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Haiwaan Movie Review: Haiwaan has more than enough reasons for one to look forward to it. The movie brings back Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan together after 18 long years. The movie also marks the comeback of Akshay Kumar into the negative roles while Saif Ali Khan plays the main lead in a crime drama thriller with a twist of being visually impaired. And then you have Mohanlal’s surprise entry in the movie.

However, with a running time of close to three hours, Haiwaan has many things to expect from its audience. The movie has some very impressive moments, performances that keep you glued to your seats and hints of Priyadarshan touch which we all are accustomed to. However, an overstretched screenplay makes Haiwaan a dull thriller.

Haiwaan Movie Review: What Is The Story About?

Saif Ali Khan plays the role of Shyam, a visually challenged person, who gets entangled in a case of murder that takes an ugly turn. Initially a mysterious plot develops into a game of life and death where Shyam struggles hard in order to save a girl child from Parshuram, an antagonist portrayed by Akshay Kumar.

Being a man of vengeance, Parshuram has nothing to lose anymore, which puts Shyam in a very difficult situation since he has to confront an unseen opponent along with facing the accusation of being a murderer. This is a good point of departure for making a suspenseful game of cat and mouse, especially if the storyline concentrates around Shyam and Parshuram.

Haiwaan Movie Review: How Good Is Saif Ali Khan?

Perhaps, Saif Ali Khan could be called the most consistent of the actors in the movie. It might have been easy to overdo playing a blind man, but Saif has done justice to Shyam by keeping him subdued throughout the film. Saif’s performance seems the most impressive whenever the film lets Shyam’s vulnerability shine through instead of making him play an action hero all the time.

There are times when the abilities that have been endowed upon Shyam defy logic, particularly during the action scenes, but Saif has embraced them whole-heartedly. As he had once said himself that playing the action part of a blind man was physically very tiring for him, it is evident on screen as well. Most importantly, he has added enough emotion to Shyam so that people can care about him despite the complications in the thriller surrounding him.

Haiwaan Movie Review: Does Akshay Kumar Work As The Villain?

Akshay Kumar is clearly having fun stepping away from the conventional hero template. As Parshuram, he gets the darker character and some of the film’s most theatrical moments. There is something immediately interesting about seeing Akshay play the threat rather than the man trying to stop it. The performance, however, is likely to divide viewers.

There are scenes where his controlled menace works, especially when Priyadarshan keeps things quiet. At other times, the character needed a little more unpredictability and brutality to become truly frightening. Considering that Akshay himself had expressed interest in playing a psychologically darker character before joining the film, Parshuram feels like an interesting experiment even if the writing does not always allow him to go as far as one expects.

Haiwaan Movie Review: Why Is Mohanlal’s Cameo Getting So Much Attention?

And then comes Mohanlal. Without getting into spoilers, his appearance is exactly the kind of surprise cameo that makes audiences react immediately inside a theatre. It isn’t necessarily about how much screen time he gets. It is the familiarity, presence and Priyadarshan-Mohanlal association that makes the moment land.

Early audience reactions have already singled out Mohanlal’s appearance as one of the movie’s highlights, and it is easy to understand why. His entry gives Haiwaan a sudden burst of energy at a point when the film badly needs one. For many viewers, this may end up being the moment they talk about while walking out of the theatre.

Haiwaan Movie Review: Is The Nearly Three-Hour Runtime A Problem?

This is where Haiwaan struggles the most. The CBFC-certified runtime is 164 minutes and 7 seconds — around 2 hours and 44 minutes — and the film does not consistently justify that length. There are stretches where the thriller builds tension effectively, only to move away into another subplot, comic interruption or explanatory sequence.

Priyadarshan has frequently blended humour with serious situations successfully, but Haiwaan does not always achieve that balance. Some lighter portions offer relief; others weaken the tension that the previous scene worked hard to create. A tighter edit could have made the conflict between Shyam and Parshuram far more gripping.

The first half takes time to establish its pieces, while the second half has more urgency. Even there, however, the film occasionally feels as though it is taking the longer route to an outcome audiences can already sense coming.

Haiwaan Movie Review: Do The Supporting Actors Deliver?

The supporting cast gives the film some much-needed texture. Boman Irani brings reliability to his role, while Rajpal Yadav reminds you how effectively he can lift even relatively small portions of a film. The ensemble helps Priyadarshan create several entertaining individual scenes even when the screenplay as a whole loses momentum.

Saiyami Kher and Shriya Pilgaonkar also add to the film's larger world, although Haiwaan ultimately belongs to the confrontation between Saif and Akshay. That is both its biggest strength and part of the problem. Every time the film wanders too far away from the two central characters, you find yourself waiting for it to return.

Haiwaan Movie Review: What Works And What Doesn’t?

What works is easy to identify: the novelty of seeing Akshay and Saif together again, Saif’s controlled performance, Akshay playing against type, a few genuinely tense sequences and Mohanlal’s crowd-pleasing appearance.

What doesn’t work is equally apparent. The screenplay is too long, the tonal shifts can be jarring and several turns are easier to predict than a thriller of this scale should allow. Other reviews have similarly flagged the film’s length, scattered subplots and inconsistent mix of suspense and comedy. There is a leaner, darker and considerably stronger thriller hiding somewhere inside Haiwaan. Unfortunately, the film rarely knows when enough is enough.

Haiwaan Movie Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Haiwaan is not the knockout Akshay Kumar-Saif Ali Khan reunion it could have been, but it isn’t without entertainment either. Saif gives the movie its emotional anchor, Akshay’s villain turn provides curiosity, and Mohanlal delivers the kind of surprise that should generate plenty of theatre chatter. Priyadarshan still knows how to stage individual moments effectively.

The problem is everything connecting those moments. At roughly 164 minutes, Haiwaan stretches a solid thriller premise beyond its natural limit. Cut away some of the detours and tighten the second act, and this could have been a far more ruthless experience. As it stands, the stars manage to keep Haiwaan alive but they cannot completely save it from its own excess.

Rating: 2.5/5

The post Haiwaan Movie Review: Mohanlal’s Cameo Steals Attention, But Can Akshay-Saif Save This Overlong Thriller? appeared first on NewsX.