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A trailer, at its most effective, is not merely a collection of scenes stitched together to explain a film. It is a promise. It should create anticipation, establish a mood, introduce a compelling conflict and, above all, leave the viewer with an irresistible urge to see what happens next. Unfortunately, the trailer of Haiwaan struggles to generate any of that excitement. Despite bringing together two major stars in Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, the preview feels remarkably familiar, restrained and, at several points, frustratingly ordinary.
The biggest problem with the trailer is its inability to create genuine cinematic adrenaline. There are clearly attempts to build suspense and establish a high-stakes thriller, but the tension never quite lands. The editing appears designed to create urgency, yet the individual moments lack the punch required to make the viewer sit up and take notice. Instead of ending with a sequence or image that lingers in the mind, the trailer simply moves from one familiar beat to another, leaving behind very little anticipation.
Akshay Kumar, to his credit, remains effortlessly watchable. Even when the material around him feels underwhelming, the actor possesses the kind of screen presence that can command attention almost instinctively. A particularly stylish shot of him leaning against a vehicle demonstrates how little he sometimes needs to do to create an impression. Saif Ali Khan, meanwhile, brings his trademark composure to the proceedings and looks suitably assured. But when two actors of their calibre are sharing the screen, one expects their combination to generate a much stronger spark. That chemistry, at least in the trailer, never quite catches fire.
And that becomes an even bigger disappointment because the premise should theoretically lend itself to a gripping theatrical thriller. The collision of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, combined with the presence of Priyadarshan, creates expectations of a film that is sharp, tense and dramatically charged. Instead, the trailer feels strangely devoid of personality. There is no defining sequence, no knockout dialogue and no moment of pure cinematic bravado that makes Haiwaan immediately distinguishable from the countless thrillers that have occupied the Hindi film landscape.
The more troubling issue, however, is the film’s relationship with its source material. Haiwaan is an adaptation of Priyadarshan’s 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam, and the trailer does little to convince us that this version has been conceived with a substantially different cinematic identity. Remaking a film after nearly a decade is not inherently problematic. In fact, a remake can work beautifully when the filmmaker finds a new cultural context, a different emotional perspective or a fresh visual language. But simply reproducing the architecture of the original raises an obvious question: why does this version need to exist now?
Priyadarshan’s involvement makes that question particularly fascinating. Having directed the original, he possesses an intimate understanding of its strengths, rhythms and dramatic construction. Yet that familiarity can also become a creative limitation if the new film remains too attached to what has already been established. A remake should ideally reinterpret rather than merely reproduce. From what the trailer reveals, Haiwaan appears to be leaning more towards the latter.
This is where the trailer ultimately feels caught between two worlds. It wants to present itself as a contemporary, large-scale Hindi thriller built around two of Bollywood’s biggest stars, but its storytelling and visual treatment seem rooted in a formula that audiences have encountered before. The presence of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan gives the project undeniable star value, but star power can only take a trailer so far. What it desperately needs is a distinctive cinematic voice.
None of this necessarily means that the finished film will be disappointing. Trailers can occasionally undersell movies, and performances that appear merely functional in promotional material can acquire considerably more depth within the context of the full narrative. Kumar and Khan are both capable of elevating conventional material, and Priyadarshan’s experience with thrillers remains an important factor. But based purely on the trailer, Haiwaan does little to inspire confidence.
The irony is that a film featuring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan should not feel this anonymous. It should be an event. It should leave audiences dissecting every frame, debating the relationship between its protagonists and wondering how the story will unfold. Instead, the trailer leaves behind a curious sense of déjà vu.
For now, Haiwaan feels less like a reinvention of a familiar thriller and more like a polished repetition of one. Whether the actual film can overcome that impression remains to be seen, but the trailer has certainly failed at the most basic responsibility of a theatrical preview: making us desperately want to watch the movie.
