Jr NTR’s film occasionally manages to anchor itself in Terra Firma

New Delhi:

Full of brutal action and compelling visual spectacle, but devoid of real emotion. Devara: Part 1 (Hindi) is intended solely for fans of films that, in the absence of a solid original concept, try to thrive on their epic scale, the star power at their disposal, and an array of short-bladed swords, scythes, and scimitars.

Set in the last twenty years of the twentieth century, the film’s technical flourishes try to make up for what it lacks in narrative sharpness. But aside from a scene here or a shot there, it doesn’t exactly soar to the heights you’d expect from a production of this scale.

Aside from the stilted, even corny, dialogue, the film’s biggest downfall is its rather tame, dead-on good-versus-evil setup surrounding four villages nestled in a mountain overlooking a shark-infested sea. The region has a history of violence and its residents treat their weapons like God.

The villagers inhabit a vast, feverish and bloody landscape in which men commit unspeakable violence until the titular hero, who leads a band of strong men who have no fear of the sea, has a change of heart and decides to banish evil from sight. of the ocean and the settlements around it.

The lawless area is home to descendants of brave warriors who once fought and triumphed against British rulers. They now serve as sea pirates at the beck and call of arms dealers who run their illegal shipments off sailing ships.

One long sequence includes an attack on such a ship by the Coast Guard. While the ship is searched, the villagers who sneaked in make a daring escape before they are discovered. It is during the course of this scene that both the protagonist and the antagonist, along with their accomplices, disappear Devara: Part 1 are introduced as fearless fighters.

Jr. NTR plays a dual role of father and son: the former a feared, invincible warrior and the latter a gentle man who shuns violent confrontations. Saif Ali Khan plays the villain with only as much aplomb as director Koratala Siva’s screenplay allows, limiting the actor’s room to maneuver.

Devara: Part 1 The year 1996 begins with a meeting of senior Bombay police officers alarmed by the news that a mafia organization is planning to disrupt the upcoming Cricket World Cup. A senior police officer is sent south with a team to nab the crime lord, who has not been seen in public for several months.

There, the police team stumbles upon the legend of Devara, told by Singappa (Prakash Raj), an aging witness to the exploits of a man who enlisted his own people to save them and the sea from the waning influence of self-interest. serving criminals.

Devara (NTR Jr) disappears into the sea after vowing not to let Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan) and his ilk continue with the illegal activities that endanger innocent lives. The fear of retaliation stops the ship robbers. But Bhaira raises a fierce army of young men to do his bidding, while he bides his time until he can strike back.

Devara: Share 1 is completely dominated by poison-spewing men. The women – especially Devara’s mother (Zarina Wahab) and wife Jogula (Shruti Marathe) – are gentle souls painted into a corner. They have little say in how things turn out for the family and the village. The women, whether mothers, lovers, concubines or fortune tellers, are treated the same way – with callousness.

By the time Janhvi Kapoor makes her entry as the daughter of an old Devara associate, the film is already well into its second half. She is little more than a glorified extra, a beautiful girl who sets her sights on the absent Devara’s timid son, Vara (NTR Jr), but insists that she will marry him only if he has the strength and courage of his father shows.

Janhvi is part of a few unintentionally funny romantic sequences and, of course, an entire love song that allows her (and the hero) different outfits and backgrounds. However, she disappears without a trace once she has done her limited number.

If Devara: Part 1 offering no clear indication of what Part 2 might entail, there is currently no way to know if the Bollywood star appearing in her first Telugu production would receive more attention in Part 2.

What stands out about Devara: Part 1 is the editing by A. Sreekar Prasad, who organizes the film in a way that makes it much more coherent as a story (despite the simplistic nature of the plot) than any of those recent movie blockbusters. South – KGF, Pushpa, Bahubali, RRR – were.

Thanks to the clear flow that the film creates, the three-hour running time does not weigh heavily on the audience. Not that the film has ambitions different from that of a KGF or a Pushpa, but it does have a pretty smooth trajectory for a story that inevitably gets blown up to accommodate two avatars of NTR Jr and a Saif Ali Khan who play the wants to redefine the world. outline of the devil.

Anirudh Ravichander’s background score rises and falls depending on the needs of the action, which basically means it almost always flirts with distracting crescendos. The songs also come and go without creating much impact.

But nothing in Devara: Part 1 is as disappointing as the VFX. No, it’s not Adipurush level terrible, but the underwater sequences, the shots of the turbulent ocean (water tub?), the explosions and the superhuman leaps over and over obstacles are ordinary at best (if not completely tasteless). . That’s one area where the next installment of the film should register a huge improvement.

Devara: Part 1 is a mixed bag. The parts that work, few as they are, could serve to whet the appetite of fans of big-canvas action and melodrama. The segments that fall short do not fully meet expectations. They’re the kind of dampeners that could hurt the two-parter’s future prospects.

Be that as it may, Devara: Part 1 isn’t always adrift at sea. It occasionally manages to anchor itself on solid ground, where the fight scenes are energetic and robust. With the editing and a fervent NTR Jr lending a certain amount of stability to the film, it is not a wash.