Ever since SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali was released in two parts, South film industries, which were still hesitant about sequels, became obsessed with them. The KGF series’ success reinforced the madness. Sequels became a badge of honour for the superstars. Although a few have worked, there have also been films that didn’t warrant sequels. A few scripts have felt like they have been overwritten with less substance resulting in undercooked and sometimes unnecessary sequels. Director Koratala Siva also attempts to try to follow the trend with Devara Part 1. While actors Jr NTR and Saif Ali Khan give it their all, the execution does not play out well as it did in the cases of Baahubali and KGF.
Devara Part 1 begins in Mumbai in 1996. As India gears up to host that year’s Cricket World Cup, Mumbai police get an alert about a terrorist threat during the tournament. A special team is formed to nab Dhaya and Ethi, the masterminds of the attack. The police find that the two have gone to Sengadal, a coastal fishing hamlet that’s made up of four villages. The inhabitants of the villages are the descendants of ancient warriors who once protected the resources. However, due to poverty, the villagers become smugglers who bring illegal goods inside the country from cargo ships. However, upon arriving, the police force learns that villagers have abandoned smuggling as the ghost of Devara haunts anyone who steps inside the sea with malice. Thus begins the story of Devara (Jr NTR), who heads one of the four villages.
Devara Part 1 starts strong, with the first half of the film setting up a brilliant premise for an epic of sorts. The first half of Devara Part 1 has many semblances of Shakespearean tragedy, Julius Caesar. Devara, the people’s champion, after a life-changing incident, decides to leave the smuggling life behind, while the heads of the three other villages–Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan), Kunjara (Kalaiyarasan), and Rayappa (Srikanth)–rebels him. What ensues is the story of betrayal, succession, and bloody rampage. However, a lot of good things end in the first half as Devara disappears to become an invisible protector leaving behind a mediocre second half, where his son Vara (also played by Jr NTR), tries to help his village despite his cowardice.
Most of the first half was reminiscent of the Tamil movie Vada Chennai, directed by Vetri Maaran, which was also about illegal smuggling, betrayal of friends, and the ascension of a new hero. The difference is that Vada Chennai, despite a lead to a second part, is still a complete film. It can do without a second part. Not Devara. Here, Kortala Siva only sets up things for pay that leave you wanting more. Even SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning, though, left us with a question “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?”, it had its own arc. Kortala Siva ends Devara Part 1 with a similar question, but we aren’t left with the same satisfaction as before.
The tautness and the organic progression from the first half get lost post-interval as scenes feel stretched out and the progression of the story slows down. It becomes bothersome because you can see Devara could have been a brilliant entertainer had it been a self-contained film not aiming for a part two.
What is more disappointing about Devara Part 1 is it undercuts its own success. After a long while, the production design, the CGI, and over-the-top fight sequences leave you in a stupor. A fight involving a shark is breathtakingly creative. After SS Rajamouli, Kortala Siva has managed to make such an outlandish sequence enjoyable. Yet, all the highs you get from the first part are lost as the second part sobers you up with its meanderings.
Despite its shortcomings in the second half, Devara Part 1 manages to be an entertaining watch thanks to Jr NTR’s terrific screen presence.
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