Devara: Part 1

<p>In 1996, a high-level meeting is held concerning security threats to the in India from arms dealer Daya and his brother, Yethi. The police capture Yethi’s henchman and interrogate him. They learn Yethi was going to see Muruga, a smuggler in the Ratnagiri mountains on the – border. Going undercover as smugglers, the police led by Officer Shivam head to Ratnagiri to find Yethi. They approach DSP Tulasi, who tells them that Muruga is dead, and to visit the Red Sea villages. They visit Bhaira, chief of one of the villages, and threaten him to smuggle goods, only to be violently rejected by him. They find Singappa, who takes them offshore in a boat. Shivam tries to make an offer to him by showing off a diamond ring which is abruptly thrown into the sea by Singappa. As Shivam dives in to retrieve the ring, he finds human skeletons on the seabed, terrifying him. Singappa starts narrating the story which begins 12 years earlier. Inhabitants of the villages were once warriors defending the seas, but after India became , they lose relevance, reduced to becoming smugglers in the infamous Red Sea. Devara is a chieftain of one of the villages and part of the group which smuggles for Muruga from the merchant ships, along with Bhaira. Unbeknownst to them, the loot is illegal arms which are used in robberies, and one such incident occurs near their villages. During a smuggling expedition, they are caught by the coast guard and the commander of the vessel, Irfan, reveals the items they were smuggling, which indirectly led to the death of one of Devara’s villagers. Devara has a change of heart and decides to cease their smuggling operations, which is not liked by the other chieftains, including Bhaira. They hatch plans to kill him but fail. Devara stops the villagers from entering the seas for smuggling. He disappears after an attempt on his life and writes a message on a rock near the shore that he would continue to stop those who venture into the sea for smuggling. Years pass, and everyone adopts fishing to earn their livelihood as Devara stops those smuggling, while remaining invisible to the villagers. His son, Vara, grows up to be timid and soft-spoken, unlike his father, and believes Devara abandoned his family. Vara’s childhood friend, Thangam, is in love with him, but wishes he was more like Devara. On the other hand, Bhaira trains a private army to kill Devara. Tulasi and Muruga again offer an opportunity to Bhaira to smuggle for them along with killing Devara, the biggest thorn in their operations. When Bhaira’s men harass Vara’s sister, he beats them up in a drunken fury. The following morning, he is accused of killing one of the men, but Vara pleads to Bhaira that he is not responsible. Bhaira tells him to prove it by joining the smuggling operation with his men. He later reveals that he killed his own injured man to get Vara to join them so that he can draw out Devara at sea. Meanwhile, Devara’s wife learns of the smuggling operation and rushes to Singappa to ask him to stop Vara. However, Singappa reveals that Devara has been long dead, and the person who has been attacking the smugglers is actually Vara. He wrote the note on the rock twelve years earlier and pretended to be timid so that everyone would think that Devara is still alive. Meanwhile, Vara attacks Bhaira’s men at sea and brings their corpses back to the shore. To instill even more fear in the villagers, Vara also injures himself, in front of Singappa and Devara’s loyal aides, as he “went against his father”. When Shivam asks Singappa about Devara’s killer, a flashback reveals that he was killed by Vara on the day he supposedly disappeared. In February 2020, and were reported to be collaborating on a second film, following (2018), tentatively titled . The film was to be produced by and under the banners of Haarika & Hassine Creations and . Later that July, announced another project, , with in the lead, to be produced by former distributor Sudhakar Mikkilineni’s newly launched production studio, Yuvasudha Arts. However, neither project materialised. In April 2021, it was reported that Rama Rao and Siva would collaborate on , marking their second collaboration after (2016). The film was officially announced on (13 April 2021) with Yuvasudha Arts producing the film in collaboration with . However, production was delayed due to Siva’s commitments to and Rama Rao’s to . Siva described it as a “large-scale project that has more commercial appeal” in comparison to his debut film (2013). Following the box-office failure of , Siva wanted to fine-tune the script making necessary changes before finalising it as a draft, which delayed the commencement of filming throughout late 2022. By November, Siva started the pre-production works of the film with production set to begin in early 2023. Initially set to begin production on 24 February, work on the project was delayed due to the death of as well as Rama Rao’s participation in the campaign for . The film was officially launched on 23 March with a held in with the presence of the cast and crew and preceding with the . The film’s title was officially announced on 19 May 2023, the eve of Rama Rao’s birthday. On 4 October, Siva announced that the film would be split into two parts. The technical crew consist of musician , cinematographer , editor , production designer , stunt choreographer Kenny Bates and visual effects supervisors Brad Minnich and Yugandhar T. , , and were considered to play the female lead, but turned down the offer. was confirmed to play the lead female role, in her first South Indian film. At the , Janhvi described it as a “dream come true” moment on working with Rama Rao as she recalled on how she manifested her debut in South industry through Rama Rao’s film in her past interviews. In April 2023, was signed as an antagonist, marking his debut in Telugu cinema. Khan stated that speaking a new language for the film was challenging for him, and he did feel like a “newcomer”. and participated at the launch ceremony, thereby being part of the film. In May 2023, further supporting cast members joined the film with and Tarak Ponnappa being part of the sets. In June 2023, it was announced that was cast in the film. , , and also joined the cast after filming few preliminary sequences. In February 2024, reports surfaced stating that , a actress, had been chosen to star alongside Jr NTR. Shruti confirmed this during an interview with the Marathi Star Media portal. Siva later revealed that he chose Shruti as Devara’s wife as he didn’t want an actress to look like a second heroine in the film. He further added that he had been searching for an actress who complemented Devara’s personality and he clarified that if he had cast any reputed actor then perhaps their image would have sidelined the role. commenced on 1 April 2023 in , with Rama Rao in attendance, while Janhvi and Khan joined the sets in mid April. In mid-May, the team took a two-week break following Rama Rao’s departure for a family vacation. Filming resumed on 7 June 2023 with few crucial sequences between Rama Rao, Khan and other cast members being shot there and was completed in 14 days. Several action sequences had been shot in this schedule, including one which has been filmed in extreme low light. The team then took a brief month-long break, before resuming on 31 July 2023, to shoot an underwater action sequence. Rama Rao trained with expert swimmers from Mumbai for this particular schedule. In September, some of the sequences were shot at a specially constructed beach set in . On 4 October 2023, the makers filmed the underwater action sequence at Hyderabad which would conclude the schedule post-completion. Janhvi completed filming for her portions on 1 November. The team then took a break to celebrate (12 November 2023) and resumed filming two days later for another brief schedule. The Goa schedule was completed by 20 November and the team returned to Hyderabad for another brief schedule which was filmed during mid-December. Kalyan Ram revealed that 80% of the film’s shooting had been completed by late-December 2023, and filming would be wrapped by January 2024. However, at the end of the month, the production team revealed that 30 per cent of the film’s shoot is to be completed. In mid-March 2024, the team moved to Goa for filming a song sequence with Rama Rao and Janhvi. Following a short break, the team filmed a concurrent schedule in May 2024 at where Khan’s portions were filmed. Rama Rao was not present in that schedule as he was filming for (2025) in . In mid-June, the team shot an action sequence set in a forest in Goa featuring Rama Rao and Khan. In the same month, the team moved to , for filming a romantic song featuring Rama Rao and Jhanvi (” “) which was choreographed by . In July 2024, the team filmed another schedule in Shamshabad. Due to multiple leaks throughout the production, the portions were filmed inside closed sets with the crew members restricted from using phones throughout the schedule. In mid-August 2024, a song titled “Aayudha Puja” was filmed in sets. On 14 August 2024, Rama Rao announced that he had completed filming his portions for the film. In an interaction with , Rama Rao added that he initially planned to shoot the underwater sequences at one of the biggest pools in , but for reasons unknown they decided to set up a pool in the studio where they would predominantly shoot the action sequences. The team constructed a 20-foot water tank, dug five feet with 200 x 150 feet dimensions, in which they shot most of the action sequences for 30–35 days. He added, “We had these big diggers which came in and created artificial waves. We had wave machines. We have motorboats, motors fixed into the water to give small ripples in the pool. There was a pool and there was a water tank as well. So, it was very high on action.” The visual effects were handled by Kalyan Ram’s visual effects company, Advaitha Creative Works, along with , , Stealthworks Taiwan, NXT VFX, , Alzahra VFX, Phantom FX, Studio51, Firebolt Entertainment, Maskman Studio, Oscar VFX, , and Redefine VFX; Yugandhar T. and Brad Minnich served as the . As the film relied heavily on visual effects, Kalyan Ram researched extensively on enhancing the and effects for nearly eight months, detailing on specific sequences that need VFX and real elements, respectively. To achieve this, the VFX team storyboarded the particular shots which demanded VFX. Sequences that demanded visual effects were filmed earlier so that the team could work on them within a four-month duration, and the process was supervised by international companies. for the film began simultaneously in July 2024. According to cinematographer Rathnavelu, the film featured 3000 CG shots. The initial runtime of the film was 190 minutes. It was sent to the (CBFC) on 12 September 2024, where it received . The censor board demanded four cuts for the film where a character kicking his wife, another character kicking his mother being modified, a five-second shot of a character hanging through a sword and then sliding down through it had been removed, and a scene with Rama Rao’s character riding a shark in the sea was modified. With the exclusion of those sequences, the final runtime was revealed to be around 170 minutes. The film’s soundtrack album and were composed by in his fourth Telugu project after (2018), (2019) and (2019). The first single, titled “Fear Song” was released on 19 May 2024. The second single titled ” ” was released on 5 August 2024. The third single titled “Daavudi” was released on 4 September 2024. The fourth single, titled “Ayudha Pooja” was released on 26 September 2024 along with the full soundtrack album. On 8 January 2024, the makers unveiled a glimpse into the film through social media platforms. Another glimpse that revealed Khan’s character Bhaira was released on 16 August, coinciding with the actor’s birthday. The film’s trailer was launched at an event held in on 10 September. The trailer, however garnered mixed response from certain sections of audiences; actor criticised few social media users peddling targeted hate against the trailer. Another trailer was released on 22 September 2024, five days ahead of the film’s release. The promotional campaign kickstarted with a press conference held in for the film’s Tamil version on 17 September 2024, and promotional events were also planned in , and . The film’s pre-release event was initially planned at the H.I.C.C. in Hyderabad. However, it was cancelled due to the massive crowd of the actor’s fans trying to enter the auditorium, exceeding its capacity; Rama Rao and , who was the event’s chief guest, were eventually asked to walk out of the auditorium citing audience overflow. Rama Rao released a video message expressing his disappointment on the event’s cancellation. hosted an interview under the name , with Rama Rao and , simultaneously handling the promotions for the latter’s film . The interview was uploaded to the YouTube channel of on 23 September. The interview featured the actors discussing their experiences on working in their respective films. was theatrically released on 27 September 2024 in , , , and languages. The film was originally announced with a release date on 5 April 2024, coinciding with the weekend of . However, it was pushed to 10 October 2024, during navaratri, due to the extensive post-production and VFX works, before being moved to its earlier release date. Prior to the release, the makers trimmed seven minutes from the Hindi dubbed version featuring some solo scenes of Telugu actors in order to cater to a broader audience. The film was released in standard, , , , , and ICE formats. The film had its world premiere at the film festival in on 26 September 2024, with Rama Rao and Siva participating in the event. and acquired the theatrical distribution rights for the Hindi dubbed version. acquired the distribution rights for the film in and . and SS Karthikeya’s Showing Business acquired the Karnataka theatrical rights. The distribution rights were acquired by Prathyangira Cinemas and Hamsini Entertainment. Theatrical rights for release in were purchased by Sri Lakshmi Movies, whereas distribution rights were bought by . The ticket price hikes were estimated to be around ₹250 in single screen theatres and ₹418 in multiplex theatres across Telangana, and ₹200 in single screen theatres and ₹325 in multiplexes across Andhra Pradesh. Prior to its release, the film made a business of nearly (US$21 million) from its theatrical rights. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights were sold for (US$13 million). While earlier reports claimed that the film’s theatrical rights for the Hindi version had been sold for ₹45–60 crore (US$5.4–7.2 million, with attributing the huge price in the Hindi version to Rama Rao’s fan following among the audiences in North India, as well as his Bollywood debut with , calling it as “one of the highest rates for a Telugu actor in recent times”. However, later reports claimed that the rights were sold for (US$1.8 million). The film made a combined deal of (US$2.0 million) from distribution in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala theatres. The overseas distribution rights were sold for (US$3.1 million). As per estimates, the film needed to earn around 180 crore ( 350 crore gross) at the worldwide box office to break even. It further made (US$18 million) from non-theatrical rights, including digital, satellite and music rights. The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by for (US$18 million). The film would have its digital premiere in all languages only after 7–8 weeks of its theatrical run. The film began streaming on Netflix from 8 November 2024 in Telugu and dubbed versions of Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. An English dubbed version of the film began streaming from 21 November 2024. The Hindi dubbed version of the film began streaming from 22 November 2024. received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. On the website , 33% of 18 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. Mahpara Kabir of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote ” is a gripping action drama that offers an entertaining cinematic experience. Jr NTR delivers a stellar performance in two distinct roles, while Saif Ali Khan shines as the vengeful antagonist. The film’s stunning visuals, epic action sequences, and compelling performances make it a must-watch, even if the storyline becomes predictable at times.” gave 3/5 stars and wrote ” suffers from a weak second half, but makes up for the minuses with a terrific first half, clapworthy action scenes and mass-appealing avatar of Jr NTR.” Paul Nicodemus of gave 3/5 stars and wrote ” is visually stunning but narratively underwhelming. Jr NTR’s solid performance, combined with high production values and Anirudh’s score, makes it worth watching.” Lachmi Deb Roy of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Saif Ali Khan and NTR Jr ’s performance are larger than life, but only if some justice was done to the role given to Janhvi Kapoor, the movie could have been a super-hit. But, alas! she just had an ornamental role.” of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “Devara’s self-appointed guardian of the sea unleashing violence as a means to end violence is purely Junior NTR fan-tasy.” Sashidhar Adivi of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” manages to dish up more action to drama to romance and even exotic locations in songs. However, a tighter writing in the second half could have made the film more engaging.” Avad Mohammed of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” is a stylish action drama that has Jr NTR’s terrific performance. While the visuals and action click, the drama is weak. The build-up for the second half looks half-baked and makes the film just a passable watch.” K. Janani of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” is an action drama with elaborate characterisations. The film is replete with great performances from Jr NTR and Saif Ali Khan, but the story remains predictable. ends on a cliffhanger just like SS Rajamouli’s did, but it is also a film that makes you question if all ambitious films deserve two parts. Avinash Ramachandran of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “The Jr NTR film starts off really strong, only to suffer an extended downward slide that is finally salvaged by a bloody finale that is equal parts engaging and outlandish.” Saibal Chatterjee of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “Jr NTR, Janhvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan’s film is a mixed bag. The parts that work, few and far between as they are, might serve to whet the appetite of fans of big-canvas action and melodrama.” Jaya Dwivedi of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “the writing and direction are weak and the film can come across as predictable. Moreover, audiences can feel like it’s a repetition of several films that we have already watched in the past. Overall, the cinematography and acting are the only things that try to save the sinking boat. The film does not give you a new experience, overall there is a huge lack of originality.” BVS Prakash of gave 2/5 stars and wrote “Director Koratala Siva should have selected a relatable script, than a fictional and weak plot for a big hero like NTR. He just banks on NTR’s heroism and anger image and elevates it, but the emotional core among characters is missing. His concept of invisible fear would have worked better, if he had a good script on hand which is real and familiar.” Pratikshya Mishra of rated the film with 2/5 stars. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of wrote “Director Koratala Siva and Jr NTR mount an intense action drama, with huge help from Anirudh Ravichander, only for the later portions to lose steam in the over-zealousness to stretch the story for a sequel.” Neeshita Nyayapati of wrote “Koratala cannot help but write characters who want to save the world, and while that might not be a bad thing, it does feel repetitive. With a Baahubali-esque ending setting up the story for a sequel, here’s hoping there are better things ahead.” The film grossed (US$16 million) worldwide on its opening day, becoming Jr. NTR’s second-biggest opener after . The film grossed (US$24 million) worldwide in two day of its release. and also crossed the (US$12 million) mark in India. In its opening weekend, the film collected (US$30 million) globally. reported the worldwide gross of in the first seven days, while reported the collection was (US$44 million). reported that the film grossed (US$48 million) worldwide in its two-week run, with (US$25 million) from its home territory of . As per , it grossed over (US$62 million) in 18 days of its release. While, reported that the film collected (US$50 million) in its final run.</p>