The latest Telugu movie, "Devara: Part 1", featuring "RRR" co-star N. T. Rama Rao Jr. (Junior NTR), missed the mark despite its initial promising marketing. The movie's storyline is dispersed and excessively lengthy, majorly depending on Junior NTR's star power, so much so that he's cast in dual roles. However, director Koratala Siva struggles to anchor the film with substantial weight, resulting in an often exhausting and disjointed array of tropes.
Following Hollywood’s trend, mainstream Indian cinema is also producing multiple first part movies, often ending up as unsatisfactory and incomplete narratives. "Devara" is among the recent line of Telugu films that try to force-feed the audience bulky backstories rather than smoothly incorporating them into the plot. The film starts with an irrelevant 20-minute introduction, which seems to be setting up for a sequel rather than serving the current storyline.
The primary storyline begins with an island community led by Devara (NTR), who conducts night raids at the request of wealthy smugglers trying to bypass authorities. Alongside Devara is his best friend Bhaira (Indian actor Saif Ali Khan), with whom he frequently disagrees. The rest of the film's action feels hollow, leading to a wave of harsh violence from Devara that the film fails to appropriately address.
Their island is the film's visual centerpiece, but it lacks thematic or emotional resonance. Succession is determined by combat, similar to "Black Panther", but the movie doesn't provide any context on how the village interacts with the outside world, creating a lack of meaning amidst the frenzy.
The film delivers only one impressive fight scene and a single energetic dance number. NTR stands out in his roles as Devara and his less competent son, Vara. However, the subplot between Vara and the village girl Thanga is unengaging and pointless. Moreover, Khan's gruff Telugu voice-over could be off-putting for those accustomed to his normally upbeat, high-pitched tone.
"Devara: Part 1" shows fleeting moments of potential but is ultimately let down by its unnecessarily prolonged three-hour runtime, disturbing stretches of disappearing protagonist, and untimely revelations that go unnoticed till the end. The film could have been much more engaging if it had disclosed its intentions earlier, rather than stringing the audience along.
