Haiwaan is not being sold as a Hindi photocopy of Oppam. The core hook remains recognisable: a visually impaired man is pushed into a murder-driven thriller. But everything revealed so far points to Priyadarshan redistributing the film’s weight, turning the antagonist into a co-headliner, updating the story for a contemporary Hindi audience and giving the supporting relationships a different shape.
That distinction matters before the film opens in cinemas on 11 September 2026. Some changes are visible in the official trailer; others have only been described by the director, producer and cast. Here is the spoiler-light version of what looks different, without pretending an unreleased film can already be compared scene by scene.
For the confirmed release date, cast, official trailer and current streaming status, start with our Haiwaan release guide.
The short answer: the villain now shares the centre
Oppam was built around Mohanlal’s Jayaraman, a visually impaired lift operator whose hearing, smell and spatial awareness shaped the thriller’s point of view. The threat mattered, but the film’s identity belonged overwhelmingly to Jayaraman and his attempt to protect a young girl.
The Haiwaan campaign creates a more visibly balanced star duel. Saif Ali Khan takes the protagonist’s position, while Akshay Kumar is not being hidden as a late surprise. He is in the title pairing, the trailer artwork and the conflict from the start. The remake therefore appears less like one man discovering a predator and more like two major stars locked into opposing sides of the same thriller.
Trailer-visible change: Akshay Kumar is a louder threat
The official trailer presents Akshay in a beanie, smiling and posturing with an unsettling confidence, while Saif is framed with his white cane and a more guarded physicality. The footage sells contrast rather than mystery: one man projects control and volatility; the other has to read danger without sight.
That is a tonal shift from the quieter menace associated with Vasudevan in Oppam. It does not prove how much screen time Akshay has, or whether the plot has expanded every beat of the antagonist’s role. What it does establish is the marketing choice: Haiwaan wants the villain to feel like an equal attraction, not merely the obstacle waiting at the end of the chase.
Reported change: the antagonist is completely black, not grey
Producer Shailaja Desai Fenn has described Akshay’s character as “completely black” rather than grey. Priyadarshan has also said that several prominent actors declined the part before Akshay volunteered for it during the making of Bhooth Bangla. That casting history helps explain why the remake’s villain feels designed as a performance event.
For viewers who know Akshay mainly through heroic or comic roles, the reversal is part of the pitch. It also gives his latest collaboration with Priyadarshan a different flavour from their recent horror-comedy reunion in our Bhooth Bangla review. The risk is obvious too: a flamboyant villain can sharpen a remake, but he can also pull attention away from the unusual sensory perspective that made Oppam distinctive.
Saif’s protagonist is not being treated as a Mohanlal imitation
Priyadarshan says Saif’s age and look suited the new protagonist, a blind lift operator. Boman Irani has said the director initially discouraged the cast from watching Oppam, precisely so they would not copy its performances. Boman later watched some of it and still described Haiwaan as completely different in its treatment.
That approach is sensible. Mohanlal’s performance cannot be recreated by importing gestures. Oppam used Jayaraman’s perception of sound and smell as part of its suspense language; the Hindi film now has to find a visual and sonic grammar that belongs to Saif. The trailer can show the cane, movement and vulnerability, but the finished film will have to prove whether those choices become a point of view rather than surface character markers.
A new mentor relationship gives the supporting cast more weight
Boman has identified his character as Pradhan, a mentor whom Saif’s character respects. He described their dynamic as mentor and mentee, with Saif maintaining a certain emotional distance even while seeking guidance. That is a specific relationship the pre-release interviews are foregrounding, rather than a generic supporting-role promise.
It may also help the remake externalise some of the protagonist’s thinking. A thriller centred on a blind man can easily fall into exposition about what he senses and how he understands a room. A trusted mentor gives the screenplay another way to reveal character, doubt and information. How much Pradhan changes the original structure remains unknown until release.
The setting and rhythm look less contained
A substantial part of Oppam unfolded around an apartment complex, making familiar corridors, lifts and rooms part of the suspense. The Haiwaan trailer sells a broader, more mobile confrontation. Its emphasis is on star faces, pursuit and direct threat rather than the original’s contained everyday geography.
This should be read as a trailer impression, not a claim about the complete film. Marketing can compress locations and action to make any thriller look larger. Still, the change fits the producer’s explanation that Priyadarshan has made the story more contemporary and tailored it for a Hindi audience.
Mohanlal’s appearance is a bridge, not proof of continuity
The producer has confirmed that Mohanlal appears in Haiwaan, while stopping short of explaining the nature of the appearance. That makes it safer to call the moment a nod to the original film and to Priyadarshan’s long collaboration with the actor. It does not confirm that Mohanlal plays Jayaraman again, that the two films share a timeline or that the cameo changes the plot.
What has not been established yet
- Whether the murder mystery follows the same chain of clues as Oppam.
- How much of the young girl’s role and emotional bond with the protagonist has been retained.
- Whether Saif’s sensory point of view drives the sound design as strongly as it did in the Malayalam film.
- How large Akshay’s role is beyond the prominence given to him in the trailer campaign.
- What Mohanlal’s appearance means inside the story.
So the clearest early verdict is not that Priyadarshan has abandoned Oppam. He has kept its most marketable dramatic engine and changed the balance around it. Haiwaan looks built as a Saif-versus-Akshay confrontation, with a more overt villain, a fresh mentor relationship and a contemporary Hindi-film scale. Whether those additions deepen the original idea or overpower its sensory suspense is the real comparison to make after 11 September.