20260528-20161028-0-55092696
Critic's Rating: 3.0
AJAY'S NEVER-ENDING SAGA IS HIGH ON ACTION BUT LACKS SOUL

Story: Shivaay (Ajay Devgn), a fearless Himalayan mountaineer covered in Lord Shiva tattoos, heads to Bulgaria to fulfill his nine-year-old daughter Gaura’s (Abigail Eames) wish of seeing her mother Olga (Erika Kaar), who abandoned them years ago. But their plan goes for a toss when the little girl gets kidnapped in the foreign land. Rescuing her from the masked child-traffickers becomes his only reason for survival.

Review: On heart-pounding beats of Bolo Har Har, Shivaay has a spectacular opening scene that sees Ajay descending dangerous Himalayan cliffs like a pro. The stunning cinematography captures the mountains like no Hindi film has managed so far. You feel you are in for an adrenaline pumping ride and expect a nerve-racking survival drama to unfold in the hills, on the lines of ‘Cliffhanger’ or ‘Vertical Limit’. However, the film takes a cliched spin and ends up looking like a slow-mo version of Liam Neeson’s ‘Taken’ franchise.

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The abduction of his daughter turns our chillum-smoking cool trekker into an angry killer, who vows to bust the flesh trade racket in Bulgaria. Soon high-octane, gravity and death-defying action sequences take centre stage, which are on par with the Hollywood films. An extended car-chase sequence in particular is outstanding.

However, the film has its issues, biggest being its run-time (3 hours) and thus, poor editing. Ajay, who is perhaps in every frame of the film doesn’t know where to stop as a director. Scenes linger on forever, nullifying their own significance. His wish to incessantly harp on the ‘father-daughter drama’ makes his action thriller dreary, an odd mishmash of multiple genres that leaves you exhausted.

Boasting of great production values, we wish Ajay had invested in a better story as well. You don’t feel for the characters or their ordeal. His quick romance with Hindi-speaking Olga, which blossoms in a dim-lit falling tent is preposterous.

Sayyeshaa Saigal makes a decent Hindi debut. Girish Karnad, who plays her father, ends up being the unintentional comic relief, owing to his inappropriate, corny dialogues.

Overall, Ajay is unstoppable in Shivaay but you wish he wasn’t! Laced with visual excellence, you applaud his film’s larger than life canvas but despite the efforts, his second directorial venture fails to engage you emotionally.

In-depth Analysis

Our overall critic’s rating is not an average of the sub scores below.

Direction:
3.0/5
Dialogues:
2.5/5
Screenplay:
2.5/5
Music:
3.5/5
Visual appeal:
4.0/5
Summary / Analysis

Spoiler alert! Please do not read the following plot summary if you have not seen the film.
Plot Summary

Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) is a Himalayan mountaineer, who organises treks for tourists. During one such tour, he meets Olga (Erika), a Bulgarian girl and falls in love. When she discovers she is pregnant with his child, she wishes to abort it as she isn't ready for it. She wishes to go back to her country and family, who need her. Shivaay has no one to call his own. He pleads her to give birth to their child even if she doesn't want to look after it so that he can have a family. She obliges. Their daughter Gaura (Abigail) is born but the mother leaves her with her dad and goes away. Shivaay raises Gaura, who is a mute child and tells her that her mother is no more. The girl however discovers a hidden letter of her mother and finds out that she is alive. She insists that she needs to see her mother. Shivaay heads her to Bulgaria. On reaching, he stays at a hotel with his daughter, where he suspects child-trafficking takes place. He rescues a boy and gets a paedophile arrested. The cops thank him. He then seeks the help of the Indian embassy in Bulgaria to find Olga but they suspect if the white girl is indeed his daughter as Shivaay isn't married to Olga. They still promise to help him out. Sadly, his daughter is kidnapped by the same gang, whose criminal act he had busted. He goes rogue to find Gaura. He gets arrested by the cops for using non-civilian ways to track the criminals. He manages to flee and find Gaura and even the mafia kingpin, who has been orchestrating this whole plan. Turns out, he is not the one. A cop happens to be the culprit. On reuniting with her mother, who is relatively rich, Shivaay thinks his daughter will have a better life with her. He plans to return to India alone. But Gaura meets him at the airport and makes it clear that she won't stay without her father.
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Trivia & Goofs

TRIVIA

1. 'Shivaay' is Ajay Devgn's highest budgeted film till date.

2. Ajay Devgn suffered hypothermia while shooting a scene from the film. It was a helicopter shot with the fan blades kicking up snow on his body and he was wearing only a leather jacket and jeans.

3. Ajay Devgn returns to direction eight years after 'U Me Aur Hum.'

4. The film was extensively shot in Bulgaria.

FAQs
  1. What is the release date of 'Shivaay'?
    Release date of Ajay Devgn and Sayyeshaa Saigal starrer 'Shivaay' is 2016-10-28.
  2. Who are the actors in 'Shivaay'?
    'Shivaay' star cast includes Ajay Devgn, Sayyeshaa Saigal, Erika Kaar and Ali Kazmi.
  3. Who is the director of 'Shivaay'?
    'Shivaay' is directed by Ajay Devgn.
  4. What is Genre of 'Shivaay'?
    'Shivaay' belongs to 'Action, Drama' genre.
  5. In Which Languages is 'Shivaay' releasing?
    'Shivaay' is releasing in Hindi.