Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan, released in theatres on 11 September 2026, brings together Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan in a Hindi remake of the director’s own 2016 Malayalam film Oppam. Marketed as a crime thriller, the film attempts to blend suspense, drama and the familiar comic touches associated with the filmmaker’s work. The result is a mixed package that sets up an intriguing premise of an innocent man framed for murder only to drift into uneven territory in its later stretches.
The story centres on Shyam, played by Saif Ali Khan, a visually impaired caretaker whose life unravels after he is accused of killing a retired judge. Parallel to this runs the pursuit by Parshuram, portrayed by Akshay Kumar, a vengeful figure determined to track down the judge’s hidden daughter. Shyam must navigate police suspicion while trying to protect the girl and uncover a larger secret that reframes the conflict. Supporting roles include Boman Irani as the judge, along with Shriya Pilgaonkar, Saiyami Kher, Rajpal Yadav and others. Mohanlal appears in a cameo, and the film marks the final screen appearance of Asrani.
A Familiar Genre Blend
Priyadarshan has long specialised in mixing genres, often sliding between comedy and more serious material within the same film. Haiwaan follows that pattern. The first half focuses on establishing Shyam’s predicament—the framing of an innocent man and the mounting pressure around him. The second half shifts toward a more procedural chase, with police elements and confrontations that occasionally tip into unintentional comedy rather than sustained tension.
At roughly 164 minutes, the film runs longer than many viewers found necessary. The core narrative is relatively straightforward, yet the storytelling takes its time, allowing secondary threads and comic interludes to expand the runtime. This approach creates an experience that feels both ambitious in its setup and diluted in its execution.
Lead Performances and Their Impact
Saif Ali Khan brings a measured quality to Shyam. The character relies on heightened senses and quiet resilience rather than conventional action-hero swagger. Khan’s restraint helps ground the more improbable turns of the plot, even if the physicality of the role sometimes sits uneasily with the character’s visual impairment as presented.
Akshay Kumar, cast as the antagonist, leans into a darker register than his usual heroic persona. Parshuram is written as a relentless, almost single-minded force driven by past grievances. While Kumar commits to the menace, several critics noted that the performance occasionally veers into exaggeration. The result is a villain who generates moments of threat but does not always sustain the dread required to anchor a thriller of this length. The central face-off between the two stars remains the film’s strongest dramatic engine, even when the surrounding material falters.
Strengths in Atmosphere and Supporting Touches
The film benefits from Priyadarshan’s experience with the original material. Certain sequences retain a sense of confined tension, particularly those that play on Shyam’s reliance on sound and instinct. The production design and background score attempt to heighten the sense of pursuit and paranoia. Comic relief, a Priyadarshan signature, appears through supporting characters, including an auto driver played by Rajpal Yadav, though these moments sometimes undercut the suspense rather than providing necessary relief.
The adaptation remains largely faithful to the structure of Oppam, transferring the cat-and-mouse dynamic and the framing of an innocent man into a Hindi-language context. Viewers familiar with the Malayalam original may find the remake less lean and more expansive in ways that dilute the original’s tighter grip.
Where the Film Loses Momentum
The primary criticism across early responses centres on pacing and tonal consistency. What begins as a focused story of wrongful accusation and personal threat gradually expands into a more conventional police procedural laced with humour. The second half, in particular, has been described as drifting into unintentional comedy, reducing the sense of danger that the premise seems to demand.
The villain’s characterisation sits at the heart of this issue. A thriller of this type requires a credible, unsettling antagonist whose presence justifies the escalating stakes. When the performance and writing lean too heavily into theatricality, the tension dissipates. Similarly, some of the procedural elements involving the police investigation feel underdeveloped or overly convenient, further weakening the sense of urgency.
The lengthy runtime compounds these problems. Scenes that could have been tightened are allowed to linger, and the narrative occasionally circles rather than advances. By the time the film reaches its climactic confrontations, the emotional and dramatic investment has been unevenly distributed.
Overall Assessment
Haiwaan is neither a complete misfire nor a fully realised thriller. It possesses a workable central conflict, two committed lead performances and flashes of the atmospheric control Priyadarshan has demonstrated in the past. At the same time, the film’s mixture of genres, extended length and inconsistent menace prevent it from delivering sustained suspense.
For audiences drawn to the star pairing of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, or to remakes of successful South Indian thrillers, Haiwaan offers intermittent engagement. Those seeking a taut, consistently gripping crime drama may find the experience more frustrating than fulfilling. The film sets up its premise of an innocent man imprisoned by circumstance with reasonable care, then allows the second half to wander into a more comic and procedural register that undercuts the earlier promise.
In the end, Haiwaan remains a curious entry in Priyadarshan’s filmography—an attempt to revisit proven material with high-profile casting that never fully escapes the weight of its own length and tonal shifts. It has moments of interest, yet it leaves the stronger version of the story still residing in the original Malayalam film.
Read more – theantutuscore.com