Movies from the Telugu industry have something special to captivate the audience. One such important factor that can drive the audience is its scale. Recent flicks like the Bahubali franchise, Pushpa, R.R.R, Kalki 2898 A.D, etc. are some of its best examples.
The latest release ‘Devara’ has the same hype and expectation from the side of Kerala film audiences where these circles had celebrated the movies mentioned above irrespective of the cultural or language barrier. But does the flick justify what it had to do? Will it be able to shake the box office like its predecessors did?
‘Devara: Part 1’ is an action-drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva. Sudhakar Mikkilineni and Kosaraju Harikrishna jointly produce it for Yuvasudha Arts and Nandamuri Kalyan Rao for N. T. R. Arts. The film follows Devara, a fearless man from the coast, who goes on a sea journey to protect his people, while his brother Bhaira conspires against him, and his legacy passes to his timid son, Varada.
The audiences are inspired by the storytelling in the first half and its interval block, despite having a predictable and weak second half. The climax is above-average and scores composed by Anirudh are claimed to be the best in the movie.
The storyline is predictable and less convincing which doesn’t provide any engaging factor throughout the film. Also, the dubbing in the regional language is not good to the point which disturbs the viewers.
Furthermore, the film stars actor N. T. Rama Rao Jr in dual roles, alongside actors Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor in their first Telugu film. Actors Shruti Marathe, Prakash Raj, Srikanth, Shine Tom Chacko, Narain, Kalaiyarasan, and Murali Sharma appear in supporting parts.
The performance of NTR Jr. is well-constructed and mounted well, while Janhvi Kapoor who is the female lead had a weak character arc and low scope in doing something remarkable. Actor Saif Ali Khan’s feat was average to mixed-level.
The selling of prepositions like Koratala Siva, who has also directed movies like ‘Janatha Garage’ (2016), and the main lead along with the scale of the movie were the reasons for the Kerala audience to watch the film. The movie also featured Shine Tom Chacko and Narain, who are popular actors from the Malayalam industry.
In a nutshell, the scope of success of the movie at the Kerala box office is diminishing as per the prognosis by using credible responses. However, the flick can be a commercial success in its industry due to the large fan following of the lead actor and its element of a mass-action entertainer in flavour.