Deva Review

Surya and Asin proved a successful and hit pair through Gajini in Telugu. A Tamil film Vel with the hit pair was eyed by Bellamkonda Suresh, who in association with KVV Satyanarayana and Sakhamuri Panduranga Rao and was dubbed into Telugu as Deva. After bagging the Telugu screening rights of the film, Bellamkonda Suresh planned to remake it in Telugu but dropped the idea and released the dubbed version. Director Hari, who is known for directing several commercial hits in Tamil wielded the megaphone for this movie and made it a racy entertainer. After Peralagan (Sundarangudu in Telugu), Surya has played dual roles in this movie.

Vasu (Suriya) runs a private detective agency. His parents (Charan Raj and Saranya) love him very much. However, Vasu's mother always cries for missing one of her children and brother of Vasu. Incidentally, there is a village near Kakinada, where a family brings up that boy. The boy is named as Deva (Surya). Especially, the grandmother (Lakshmi) loves him very much and has an emotional attachment towards him.Vasu falls in love with Swati, an anchor of a private TV channel. In the course of time, Deva happens to see Vasu and surprises how a person with similar features like him is in Hyderabad. He also sees Vasu's parents and feels some kind of intimacy or attachment.

Accidentally, Swati also sees Deva and tells Vasu about him by showing the video footage. Vasu goes to the village and tells the grandmother, uncles of Deva that he was his missed brother, and pleads with them to send Deva with him. They do not approve. So, Vasu and Deva come to a deal and change their positions. Vasu stays as Deva in the village while Deva goes to the city as Vasu. In the village, there is a big rivalry between Deva's family and Nagabhushanam (Kalabhavan Mani). In order to save Deva from not becoming a murderer, Vasu decides to teach Nagabhushanam a lesson and get him punished by the law. With all his detective knowledge, he gathers all the information through his network and starts pinching Nagabhushanam in all ways. In a bid to take revenge, Nagabhushanam plans to kill one of the family members of Deva and almost succeeds in making an attempt to kill Deva's grandmother, who survives with the timely intervention of Vasu. At that time, Deva's family members find that it was not Deva but Vasu, who is with them. The secret also goes to Nagabhushanam. Vasu continues his efforts and checkmates Nagabhushanam from all corners. Nagabhushanam is killed himself as he carries a bomb with him at the waist.

PLUS: For Surya, the roles are not very challenging and have done it with good ease. Though the roles appear routine, the way he has handled them look special. He breathes fire as Deva and spreads charm as Vasu. He has showed good variation between both the roles through body language and dialogue delivery. His performance in emotional sequences is touching. His on screen chemistry with Asin has clicked well. Asin did not get opportunity to show her prowess in performance but she does have her moments. She too handled her role with good ease and brilliance. She shows her calibre when she looks at her lover in the village house with admiration and love. Another highlight in the film is the performance of Kalabhavan Mani as villain. He added life to the proceedings by his inimitable style. Vadivelu's comedy is amazing, who remained an asset The man is definitely one of the major assets of the film.

MINUS: Though Yuvan Shankar Raja scored good music for the film, it has complete Tamil scent. Though the hero played dual roles, there is only one heroine and the second character has no female lead. Though there is a little comedy relief in the first half of the film, it is totally missing in the second half. However, the director tried to maintain emotional scenes to compensate it.

REMARKS: Director Hari has proved his calibre with good script and its smart execution. The film showcases his ability to create a racy entertainer. He has treaded a safe path to make a commercially viable film by choosing a routine theme based on sentiment and action. But the treatment he has given to the story is commendable. He has brought out the film in such a way that the audience do not feel bored at any scene. The mult-dimensional climax coupled with action and sentiment is good and appealing. Especially, the movie has action, sentiment and romance. The script, which is compact, is well complemented by the performances.

Cast: Surya, Asin, Nazar, Vadivelu, Kalabhavan Mani, Charan Raj, Raj Kapoor, Vaiyapuri, Charlie, Lakshmi, Aiswarya, Saranya, Devaki, Ambica and others are in the cast.

Credits: Dialogues – Shashank Vennelakanti, Music – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Lyrics – Veturi, Bhuvanachandra, Chandrabose, Vennelakanti and Vanamali, Presents – Bellamkonda Suresh, Producers – KVV Satyanarayana and Sakhamuri Panduranga Rao, Story, screenplay and direction Hari.

Banner: Iswarya Art Creations.