Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan – a remake of his 2016 Malayalam hit Oppam – opens with Akshay Kumar dumping a corpse into a river before pivoting into warm, old-school family drama. It’s an odd transition, but it works – mostly because it establishes the quiet life of Shyam Rane (Saif Ali Khan), a blind man with hyper-attuned senses, before throwing him into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
How Is The Story?
After that unsettling opening scene, Haiwaan eases into a warm, almost nostalgic setup. Shyam is introduced during a typical arranged-marriage meeting, with the groom’s family coming over to see his sister. For a while, the film feels like a conventional, old-school family drama, complete with a simple and familiar setup. But that sense of normalcy does not last long. Shyam, despite being blind, teaches wrestling, navigates the city and his own home with total confidence, and can identify people just from their scent or the cadence of their footsteps. He knows every inch of the ferry he commutes on, and can even sing and play guitar – the soundtrack in these portions is genuinely pleasant. The people around him remain in constant disbelief at his abilities.
Parshuram Gokhale (Akshay Kumar) carries real weight once his backstory unfolds. He was falsely implicated in a rape case and sentenced to years in prison. Following this, his father poisons the entire family before taking his own life, leaving Parshuram psychologically shattered. He is eventually sent to rehabilitation before being freed. Whenever Akshay is on screen after this point, the film crackles with tension; his presence alone is enough to put the audience on edge, which is exactly what a menacing antagonist should do.
Judge Pradhan (Boman Irani) is the man who sentenced Parshuram. The story takes a darker turn when Shyam is framed for the murder of the Judge. The judge has an “illegitimate daughter” Nandini (Pahal Chaudhary), whom he is determined to protect at any cost. As the vengeful killer Parshuram wants to kill her, Shyam escapes the police and races against time to save her.
Nandini, ever since she is introduced, becomes the thread the entire film hangs on. Shyam and Judge Pradhan want to protect her, but Parshuram wants her dead. But why? Who is Nandini, really, and how does she become the battleground between hero and haiwaan? For that, you’ll have to go to theatres and watch the film yourself.
The late Asrani, in one of his final screen appearances, plays Hussein, a security guard, and his scenes are a genuine highlight – funny, warm, and a nice change of pace from the film’s heavier moments. Rajpal Yadav also makes an impression as Chandu, the auto-rickshaw driver who “helps” both Parshuram and Shyam.
Where It Falters
Haiwaan holds the audience hostage for its entire runtime, but the ending feels rushed. After investing so much in Parshuram’s tragic backstory and Judge Pradhan’s moral dilemma, it comes off as unsatisfying compared to everything that came before it, especially the climax. You blink an eye, and you miss a scene. The ending could have used another 10-15 minutes to breathe and properly close out the emotional and narrative threads that the film spends so much time building.
Music
The music is a genuine strength of Haiwaan, both in its songs and its background score. The soundtrack has been composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar, while the film’s background score comes from Ronnie Raphael. Mera Hero Hai Woh, Rangiyara, Main Toh Nahi Haiwaan – each track finds its own place in the narrative rather than feeling bolted on.
Direction And Screenplay
Rohan Shankar, Abilash Nair and Priyadarshan have written the screenplay with much patience, and that is quite visible. Priyadarshan has directed Haiwaan with the confidence of someone who knows this story inside out, and it shows in how comfortably the film moves between tones. He handles the early family-drama stretch with warmth and an easy, unhurried rhythm, then shifts gears into thriller territory without the transition ever feeling jarring. His control over Shyam’s world is especially assured – the way sound, space, and small sensory details are used to convey how a blind man “sees” his surroundings is one of the film’s better directorial touches. Where the direction loses some steam is the rushed ending in the second half.
Verdict
Haiwaan has a compelling premise, a committed performance from Saif Ali Khan, and a genuinely unsettling villain in Akshay Kumar. The film keeps you invested and guessing for almost its entire runtime. But a rushed ending keeps it from being the knockout it could have been.