Devara Review: Jr. NTR's Big-Budget Blunder

RATING - ⭐ ⭐ 2/5*

Devara Review Movie Talkies:

Koratala Siva teams up with a man of masses, Jr. NTR, for an "ocean storm" called Devara (Part 1), but the water doesn't really have any stream. You expect this to be something action-packed and adventurous like The Pirates of the Caribbean with a dark Indian touch from a rural area, but it ends up becoming a messy and clueless film. You know there is going to be a sequel, and the story is not going to end here when you read Part 1 in the title, so the best assumption is to see a cliffhanger in the climax. That's so basic, right? Yet Devara fails to understand this basic fact and goes with a terrible ending, making the entire film meaningless after taking 3 hours of your life. That's definitely frustrating because you don't expect such a big-budget and grand-scale film to end with a stupid twist that has no head and no tail.

Devara is set in a remote village on the Tamil Nadu coast in the late 20th century. Devara (Jr. NTR), Bhairava (Saif Ali Khan), and their gang take jobs looting the Navy's ships that are carrying seized weapons of terrorists. When Devara realizes that what they are doing is harmful for the nation, he goes against his friends and challenges everyone to stop him from letting them not to smuggle things anymore. Bhairava decides to kill Deva by trap, but the mighty Deva is alone enough for them all. Years later, Bhairava and his gang want to get back to the business and also plan to kill Deva, but there is Devara's son, Vara (played by Jr. NTR only), who might make things tricky. What will happen when Bhairava and his gang face Devara?

Written by Koratala Siva, the film has a very outdated plot, and the screenplay is extremely weak. Taking the narrative to 3 hours with such a boring screenplay is a crime, man. Moreover, you don't even get any clarity in the climax and leave the theater with a question, "What just happened and why?" Many scenes look illogical, such as Devara alone pushing two big loads along with 9-10 people's restrictions, him living in the ocean for years, a villain driving into water with a gun in his hands, girls talking about marriage, and one of them even says that she will marry her could-be boyfriend's father. The climax here is one of the most stupid climaxes I have ever seen in recent time and for any big-budget films. In short, it's sort of like Tollywood's Thugs of Hindostan!

Jr. NTR fans will enjoy some massy action scenes, but the overall character ratio isn't really enjoyable. Tarak plays a double role, and it should have been a double treat for his fans, but the way those characters are written, you don't really see his heroic image being nurtured with care. The second role of Vara is portrayed childishly, but there is a fantastic twist to it. The impact is again lost by the climax, though. Janhvi Kapoor appears in the second half and does nothing noticeable. The role didn't demand anything else but to look beautiful in the saree and do romance with Jr. NTR, which isn't suitable at all. Saif Ali Khan is all show-off, no variations. Similar expressions and dialogue delivery for every scene make his character look subpar. Marathi actress Shruti Marathe has got the biggest role of her career as far as pan-India flicks are concerned, while Prakash Raj is decent in an important role as a narrator. Srikanth, Shine Tom Chacko, Zarina Wahab, and the rest of the supporting cast have done pretty okay.

Devara Part 1 is high on VFX and action, and these two things actually make it watchable. R. Rathnavelu's cinematography captures some amazing friends during the action sequences. We have seen those blood-half moon and shark frames, but they look even better on the big screen. The editing of the film is at fault. So many useless scenes and cringe moments; no way this deserved a 3-hour runtime. Koratala Siva uses a modern setup and budget for an outdated film, which is indeed wrong. The idea of dividing the film into two parts with this writing doesn't make any sense. It didn't even deserve two hours of storytelling, and then Siva wasted 3 hours and told only half the story. Why? Why waste money and time on this? In a nutshell, Devara Part 1 is a big-budget blender with a superstar that is unlikely to get the second part in the future.