Shivaay

Plot

Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) is a skilled mountaineer who makes a living by providing treks and climbing expeditions to tourists. One day he meets Olga (Erika Kaar) and saves her from an avalanche. They eventually fall in love. Olga becomes pregnant but doesn't want the child. Shivaay begs her to give him the child after which he will not stop her. Nine years later, Shivaay leads a happy life with his mute daughter Gaura (Abigail Eames) until she discovers that Olga is still alive and in Bulgaria. Gaura insists Shivaay to be taken to Bulgaria and despite his old sorrows, Shivaay finally agrees to take her to Bulgaria, where he saves one young child from child traffickers. Shivaay seeks the Indian embassy's help in tracing Olga and is assigned to Anu (Sayyesha Saigal).

The traffickers, led by the baron Ustinov and his right-hand man, the unseen Changez, come after Shivaay and kidnap Gaura. Shivaay chases the van, destroying various cars but loses the van and is arrested by the Bulgarian police, charged with murder and trafficking. While in the police van, Shivaay imagines the officers in the van to be the same masked traffickers, attacks them, throwing out every single officer. The van accidentally falls off a dam, and the police think that Shivaay is dead. But Shivaay escapes by jumping from the van due to his skills and survives.

Shivaay brings one of the saved prostitutes from a brothel to Anu's home to help her out. Anu, who misunderstood Shivaay earlier, agrees to help him. Olga, having now seen television coverage of Shivaay, meets him and joins him. They seek Wahab (Vir Das) help to recover CCTV footage Shivaay's various chases. Ivanovich, Ustinov's henchman, is beaten badly when he arrives there, after which he reveals Ustinov's location, where Shivaay discovers that Gaura has been taken away to be sold into the flesh trade.

Shivaay chases after the transport van carrying his daughter off to Romania. A prolonged and vicious fight ensues as Changez, now revealed to be Captain Nikolai of the Bulgarian Police, attacks Shivaay but gets killed by the latter. Gaura is reunited with Olga who is now married to a wealthy Bulgarian and can provide Gaura with every comfort. Shivaay doesn't want to lose Gaura, but, seeing as Olga now beseeches him, he heavy-heartedly leaves for the airport, where Gaura arrives & requesting not to leave her, runs into his arms.

Cast

Filming

The shooting of the film started in November 2014, The major part of movie shot in Mussoorie,. Bulgaria and Hyderabad.

Release

Shivaay released on 28 October 2016. It released internationally in 60 countries including Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, and Chile. However, the film was not released in Pakistan.

The film's runtime was later reduced by 19 minutes and the new trimmed version was released in cinemas.

Piracy issue

On 27 October 2016, The Indian Express published that self-proclaimed film critic Kamaal R Khan had uploaded the opening sequence of the film on Twitter, which he shot in a theater in Dubai. Devgn, the producer, was quoted saying that he will take legal action against Khan.

Critical reception

Bollywood Hungama gave Shivaay 3.5/5 stars. "Shivaay is a perfect emotional thriller that scores high on the account of its breathtaking visuals, amazing action and a high octane performance". Dainik Jagran rated the film 3.5/5, describing it as "full of emotion and action." The Times of India gave the film 3/5, praising the cinematography but criticizing the 3 hr runtime which was later trimmed. Mumbai Mirror also rated the film 3/5, stating that the film "scores fairly on most accounts." Bollywood Life rated the film 3/5, writing "Ajay Devgn’s directorial is all about its stunning visuals and breath taking action scenes." BookMyShow reviewed the film and called the film a "perfect Diwali gift you can give yourself and your family this (Diwali) weekend."

Writing for The Hindu, Namrata Joshi commented that the movie moves too slow, and "turns out almost three hours long with just a wisp of a story." Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost described the film as heavy-handed, over-stretched film. Rating the film 1.5 stars out of 5, Ananya Bhattacharya of IndiaToday.in praised the cinematography but criticized the writing. Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave the film 1 out 5, calling it an "absolute catastrophe". Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express wrote in a 1 out of 5-star review, "The only thing your eye can rest on is the spectacular scenery. The rest is a bloated star vehicle."

Box office

The four weeks worldwide grossing of film is more than ₹155 crore (US$24 million)

India

Shivaay was released alongside Karan Johar's romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and collected ₹10.24 crore from India on its opening day, which was less than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil's ₹13.30 crore domestic first day. The film grossed more than ₹ 139 crore.

Overseas

The film collected ₹4.74 crore (US$740,000) from North America(USA and Canada), ₹78 lakh (US$120,000) from UK, ₹95 lakh (US$150,000) from Australia, ₹44 lakh (US$69,000) from New Zealand and ₹3 lakh (US$4,700) from Malaysia.

Awards

Won

1. Star Screen Award For Best Visual Effects- NY VFXWALA ( A division of Ajay Devgn FFilms)
2. Star Screen Award for best cinematography- Aseem Bajaj
3. Star Screen Award for Best Action - Jai Singh Nijjar
4. Zee Cine Award For Best Visual Effects- NY VFXWALA
5. Zee Cine Award For best Cinematography
6. Zee Cine award For Best Action
7. Stardust Award For Best Breakthrough Performance (Male)- Ajay Devgn
8. National Film Award For Best Visual Effects- NY VFXWALA

Soundtrack

Shivaay's soundtrack is composed by Mithoon with guest vocal appearance by the British Pop-rock band The Vamps, while the lyrics been penned by Sayeed Quadri & Sandeep Shrivastava. On 11 September 2016 the title track of Shivaay titled Bolo Har Har Har was released, which was sung by Mithoon, Mohit Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Badshah, Megha Sriram Dalton, Anugrah. The second song, "Darkhaast", was released on 22 September 2016, and featured vocals by Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan. All the music rights of Shivaay are acquired by T-Series.