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| Source: Fandango |
An Indian actioner that treats Jr. NTR like larger-than-life folklore - Devara: Part One clicks best when presenting intense eye candy for enthused Indian audiences, but ultimately struggles under the weight of maintaining structure and a compelling story that can be properly passed down to generations.
On-screen, it’s hard to not notice the flashy grandeur of Indian cinema. Bright CGI and epic title sequences make viewers feel as if they’re walking into a hypermart, while rhythmic shot structure makes for memorable sequences. One example of this involves a blood splatter crossing paths with the crescent moon above for a split second, making for a visual representation of Devara’s brutal punishments to his smuggler enemies.
Outside of that, there's not much here to take notice of. Jr. NTR delivers a front-and-center performance, able to tap into both his action hero and timid man qualities through lazy scripting. While this does make itself worth the price of admission, the film as a whole suffers because of it - having a whole unnecessary hour in the 2nd half that leads to an unsatisfying and off-guard conclusion.
The VFX in this looks off-putting, but I did like what they were able to do with it. In particular, the climax has some stand-out shots and Devara’s fiercely protective nature is symbolized nicely through intense and gritty action choreography.
With this, despite the bold originality and outrageous premises Bollywood cinema has nowadays compared to mainstream American flicks, it’s very disappointing to me to see a genre in flux with itself, and maybe that reflects differences in nationalities and thinking more than anything else. If they don’t want global praise, then maybe it’s for the best to cater to a more localized audience. While that still doesn’t excuse them from complaints about scripting and tone, this could be a reason why the Bollywood industry seems averse to attracting foreign audiences.
Another interesting-on-paper concept stretched to its thematic limits, Devara: Part One doesn’t necessarily earn the position of being bonkers, but pushes itself slightly over the edges of mediocrity with a dedicated lead-out performance and neat setpieces.
My Rating: 5/10 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Now playing in theaters!
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