Critics’ Verdict: ‘Shivaay’ Is a Himalayan Blunder by Ajay Devgn

Although visually stunning, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Shivaay’ misses the mark completely.

Film: Shivaay

Director: Ajay Devgn

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sayyeshaa Saigal, Erika Kaar, Abigail Eames, Vir Das, Girish Karnad, Saurabh Shukla

Excerpts from reviews of the film:

Shivaay is obviously Ajay Devgn’s film all the way - he is in virtually every frame. His body tattooed with the lord’s locks, serpent and trident, he is Shiva’s own man on earth. He smokes a chillum, sports earrings and looks as if he is always on an acid trip. His fans will have absolutely no reason to feel shortchanged. But the film doesn’t propel itself anywhere close to ending on a high. In a philosophical mood, Shivaay advises Olga that a relationship shouldn’t be measured by the number of days it lasts, but by the number of breaths. Climb down to a more mundane plane and try judging Shivaay by the number of yawns and yelps of disbelief it induces. You will lose count pretty quick. Visually, there is much going for this film, especially with cinematographer Aseem Bajaj making the most of the striking Balkan canvas and painting breathtakingly pretty pictures on it. But Shivaay is a misfire of Himalayan proportions.

Saibal Chatterjee (Movies.NDTV.com)

With Aseem Bajaj at the camera, the film is well shot but rather sloppily choreographed. This Ajay Devgn video game gets more unwatchable with each minute - and there are 173 of them - during which he is wrongfully imprisoned and meets a lawyer who advises him to forget he’s a father. Later, a roomful of cops wait around for Shivaay, the most wanted man in the country, to look thoughtfully at them and make a call before they start chasing him. All this while the villain is an old man who calls himself Uncle Ustinov and listens to opera while he fondles masks. (None of this is exaggerated. None of it.) Shivaay’s kidnapped daughter, played by an adorable girl called Abigail Eames, is a mute child, which makes me believe that this film is, on some warped level, Devgn’s version of Salman Khan’s highly effective Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Except in the Devgnverse, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is replaced by Vir Das -- a decision that really tells you all you need to know about this film.Devgn might believe Shivaay is a piece of Shiv, but there’s an obvious typo there.To evoke a truly superb avalanche-filled film, this one may as well have been called Force Manure.

Raja Sen (Rediff.com)

Performance wise, this one was an Ajay Devgn show all the way. The actor is present is almost every other scene, leaving little scope for others to perform. Erika could have stuck to speaking English rather than the heavily accented Hindi which sounded funny. Sayyeshaa marks a decent debut and shows spark and charm while Vir Das should stick to doing stand-up comedy rather than overacting in cameo appearances.Shivaay ultimately suffers from the malice of overdose. An overdose of action and an overdose of melodrama, both of which should have been chopped off at the editing table. As the director of the film, Ajay should have focused on keeping the story short and tightly edited. For instance, Sayyeshaa’s bathtub song sequence appears to be in the film to give the debutant some prominence in the otherwise Ajay Devgn show. Not to forget the under-utilization of veterans like Saurabh Shukla and Girish Karnad by casting them in minuscule roles. Perhaps it would have been better had Ajay focused only on acting and deputed experts behind the camera.  

Sonup Sahadevan (The Indian Express)