#Devara : Part 1 Review

#Devara : Part 1

2024- Telugu 

Starring : Jr. NTR , Saif Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor , Shruthi Marathe , Srikanth , Prakash Raj and Shine Tom Chacko

Directed by Koratala Siva

Plot : Devara, a sea smuggler from a long line of smugglers, decides to turn his life around after a tragic incident. However, his efforts are met with fierce opposition from rival clans, leading to his mysterious disappearance. Years later, Devara’s son Vara, known for his cowardice, is haunted by rumors of his father’s return. The mystery of Devara's whereabouts and the truth behind his disappearance intertwine with Vara's journey, unraveling the rest of the story.

Performance wise , Jr.NTR is phenomenal as Devara and Vara. As Devara , the courage and fearlessness is is portrayed perfectly by NTR . As Vara , his cowardice and comic timing is great. With Two Distinctive roles. , Jr NTR excels in both with great levels of variations. Saif Ali Khan as Bhairaa , the Antagonist has terrific screen presence and has a great dubbing voice by P Ravishankar but unfortunately is marred down by a one dimensional writing and horrible lipsynch issues. Janhvi Kapoor as Thangam gets a horrible role which is tagged only for glamour. I think her parts were dubbed by Anasuya .Her role is written so cliched and cringe manner where she almost just appears for 5-10 mins and one song that's it.

Shruthi Marathe as Devara's wife gets a meatier role than main leading lady Janhvi , where she does a great job. Srikanth gets a good role and has done a good job. Kalaiyarasan too but his dubbing issues made the character less acceptable. Shine Tom Chacko wasted on a silly role. Prakash Raj as the narrator gives complete KGF vibes and does a decent job. Murali Sharma , Abhimanyu Singh and Ajay have a small role which is teased as a lead for Part 2.

Technically, the movie is very strong. Rathnavelu's Fantastic Cinematography amps up the screen and makes it a visual treat. Especially in IMAX , the full screen Sequences such as Aayudha Poojai song, Pre Interval Fight , Chuttamale Song, etc are more like an experience rather than simple viewing. Anirudh's BGMs are terrific and they elevate even a simple and cliched mass scene largely. Though song placements could've been much better , songs are good . Editing by Sreekar Prasad is great but he could've easily trimmed almost 10-20 mins more. While some sequences VFX are great, mostly is average and looks like a substandard vfx product.

The First Half starts with a random incident triggering a cop to pursue Bhairaa and from there the entire story of Devara starts. Though it starts in a very usual manner , the level of detailing and gradual progression of the Hamlets known as Yerra Samudhram (Red Sea) makes it interesting and the setting as unique.The First half mostly takes up time in establishing the setting, the characters and their respective clans , their customs , their relation with Sea and the main conflict is almost introduced almost after 45 mins into the first half. Though there are no unwanted scenes , the conflict could've been introduced much earlier. While the conflict progressses , we reach the bombastic pre Interval yerra samudhram fight sequence which was a visual treat on screen and following that the Interval break strikes with a good lead.

But Things go downhill in Second Half, as the timeline entire shifts from Devara to Vara. Vara's journey is different and focuses more aspects like his self journey towards finding his true potential as the successor of Devara. His track with Thangam (Janhvi) is so boring that almost makes the film lag. The entire second half runs on a dull note except for couple of high points here and there before the pre climax reveal and cliffhanger ending.

Talking about the Negatives, the film's Two Half look like completely Two different movies. While first half focuses on Devara's Story, second half focuses on Vara's story and the tonality shift is so jarring. The need for Two Parts for this film is literally ridiculous at times. While the lore and settings are established properly, the need to drag the story is baseless. While there are some interesting twits and climax cliffhanger reveal looks interesting on paper but has unfortunately failed on terms of execution. Scenes which should've pushed audience is shock unfortunately becomes flat and uninspiring .

Koratala Siva has returned after rhe debacle of Aacharya and has somewhat tried to reclaim what he lost. The core plot looks interesting and Siva has done wonderful research . But unfortunately, all that hasn't been translated properly on screen. While there are some trademark Koratala dialogues, they don't give the needed impact. While the film is definitely much better than Aacharya , still could've been miles better. Also the need for Two-Parter isn't great as the film feels needfully stretched . NTR tries to anchor this mediocre script with full potential which makes it atleast watchable. While there are some unanswered questions, we have to wait for Part 2 to get the answers.

Highlights :

1)Aayudha Pooja Song onscreen

2)Pre Interval Red Sea Fight Sequence 

3)Pre Climax underwater fight sequence 

4) Cliffhanger reveal 

Overall: Devara : Part 1 is a Visual Extravaganza that hangs on a wafer thin plot and is anchored by an earnest Jr NTR who gives it all... But unfortunately the script needed more work.

Rating : 2.5-2.75/5

Digital Rights: Netflix 

Television Rights : Unsold