''Shivaay'' is a 2016

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed and produced by

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

under his banner

Ajay Devgn FFilms Ajay Devgn FFilms is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actor Ajay Devgn & his father Veeru Devgan in 2000. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films. In 2000, ADFF released its first film, ...

. The story and screenplay are written by Sandeep Shrivastava and the film stars

in the lead titular role along with debutante actresses

Sayyeshaa Sayyeshaa Saigal (born 12 August 1997), known mononymously as Sayyeshaa, is an Indian actress and dancer who primarily appears in Tamil-language films. After working in a Telugu film ''Akhil'' (2015), she made her Hindi debut in Ajay Devgn's '' ...

, Abigail Eames and

Erika Kaar Erika Kaar, born Erika Marta Karkuszewska, is a Polish actress. Career In 2018, she graduated from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. Kaar's first screen role was in the 2014 BBC miniseries '' The Passing Bel ...

in lead roles.

Mithoon Mithun Sharma (born 11 January 1985), also known as Mithoon, is an Indian Hindi film music director, lyricist-composer and singer. Mithoon composed the Hindi song "Tum Hi Ho" from the 2013 Bollywood romantic film ''Aashiqui 2''. Mithoon recei ...

composed the film's score and soundtrack. British band The Vamps and composer

Jasleen Royal Jasleen Kaur Royal, known professionally as Jasleen Royal, is an Indian singer, songwriter and composer who sings in Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati as well as in English. She has received many awards and nominations including a Filmfare Awar ...

also contributed to the music. This movie was heavily inspired from the 2008 French-American movie Taken and is a loose adaptation of this movie. ''Shivaay'' was released on 28 October 2016 on the

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

weekend. It was commercially successful, and ran for more than 50 days at the box office. It won the 64th National Film Award for Best Special Effects in 2017. It was screened at the 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival on 17 June 2017.

Plot

Shivaay (

) is a skilled mountaineer who makes a living by providing treks and climbing expeditions to tourists. One day he meets Olga (

) and saves her from an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

. They eventually fall in love. Olga becomes

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

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 Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

daughter Gaura (Abigail Eames) until she discovers that Olga is still alive and in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. Gaura insists Shivaay be taken to

, 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 In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

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 A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

, 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 Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like ''Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and ''Go Goa Gone'' (2013) ...

) help to recover

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

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 Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. 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

as Shivaay, a tourist guide, mountaineer and Gaura's father *

as Anushka, a budding IFS officer at the Indian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria *

as Olga, Shivaay's former lover and the mother of Gaura *Abigail Eames as Gaura (Maharishi Gaura), Shivaay's young daughter with his former lover, Olga *

as Wahab, an expert computer hacker who has a crush on Anushka *

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

as Anushka's father *Markus Ertelt as Changez/Sgt. Nikolai *

Saurabh Shukla Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in Hindi and a few Tamil and Telugu films. He is famous for his roles in '' Satya'' (1998), '' Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001), ''Yuva'' (2004), ''L ...

as Sharma, Anushka's boss in the Indian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria *

Bijou Thaangjam Bijou Thaangjam (born Thangjam Biju Singh) is an Indian actor, lyricist, art director, chef and entrepreneur. He is of Meitei descent originally from Imphal, Manipur. He was one of the contestants on the reality cooking competition MasterChef ...

as Kancha, Shivaay's friend

Production

The shooting of the film started in November 2014, with the majority shot in

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill s ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

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 ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' 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 Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. Devgn, the producer, was quoted saying that he would take legal action against Khan.

Reception

Critical reception

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

'' 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 ''Dainik Jagran'' ( Hi:दैनिक जागरन , , ) is an Indian Hindi language daily newspaper. It was ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in India by circulation in 2016. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Daini ...

'' rated the film 3.5/5, describing it as "full of emotion and action." ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' gave the film 3/5, praising the cinematography but criticizing the 3-hour runtime which was later trimmed. ''

Mumbai Mirror The ''Mumbai Mirror'' is an Indian English-language newspaper published in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Launched in 2005 as a compact daily newspaper, its coverage focuses on city specific local news and civic issues concerning education, healthcare an ...

'' 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."

Rajeev Masand Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films released in India in hi ...

for News 18 gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, ''What Ajay Devgan the star deserved, was a sharper director and a better script. In the end, there's little else to Shivaay than the eye-watering locations (both in the Himalayas and in Bulgaria), and occasionally poignant moments between Devgan and the little girl who plays his daughter. Everything else is noise. Way too much noise.'' Writing for ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'',

Namrata Joshi Namrata Joshi is an Indian film critic based in New Delhi. Originally working for ''Outlook'', she remained there from 1999 till 2015, when she joined ''The Hindu''. She won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2004 Career Joshi is ...

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 it as a 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 Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

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-week worldwide grossing of film was between and .

India

''Shivaay'' was released alongside Ranbir Kapoor's ''

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ''Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'' (), also known as ''ADHM'', is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film directed, produced and written by Karan Johar. The music is composed by Pritam with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film stars Ra ...

'' and collected 102.4 million from India on its opening day, which was less than ''Ae Dil Hai Mushkil''s 13.30 crore domestic first day. ''Shivaay'' grossed more than 1.39 billion.

Overseas

The film collected from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

), from UK, from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and from

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Soundtrack

''Shivaay''s soundtrack was composed by

with a guest vocal appearance by the British pop-rock band The Vamps. The lyrics were penned by

Sayeed Quadri Sayeed Quadri is an Indian lyricist and poet who works in Bollywood. He was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He won the Best Lyricist award at the 6th IIFA Awards for ''Murder'', and Standout Performance by Lyricist at the Stardust Awards 2005 for ...

and Sandeep Shrivastava. On 11 September 2016 the title track, "Bolo Har Har Har", was released, sung by Mithoon,

Mohit Chauhan Mohit Chauhan (born 11 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer, known for his work in Hindi films. He was a part of the Silk Route band. Chauhan has received two Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer and three Zee Cine Award For Best ...

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an internationally acclaimed Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He is famous internationally for singing " Jai Ho" from the film ''Slumdog Millionaire'' which won an Academy Awa ...

, Badshah, Megha Sriram Dalton, and Anugrah. The second song, "Darkhaast", was released on 22 September 2016, and featured vocals by

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (born 25 April 1987) is an Indian singer and music composer. He sings predominantly in Bengali and Hindi, but has also performed in various other Indian languages. He is the recipient of a National Award and six Filmfare Awards ...

and

Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan (pronounced ; born 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer. Born in Delhi, she began performing in local gatherings at the age of 5 and made her career debut at the age of 13, with the film ''Shastra'' (1996). During the ye ...

. All music rights of ''Shivaay'' were acquired by T-Series.

Track listing

Awards

Game

An official game based on this film has been released by Zapak Mobile Games Pvt. Ltd, for Android mobile phone users.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zapak.shivaay

References

External links

*
Shivaay
at

* {{Authority control 2016 action drama films 2016 action thriller films Films scored by Jasleen Royal 2010s chase films Indian action drama films Indian action thriller films Indian chase films 2010s English-language films 2016 films Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Bulgaria 2010s Hindi-language films Films set in Bulgaria Films about child prostitution Films about human trafficking in India Films about child abduction in India Films scored by Mithoon Human trafficking in Bulgaria Films shot in Mussoorie Reliance Entertainment films Films that won the Best Special Effects National Film Award Ajay Devgn Avalanches in film