OPINION: 'Shaitaan 2's life just got hell thanks to 'Vash Level 2' - We Dissect

When a Sequel Becomes Its Own Monster

One of the unwritten rules of cinema has always been that a small regional film can blow up locally, then get remade for Hindi audiences, and eventually fade into footnote territory. The remake becomes the household name, the original becomes a trivia answer. Except, that’s not what’s happening here.

Vash Level 2 has landed with a bang. Thanks to the cult reputation of the first film and the massive Hindi visibility that Shaitaan created, the sequel is no longer an obscure Gujarati horror flick.

It’s a film that Hindi-speaking audiences actively want to see, so much so that it’s releasing in a dubbed Hindi version right alongside Gujarati. That’s practically unheard of for Gujarati cinema, which usually stays in its regional lane. Suddenly, Vash Level 2 is enjoying its own national-level spotlight.

Which means Shaitaan 2, inevitably on the way, doesn’t get the benefit of surprise anymore. It has to measure up against the sequel to its own source material, and that’s not just tricky, it’s unprecedented.

When Dubbed Versions Wreck Havoc

The elephant in the room is the dubbed release. We’ve seen this pattern before. A regional film becomes popular, gains further traction through a dubbed Hindi version on OTT, and by the time Bollywood attempts its own remake, the audience has already seen and loved the original. Cue remake failure.

Two examples scream out here. Love Today, a Tamil film, became a social media obsession once its Hindi-dubbed version dropped on Netflix. When the remake was announced, people were like, “Why bother? We’ve already watched it.”

Similarly, Vikram Vedha, the original with Vijay Sethupathi and R. Madhavan was already a critical darling and became even more popular after its dubbed version found an OTT audience. When Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s remake hit theatres, it bombed.

So now the cycle threatens to repeat itself. With Vash Level 2 already available in Hindi, why would the audience wait for Shaitaan 2? Unless Ajay Devgn and company bring something truly extraordinary to the table, there’s a chance the sequel could feel redundant even before it begins.

The Success Paradox

Of course, the dubbed dilemma isn’t the only factor. Sometimes sequels catch fire simply because they ride on the goodwill of their predecessors. Right now, Vash Level 2 is riding high. The film has already earned glowing critical reviews and opened strongly at the box office with around Rs 1.50-1.75 crore on Day 1. For a Gujarati film, that’s nothing short of historic. With word of mouth spreading, the numbers will only climb higher.

This is where it gets complicated for Shaitaan 2. The more successful Vash Level 2 becomes, the tougher the expectations for its Hindi counterpart. It’s not just about “Can the remake do justice?” anymore. It’s about “Can the remake outdo an original sequel that people have already seen?”

And that’s the paradox, remakes often rely on ignorance of the original. Here, ignorance no longer exists.

Sanitised vs Savage: The Tonal Dilemma

Let’s not forget another fundamental problem. Vash was unapologetically gruesome, unflinching in its horror. Shaitaan, on the other hand, deliberately toned down the blood and bone-crunching intensity, leaning instead into theatrics and spectacle. That was part of why it worked, it made the horror palatable for a broader Hindi audience.

But Vash Level 2 has doubled down. Reports suggest it’s even more disturbing and graphically intense than the first one. So what’s Shaitaan 2 supposed to do? Stick to its sanitised formula and risk feeling watered down compared to the original? Or embrace the darkness, go full throttle with gore, and risk alienating its “family audience” appeal?

Either way, it’s a minefield. Horror sequels already walk a tightrope between escalating the stakes and becoming repetitive. Add this remake-versus-original problem, and Shaitaan 2 is staring at a creative identity crisis.

The Maa Problem and the Universe Question

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s another curveball. R. Madhavan popped up in a cameo in Maa, hinting at a possible shared universe. This raises the question, are the makers of Shaitaan trying to cook up their own horror franchise akin to the Conjuringverse? If yes, then a Kajol cameo in Shaitaan 2 might be inevitable, given how Bollywood loves its interconnected universes.

But here’s the issue. With Vash Level 2 presenting a clear and original storyline, any attempt to create a parallel universe in Shaitaan 2 has to juggle two different responsibilities: be faithful to its remake DNA while simultaneously inventing something fresh enough to stand on its own. One wrong step and the whole thing collapses into a creative mess.

Ajay Devgn: The Ultimate Risk Manager

And yet, if there’s one person who has consistently proved critics wrong in this department, it’s Ajay Devgn. He’s built a bizarre empire out of remakes and sequels that “shouldn’t” have worked but somehow did. Remember Drishyam and Drishyam 2?

Both were remakes of wildly successful Malayalam films. Both should have faced remake fatigue. Both became massive Hindi hits anyway. Even Shaitaan itself proved doubters wrong.

So maybe Shaitaan 2 will manage to sidestep these landmines. Maybe Devgn knows exactly how to repackage this story yet again into something palatable for the Hindi audience while keeping the suspense intact. He has a proven knack for turning remake baggage into box office treasure.