Devara: Part 1 Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi

If you’ve been anywhere near a cinema hall recently,

Or just like on the road anywhere.

You know the pre-Diwali movie event in India is Koratala Siva’s Devara Part 1.

I watched it and survived to tell the tale of one of the more chaotic theatre experiences I’ve ever had.

Today aao let’s talk about Devara Part 1 starring NTR Junior and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles. Janhvi Kapoor is IN the film, would I call her the lead? I don’t know, was Alia Bhatt the lead in RRR? Was Shahrukh Khan the lead in Heyy Babyy? Was I the lead in Ak vs Ak?

NO

Set in the 80s and 90s, Devara: Part 1 is set around the literal and figurative turbulent waters of a small coastal town on the Andhra Pradesh — Tamil Nadu border. This is a lawless world where the most current residents are modern-day pirates slash smugglers slash traffickers. For local rich men, they use their natural swimming and stealth abilities to climb aboard cargo ships and disembark with material they were told to, in the cover of the night and stormy tides.

We are seeing this story told to a cop in flashback who has traveled to this region called the “Red Sea” to bust this smuggling racket. But obviously, before law enforcement can get to where they to go, a local Prakash Raj HAS to EXPLAIN what's going on.

Gradually on this coastal town where 2 rival gangs begin to form. One that wants to continue this life of crime, and get even further enmeshed, while on the other side, one single man has had a change of heart and wants to mend his ways. One side is lead by Saif Ali Khan really relishing his bad man era, the other obviously is Jr NTR. In the second half, the other side is TWO Jr NTR. NTR the third if you will.

Whatever grayness or moral conflict there could have been to make the anti-hero turn hero vs villain conflict interesting vanishes very quickly making room for 5 more slow-motion NTR shots. He isn’t a superhero by damn you if he cant push 2 shipping containers and 6 men off a cliff once without a frown on his face once he decides no more innocents will die on his watch! It doesn’t matter that Devara, doesn’t hesitate before slashing men he worked with up until 5 minutes ago, to pieces, because they still wanted the riches he himself had promised them a few hours ago! How dare they not have the exact same epiphany as him? They deserve to be slaughtered!

Saif as Bhaira is probably one of the most uni-dimensional bad guys ive seen in Indian cinema lately, and I’m counting Saif as Raavan in Adipurush, which to be fair was an entirely ridiculous but fun performance to watch. Bhaira, acting as little more than Devara’s foil, on the other hand has only one color, the Kubrick Stare with increasingly stylish looking curly hair, Curly hair and Kubrick stare. With a sun-burn that refuses to quit. There’s a wasted opportunity here — if only the film had leaned properly into the conflict between these two titans rather than reducing their rivalry to a series of disjointed confrontations.

While Jr NTR’s son is played by Jr NTR, as the film’s trailer also showed, Saif son is a whole different actor who gets the grossest sleaziest intro scene. Prakash Raj’s VO tells you Bhaira’s son also grew up to be a “man” as Koratala Siva’s visuals show you a bro swaggering out of a tent in the bushes clearly post-coitus, as a sexy voluptuous lass follows him out. His friends are like accha she is your girlfriend now hain hain? And he’s like lol you think bro, I want Thangam! Cut to Thangam who is Janhvi Kapoor who just happened to be taking a bath. THE CROWD GOES WILDDDDDD.

If you find a SINGLE scene in the film where its women aren’t crying over men in their lives, or talking about the men around them they’ll be lucky to sleep with, I will change MY name to Thangam Tyagi. In fact there’s a scene where a group of women is asked to leave before a particularly violent, traditional battle is to take place, signaling to the women watching, “This part of the film isn’t for you.” This is the sort of exclusionary storytelling that tells its female audience, in no uncertain terms, that their participation in this world is limited. NTR’s character is given the full arc — from a smuggler to a vigilante to a full-fledged hero. Where is the female counterpart? It’s certainly not Janhvi Kapoor as Thangam.

And listen, NO ONE, not ONE PERSON is expecting ANY feminist angles to magically emerge from the depths of the shark-infested waters around this town. Admittedly I didn’t even expect Jr NTR to emerging RIDING a shark from these shark infested waters, and I suppose this is a film which at one point was simply titled NTR 30, as is custom, what is one to expect?

Devara, at least this Part 1 exists ONLY as fan service. The impressive and elaborate action sequences, the empty bloodlust, and the gratuitous, pointless violence is designed to titillate a very specific kind of man who fancies himself a bit of an Indian movie star. He wishes for impunity as irl just isn’t allowed to display his flair for the dramatics very often. In the auditorium I was in, a group of young men yelled and hooted at the screen for the ENTIRITY of the film’s 3 hours duration. Merey auditorium mein interval bhi nahi tha, but this little fan militia did not give up. The first shot when JrNTR appears, he flies out of the sea straight at the movie screen because the camera knows this is a thing of beauty. Simultaneously, the man sitting 2 seats down from me flew out of his chair, his whole body in convulsing like he’s been touched by God. Also similar reaction, see above Janhavi Kapoor takes a bath.

The second half of the film shifts into even high gear of cacophony as Bhaira turns even more murderous, raising an army of men who can hold their breath underwater to find and kill Devara who like a desi Maui just now lives at sea. With every slash, every kill, the audience I was with roared louder, cheering, happy, awakened. Devara slaughters around 100 men in a sea of blood, and the audience can’t get enough. The sea, quite literally, turns red, and the satisfaction Devara feels while killing is almost transmitted to the audience sitting in the theatre, every act of violence adding fuel to their collective fire. The fight sequences are so elaborate they feel designed exclusively for fan service. Sequences, especially in the first half are stitched together to quickly satiate the viewer’s rabid need to machismo. One moment, we’re watching kids fight, then we cut to a song, then suddenly, we’re in the middle of a battle. It’s like the film is trying to keep up with the ADHD generation — cut, cut, cut, but make it epic.

In parts, Devara: Part 1 is visually stunning. The shot you see in the trailer of Devara rising from the ocean like some mythic warrior-god, gives this film a layer of mystique. Yet, at times, the visuals are so try hard and elaborate they border on the ridiculous. Every frame screams “extra,” and while that can be exciting, but GOD it can also be overwhelming.

Devara: Part 1 isn’t for everyone. It’s violent, over-the-top, and at times completely nonsensical. But if you’re part of the die-hard fan base, none of that matters, this is the desi Deadpool & Wolverine. For the rest of us, it’s a spectacle to behold, where storytelling bends to the will of the audience, and the audience is all too happy to scream “JAI NTR” right back.

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, Devara: Part 1 is……1 shot of NT Rama Rao jr running through a jungle should be a must in all his films. The visual is exquisite and impactful, yeh scene dekh kar the primal instinct that come alive in his fans make sense.

My name is Sucharita, thank you for stopping by!