The film stars Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah, Shiv Panditt, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari, Rajit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Rajkummar Rao.

Based on the 2007 murder of Adnan Patrawala incident, the film revolves around five friends who want to live an adventurous life who get embroiled in a crime.

Bejoy Nambiar initially planned the script of this incident for Ashok Amritraj who wanted to produce the film under Hyde Park Entertainment.

However, due to the disapproval of the production company, Nambiar decided to change the scripting and setting with the film taking place in Mumbai.

The delayed progress attributed due to the company's exit and Anurag Kashyap joined the project in mid-2010, who heard about the similarities of this story with his unreleased directorial debut Paanch, based on the 1976-1977 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders.

[2] Shaitan starts off with Amy (Kalki Koechlin), who is mentally disturbed and deeply affected by the attempted suicide and eventual institutionalisation of her mother, Saira.

They quickly leave the spot but are easily tracked down by a slimy cop, Inspector Malwankar (Rajkummar Rao), who demands ₹25 lakh to drop the case.

Upon receiving the ransom call, Amy's father, contrary to their expectations, immediately approaches the Police Commissioner (Pavan Malhotra) for help.

The Police Commissioner assigns an upright cop, Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal), to solve the case unofficially, as he is on suspension after throwing a corporator from the first floor of his own house for allegedly beating up a woman.

When he won a prize for Gateway to Hollywood in 2009, Ashok Amritraj asked Nambiar to make a feature film for his Los Angeles-based production house Hyde Park Entertainment.

[6] Nambiar said that, "when Kashyap read the storyline, he found a striking resemblance to his unreleased directorial debut film Paanch, which was made in 2002, but never released due to censorship troubles.

[7] Paanch, which is based on Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders from 1976 and 1977,[8] had a similar storyline, where five youngsters who wanted to have an adventurous life, and their greed for money, leads them embroiled in crime.

Initially, Gulshan was auditioned for Rajeev's character Arvind Mathur, a Police Inspector and made a test shoot featuring him as a cop.

The shoot was interrupted due to residents from the locality, who offended men donning a burkha-attire religiously worn by Muslim women.

[25] The soundtrack to Shaitan features 14 tracks all of them were composed by Prashant Pillai, Amar Mohile, Ranjit Barot, Anupam Roy and Bhayanak Maut.

Though the latter was not featured in the film, it was released as a promotional track, post-release and also attached to the album The Bartender produced by Sony Music India.

The soundtrack album was launched on 20 May 2011 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai, with the attendance of prominent musicians performing at the event along with the cast and celebrities.

[31][32] The film's lead cast members involved in unique promotional activities through social networking sites, in order to attract youngsters and ensure the hype before its release.

[45] Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "it turns the camera three-sixty degrees and brings you the grime of a subterranean sub-culture that throbs amidst a certain section of metropolitan maverick twenty-somethings.

"[46] Anupama Chopra from NDTV gave three out of five stars and wrote "There are some terrific sequences, but as time flies the film slowly loses its steam, becomes repetitive and ends in a whimper".

[47] India Today's Kaveerie Bamzai stated the film as "brilliantly written" praising the performances of the young cast members.

[50] Sanjukta Sharma of Mint stated that "The film could have been a superb piece of cinema with more control, a more interwoven script and an unflinching engagement with evil.

"[51] Writing for Daily News and Analysis, Blessy Chettiar said "Watch Shaitan for its original story, brilliant talent showcase by the cast, sound and editing teams.

[52] A critic from The New Indian Express wrote "‘Shaitan’ looks at the sub-zero level of moral values among a section of the urban young with a whimsical zest for a new kind of cinematic voice that is far removed from films about cops and desperados that we've come to know over the years.

"[53] Komal Nahta of Koimoi.com said that "Shaitan is a well-made film with a rich background score, stylised cinematography and efficient performances as its high points".

[54] Contrary to the positive reviews, Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave two out of five stars and wrote "The film showcases some great performances but still feels longer than it's [sic] actual running time".