Family films have always been a hit with Indian audiences. Hence, when you have a dashing hero going all out to save his daughter, it’s something that naturally arouses interest on a huge scale. Add to it some great action scenes, stunning locales, brilliant cinematography and you have in hand a blockbuster material. Shivaay has all of it but turns out to be just a one-time watch movie, the chief reason being – it’s tooo lengthy!
The story of the movie: Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) is an expert mountaineer based somewhere in Uttarakhand in the lap of Himalayas. He has a lovely daughter Gaura (Abigail Eames) and his life revolves around her. Circumstances compel both to head to Bulgaria. Trouble arises when Gaura gets kidnapped. Shivaay goes all out to attempt to save his daughter. But he has to face a lot of obstacles.
Shivaay begins with a bang. The song ‘Bolo Har Har’ is splendidly shot and no, I am not talking about the music video. The song is a part of the film and the visuals will take away your breath! After this great beginning, however, the film slips a bit. The Shivaay-Olga (Erika Kaar) love story is not great, except for the scene when they fall into the ravine, which is again quite stunning. But otherwise, their love story lacks soul. However, Shivaay’s scenes with Gaura are beautiful. The father-daughter relationship is the most touching aspect of the film, in fact. The film goes on another level when the kidnap takes place. From here on till the intermission point, the film is highly engaging and entertaining. Post-interval too, the madness continues as Shivaay continues his search for his daughter. But after a point, the narrative gets stretched needlessly. The climax is fun but could have been better if it wasn’t dragged. The last 10 minutes fail to evoke sympathy. Ideally, the film should have got over before the finale scene as the last sequence doesn’t make the desired impact. Moreover, there are loopholes in the narrative too.
Shivaay belongs to Ajay Devgn without doubt! The talented actor is in top form. He plays the angry young man with finesse. Even in the emotional scenes, he makes sure he is able to touch viewers’ hearts. The role needed a strong personality and Ajay is ideal for it. Abigail Eames is very adorable and plays the difficult role with ease. Essaying this part is a challenge but Abigail does it well. Erika Kaar tries very hard to get the Hindi right and that’s quite praiseworthy. Otherwise, her performance is decent – nothing special. Sayyeshaa (Anushka) looks great and gives a very good performance. She has a great screen presence. Saurabh Shukla is good and manages to evoke laughter (and slight discomfort) in his entry scene. Girish Karnad (Anushka’s father) is decent. Vir Das (Wahab) is a pleasure to watch on screen. Markus Ertelt (Nikolai), Swen Raschka (Ivanovich) and the guy who plays the mastermind are okay.
Mithoon’s music is melodious. Bolo Har Har is the soul of the film and well utilized. Darkhaast is okay but its picturised beautifully. Tere Naal Ishqa is quite touching and also shot well (although it was not needed). Same goes for Raatein. Background score is impressive. Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography comes out as a winner! The cinematography is one of the huge reasons why this film looks visually so stunning. VFX is also quite exciting. Action enhances tension. The chase sequences are brilliant. Sandeep Srivastava’s story does remind one of Taken. But the screenplay ensures the film doesn’t give viewers a déjà vu of any other similar film. To an extent, it works. But it’s stretched in the end. Also, it could have been better in the beginning. Ajay Devgn’s direction is simple and decent. He should have kept the duration in check. There’s no problem as such with long films – even M S Dhoni – The Untold Story was quite long (it had a run time of 190 minutes). But Shivaay, at 172 minutes, is 20 minutes too long. Hence, the impact sadly is diluted. But a great work by director Ajay Devgn – managing both departments is definitely not easy!
Some of the best scenes:
1. The song ‘Bolo Har Har’
2. The avalanche sequence and the scene thereafter
3. Shivaay goes out on a date with daughter Gaura
4. Shivaay shows his heroic side in the hotel in Bulgaria
5. Gaura gets kidnapped (terrific)
6. The intermission point (superb)
7. Shivaay calls Anushka for help
8. Madness at the brothel
9. The final chase at the border
On the whole, Shivaay boasts of some highly exciting action-chase sequences, breathtaking locales and stunning cinematography. Ajay Devgn is damn good in his role and the way he creates madness and mayhem in the film makes for a great watch. On the flipside, the film drops at certain places, there are too many cinematic liberties and the film is too long needlessly. Hence, the impact is diluted and this makes Shivaay just a one-time watch!
My rating – *** out of 5!
