Devara Movie Review: Skip the Plot, Watch Jr NTR Dance
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Is it a flying fish? A leaping frog? A mythical merman? No, it’s Jr N.T. Rama Rao’s Devara! Who springs out of the sea in his introductory scene, like he is Aquaman himself, without Jason Mamoa’s God-Bod. You’d think Devara is a demi-god like Amarendra Baahubali, destined to be the king of a great kingdom, but no, Devara is a village chieftain who moonlights as a smuggler in the night. The sixteen minute long build-up to Devara’s entry scene is over-dramatic, just to deliver an over-exaggerated choreographed heist, where a bunch of men in four boats slyly steal a 4 huge boxes of cargo from a huge container ship, while an inspection is going onboard the vessel. Because they are all not just aquamen, but also stealthy spidermen, or the inspection guys are totally useless and deaf.
Directed and written by Koratala Siva, Devara stars Jr NTR as Devara, a smuggler turned reformer who vows to put an end to illegal activities in his fictional village by the sea. But this change of heart doesn’t sit well with his former partner-in-crime, Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan), leading to bloodshed. After a violent clash, Devara disappears, swearing to keep the seas smuggling-free, leaving his legacy in the hands of his gentle son, Vara (also played by N.T. Rama Rao Jr.). Can Vara rise to the challenge and protect their fishing village from falling into the hands of smugglers once more?
It’s pretty evident that Koratala Siva was trying to deliver a mash of something between blockbusters like ‘RRR’ and ‘Bahubali’, while trying to make it seem like a completely different movie. And yes, Devara is indeed a different film—but it’s also overly padded, overstretched, formulaic, and it’s hard to believe this is just Devara Part 1! The film’s strength lies in Jr NTR’s spirited performance as the father-son duo Devara and Vara, two slightly different personalities, that the star sells convincingly (except for that mermaid-like jump in the intro scene).
Saif Ali Khan is both intimidating and entertaining as the villainous Bhaira. However, for Bollywood fans familiar with Saif’s voice, the dubbing by P. Ravi Shankar feels a bit off. On the other hand, brownie points to Janhvi Kapoor (Ulajh/Mr & Mrs Mahi), who plays Vara’s love interest, Thangam—she delivers her own dialogues with impressive conviction, despite not being a native Telugu speaker. Though her brief role is mostly eye-candy, she’s completely at ease in her Tollywood debut (unlike how mechanical Katrina Kaif sounded when she first started out in Hindi films).
The cinematography in Devara is overly bleak at times, but at least it has some foot-tapping songs. In a crime-action-thriller like this, song-and-dance sequences can usually feel like irritants, but here, they’re actually a relief because the plot is so predictably dull. The tracks are way more entertaining—especially ‘Daavudi,’ where Janhvi goes toe-to-toe with the energetic Jr NTR, and you can tell they’re just having a blast dancing together.
There’s no comedy in the script, which is fine; however, for a crime drama, it takes itself so theatrically seriously that its self-importance teeters on the edge of both ludicrousness and melodrama. This is essentially a shallow, mass-masala movie meant to woo Jr NTR fans. There is no way I am watching a part 2!
Rating: 2 on 5 stars. You can watch Devara Part 1 on Netflix.
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