‘Devara’ Review: Jr NTR’s Larger-Than-Life Presence Meets a Worthy Adversary

Four villages on a hill, each inhabited by descendants of brave warriors who, for decades, fought fearlessly to protect their country from harm. Multiple families pushed to the brink of starvation once their bravery is no longer required. And finally, a group of men forced to jeopardise the very safety their forefathers died protecting. On paper, the premise for Devara: Pt 1 is nail-biting – there is a certain grim appeal to the exploration of morality in the face of necessity.

And if Devara had realised the potential of this premise, we would have perhaps had another massy hit on our hands. Instead, we’re left with a film that is all visual spectacle and little substance.

The film, set in the 20^th century, introduces Devara (Jr NTR) as an almost mythical figure who protects the ocean surrounding the hills the villages are situated in. Predictably, we go into flashback to hear (or rather see) his heroic journey.

Devara is part of a group of men who use their understanding of the ocean and the bravery they’ve inherited to act as sea pirates working for an arms dealer. To truly drive this point home, an action sequence is mounted upon a vessel carrying an illegal arms shipment. As Devera and his accomplices attempt to remove the cargo off the ship, the Coast Guard shows up to search it. This is where cracks start to appear in the film.

While it can be tempting to try and awe your audience with expertly choreographed action sequences and manufacture moments that have them on the edge of their seats, a scene that aims to highlight the gravity of the situation they are in needs attention to detail. As the air thickens with tension, every single whiff or air and every single gust must be accounted for.

Here, everything seems too convenient and too manufactured. It’s difficult to feel the tension when every scene almost sets up the next twist.

After a few such heists, Devara realises that he and his clan have lost sight of their ancestor’s vision – that in the battle of good and evil, they seemed to have switched sides. While this realisation is enough for him to want to change his ways, the head of a rival clan Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan) disagrees. This disagreement turns into strife which turns into a power struggle than engulfs every resident.

Devara: Part 1 is a man’s world; the women have the same space in the film as they did back in the 80s. Every woman in the world of Devara exists to be threatened, desired, or protected by the men. To have an identity of her own, she would have to exist in a different film. Even the film’s supposed female lead, Janhvi Kapoor, makes an entrance post-interval for about four scenes and a song, after which she vanishes from the film. Any fight or spirit you see in the character comes from the actor and never from the character itself. From Kapoor to Zarina Wahab, every actor is wasted.

There’s an entire essay to be written about the return of the wet saree look that Indian cinema has long used in its male gaze-oriented portrayal of its ‘heroines’. It's almost painful to watch the film's treatment of its women - aren't they too the descendants of the brave ancestors the film keeps talking about? Why haven't they inherited that fighting spirit?

The men get the much longer end of the stick. It’s evident, yet again, why Jr NTR is a ‘man of the masses’ – his sheer screen presence is larger than life. While the screenplay doesn’t do enough to create any emotional depth, it’s Jr NTR’s performance that infuses said depth into the film in places.

At the same time, Khan builds the perfect folly to Devara with his performance as Bhaira – the sneer, the ruthlessness, and the frustration is all palpable. Even in the absence of dialogue, you can see the way his feelings for Devara shift from respect to resentment.

The scenes that focus on their growing rivalry are the few highlights in the film even as the repeated action sequences get a little tiring. The parallels between weapons and power is particularly interesting -- in isolation, both don't cause the devastation that they do when they're in the wrong hands.

The action set pieces themselves are quite impressive – the VFX aside – and the cinematography only heightens the spectacle.

I was pleasantly taken aback by a shot where a stream of blood completes the crescent moon in the sky – gruesome, sure but still ingenious as a visual. The VFX could have used a lot more work, especially since a lot of the sequences happen in and under water – notoriously a difficult medium to make believable on screen.

Anirudh Ravichander’s background score, if each is looked at in isolation, are brilliant. But in the film they end up feeling distracting especially due to the lack of balance between sound and silence. The songs do their best to make the big screen worth it though – ‘Ayudha Pooja’ might become an earworm for at least a week.

There are parts of Devara that do work, especially if you’re someone who enjoys over-the-top, massy cinema. It’s a decent argument for films that use scale to entice and entertain and yet, the massive runtime starts to weigh heavy in the second half. If I had left during the interval, I would’ve perhaps had more praises for the film – the pacing is tight and there is enough happening in the first half to keep you engrossed and curious.

Post-interval, at some point you will start thinking of Baahubali ­­-- don’t be surprised by thoughts like, ‘This feels like ‘Baahubali’ or I should’ve watched ‘Baahubali’ instead. But Devara only has the ghost of SS Rajamouli’s magnus opus – what it lacks in story; it attempts to make up in spirit. But that isn’t enough. Because this film might be the poster child for wasted potential.

Where is the exploration of the struggles the people of the land face? Of their obvious exploitation at the hands of the very people their ancestors protected.

For Devara Pt 1 enjoyers, there is hope. Jr NTR might have done enough to cover most of the film’s flaws and with more focus on storytelling and a deeper understanding of everyone populating the story, part 2 might have a fighting chance.