Director Priyadarshan returns to the story that gave him one of his biggest hits, reworking his 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam into Haiwaan, a Hindi-language face-off between Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar. The pairing of two actors who have shared the screen before, under a director who knows this material inside out, turns out to be exactly the combination this remake needed — and the result is a confident, involving thriller that mostly earns the hype around its reunion.
A Blind Hero, A Beast With A Grudge
Haiwaan opens the way any good thriller should: with a threat first, a face later. A man is drowned in a river by an assailant whose snake tattoo and cold composure tell you everything you need to know about him before he’s even named. From there, the film settles into a Mumbai high-rise and a village home, introducing us to Shyam Rane (Saif Ali Khan) — a visually impaired maintenance manager whose heightened senses of smell, sound and touch have made him indispensable to an entire building full of residents and staff who lean on him daily.
Into Shyam’s carefully balanced world walks Parshuram Gokhale (Akshay Kumar), a man carrying a vendetta and a body count to match. Retired judge Pradhan (Boman Irani) fills in Parshuram’s backstory in unhurried, deliberate strokes: a family torn apart by a false accusation, a father who poisoned his own household before taking his life, and a son who emerged from years in a mental institution with nothing left to lose. Shyam, without ever asking for it, becomes the one obstacle standing between Parshuram and the people he’s sworn to protect.
It’s a premise that already proved itself once in Oppam, and Haiwaan is smart enough to trust it rather than overcomplicate it.
Performances That Do The Heavy Lifting
Saif Ali Khan’s Shyam Is The Film’s Beating Heart
Saif Ali Khan brings a lived-in warmth to Shyam, a man defined less by his disability than by the quiet responsibility he carries for his siblings and the goodwill he’s built in his building over the years. It’s easy to believe him as the person — patient, watchful, endearing. The physical demands of the film’s later, more muscular stretches ask a little more of him than his frame naturally offers, but it’s a small wrinkle in an otherwise sincere, textured performance that anchors the entire film.
Akshay Kumar Leans Fully Into The Menace
Akshay Kumar’s Parshuram is the film’s engine, and he commits to the part without holding back. There’s real conviction in how he plays a man hollowed out by grief and fury, and while a couple of the more theatrical flourishes in his performance occasionally tip the mood from dread into dark comedy, the sheer commitment on display — particularly in the film’s climactic stretch — keeps the character compelling. It’s a bold, big swing of a performance from an actor who clearly relished the chance to play against type.
A Supporting Cast That Keeps Earning Its Moments
Haiwaan is generous with its ensemble, and the film is richer for it. The late Asrani, as security guard Hussain, delivers a warm, funny, entirely genuine turn that plays like a lovely coda to a long and memorable career. Boman Irani is as reliable as ever in a role built for quiet gravity, while Sharib Hashmi, playing local inspector Sanjay Shinde, supplies the film’s most consistent laughs and walks away as one of its scene-stealers.
Shriya Pilgaonkar and Saiyami Kher both make an impression in roles that could easily have used more screen time — a familiar shortfall in Hindi thrillers that this genre could stand to outgrow. And fans of the original will get a treat: Mohanlal, who led Oppam, turns up in a brief but well-placed cameo that feels like a generous handshake between the two versions rather than a mere nod.
Where Haiwaan Asks You To Settle In
At two hours and 45 minutes, Haiwaan takes a leisurely route to its thriller portion, and viewers looking for a lean, breathless ride may find themselves checking the runtime. Three songs and a wedding dance sequence slow the momentum just before a key turn in the plot, and trimming even 20–30 minutes would have sharpened the film’s grip considerably. Priyadarshan’s fondness for comic relief — mostly delivered through Hashmi — is genuinely enjoyable in isolation, even if a few of those beats land at moments when the tension could have used a tighter hold.
None of this derails the film, but it does mean Haiwaan rewards a patient viewer more than an impatient one.
Haiwaan Vs Oppam: A Faithful, Respectful Remake
Viewers who’ve already seen Oppam won’t find many surprises here — Priyadarshan sticks close to his own blueprint, and the Malayalam original remains the tighter, leaner cut of this story. But for audiences coming to this plot for the first time, Haiwaan stands comfortably on its own, translating a proven thriller template into a new setting with a cast that clearly understood what the material needed from them.
Final Verdict: Haiwaan Rating 4.5/5
Haiwaan is a confident, well-cast thriller that leans on strong performances, a director who knows exactly what story he’s telling, and a premise that has already proven it works. The pacing could be tighter and the villain’s menace occasionally tips toward the theatrical, but neither issue is enough to undercut a film built on genuine craft and commitment. Backed by Saif Ali Khan’s grounded sincerity, Akshay Kumar’s fearless swing at a dark role, and a supporting cast that never wastes a scene, Haiwaan earns a strong 4.5 out of 5 — a thriller worth making time for on the big screen.
Haiwaan Rating: 4.5 / 5
