Devara Part: 1 Movie Review- Telugu (2024)

Movie: Devara Part-1 (2024)

Director: Koratala Siva

Production: Kalyan Ram

Cast: Jr. NTR, Jahnvi Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan & Others

Music: Anirudh Ravichandran 

Editor: A Sreekar Prasad

Cinematography: R. Rathnavelu

Language: Telugu

Censor: A

Streaming Platform: Netflix 

Release Date: 27/09/2024

2.75/5

Great In Parts, Fades Away Towards The End

01. All about Devara P1.

Jr. NTR's much awaited Devara coming with the SSR sentiment has created alot of buzz but how far it succeeded to break the curse is to read along. Koratala Siva known for typical stories & a template writing has come up with yet another commercial flick with loads of action & violence. 

Devara is all about few villages located aside to the 'Red Sea' also known as Errasamudram & the customs that those localities follow. The cinema has a great writing in terms of screenplay & story for almost the entire first half. Devara (Jr. NTR) also as Vara is there to safeguard the village like his ancestors. But unforseen situations lead the people in Errasamudram to leave their principles aside & make them smuggle ammunitions, guns & weapons for mafia with the help of Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan) & others. Why the villagers who once served the nation by protesting against Britishers turned to smugglers & what happened to Devara & who's Vara is to be watched in the film. 

02. What entertains in the film?

It's an out & out commercial-action oriented film with dash of themes. The movie is right into the content from the minute one & just gives you chills until the interval bang. The whole Devara scenes are treat to watch. It appears like same old story but absolutely thrills as it comes with a very new perspective. Anirudh is just another saviour with his savage BGM & couple of songs. The screenplay is top notch until the entire first half. 

03. Why the film suddenly falls from the interval bang?

After a superb first half & sensational interval bang the film directly looses it's form & drips down like hell. The entire portions of Vara/Thanga (Jahnvi) will literally irritate the audience with unconventional approach. Jahnvi is just more or less an extended cameo & has been used for a glamorous role which neither adds pomp nor colour to the cinema with an exception to the 'Chuttamalle' song. The entire second half lacks proper sequence, my serious question to those who watched the film & also to Koratala Siva - "Why should Bhaira literally die to kill Devara when there's no purpose for him left, atleast after the massacre interval, Bhaira & his supporters say they need money & nothing else- they can go extents to do whatever for sake of money- but when the purpose diluted then what's the need for them to smuggle again? Why they diverted their anger on to Devara when their first motto itself is diluted & concentrating on later gives them no pleasure? Why the unconventional climax twist which neither adds up to the story nor impresses?". There are many questions unanswered but not even hoping part-2 can solve them cause the damage is already done with lethargic second half of the film. 

04. Performances & technicalities. 

Jr. NTR like usual is one man army & his presence is a boon to the film itself. He overpowered everyone in the action scenes & showcases us why he's been hailed as one of the greatest actors in TFI. I don't have to talk about him- he's already a star & will remain until TFI is cherished, lemme say Indian cinema. Saif Ali Khan is yet another wonderful actor who's presence elevated the film to a different altitude. The faceoff between both works too well. Rest others support the film with notable performances from Srikanth, Prakash Raj, Ajay, Zarina Wahab & Tallururi Rameswari. Jahnvi is wasted & along with Tom Chako. 

Editing, cinematography & music are apt as per the requisites. Screenplay does good in parts & fades away towards the end. 

05. Final Verdict. 

If not for the blockbuster first half the film is a mediocre, below average commercial flick. See how can a part of film decide it's overall impact, no one is ready for that tiresome second half after the high from the prior half as it sets expectations, but everything is washed out because of the too worst second half. This shows the confidence on story that Koratala had, it tells that he had only a part of story to which he filled the missing puzzle but ended up placing a different one. Also the film becomes predictable, it's already an outdated story & also shows heavy inspiration from Bahubali. Coming to SSR sentiment - I can partially say that NTR had surpassed this time like a pro but still cannot guarantee on the long run with the boring second half. 

Overall, it's a one-time watch & also can prefer theatres for the overwhelming first half but can also leave the theatres for tiring second half. So, it's on you to choose what. Because neither cannot skip the extravaganza of first half in theatre nor cannot bear the later part. It's a mediocre film in my opinion.