Parashuram Gokhale lets out an unhinged sepulchral shriek of anguish, a high-decibel crescendo that rises toward the sky. A top-angle shot captures his contorted face and anguished body language from high above the scene of a tragedy that drives him insane. 

Emotions provide the underpinnings of Haiwaan, but the film also makes room for some drollery amid the darkness. An ageing security guard with failing memory (Asrani in his final screen appearance) provides some mirth with his tendency to mix up names.  

Haiwaan is both glossy and flashy, but the director stays true to the core of the story. The judge has a daughter who he has hidden from the world. Only Shyam knows of her existence. It is when the predatory Parashuram finds out who and where the schoolgirl is that all hell breaks loose and the film kicks into top gear.  

In a world dominated by two men engaged in a fight to the finish, women can only play supporting roles. And there are only two worth mentioning: a female cop (Saiyami Kher) who makes common cause with Shyam and a lady (Shriya Pilgaonkar) who works at the judge's home. Neither is more than a cog in the wheel. 

As for the wheel itself, it carries the weight of Haiwaan well enough not to wobble. It isn't reinvented, only superficially spruced up to inveigle a wider audience.