A host of unanswered questions plague “Devara: Part 1,” the excellent but familiar Telugu-language Indian action drama and star vehicle from “RRR” co-star NT Rama Rao Jr. For starters, does this nautical-themed melodrama need will be the first part of a series, and will the high-profile promise of a sequel leave anyone but NTR fans wanting more? It’s hard to know in any case, and not because “Devara: Part 1” doesn’t provide enough answers.
First, some good news. Writer-director Kortala Siva (“Acharya”) manages to make his cast, including Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor, look great, especially during the action scenes and meme-ready dance numbers. The film’s plot also unfolds at such a deliberate pace that it’s hard to argue that the film is too slow or too predictable to justify its 176-minute running time. Which brings me to the bad news.
Too often, the familiar and unchallenging nature of “Devara: Part 1”’s typical tropes and twists prevent the film from achieving runaway success. Variations on established themes aren’t necessarily the worst things in the world, but it’s frustrating when you’re watching a super-sized pirate drama that so often oscillates between superficial and gratifying gestures, and usually within the same scene.
It’s easy to forget and ultimately doesn’t matter, but most of “Devara: Part 1” plays out as a dramatized warning to a group of hapless Bombay cops who, in 1996, are trying to make their way in a community of tomboyish sailors. . . Local narrator Singappa (Prakash Raj) praises Devara (Rao) and later his son Vara (also Rao), who lead a divided group of villagers near the Ratnagiri mountains. For a time, piracy serves as the community’s main source of income, as we see in an overly inflated but intermittently moving opening scene where Rao emerges from the water in slow motion as if she were the second coming of Esther Williams. Eventually, Devara changes his mind about piracy after learning more about the weapons he and his team smuggle for the cunning middleman Muruga (Murali Sharma).
Tensions periodically arise between Devara, a selfless leader who can also fight and dance, and Bhaira (Khan), his generically contrary rival. They fight to a stalemate during an annual weapons ritual, where four burly men face off to decide which of their four villages will control a cache of weapons. Even this fight setting up requires a spell to catch on fire, but it does so once Devara and Bhair tie their wrists together and take turns slamming each other into various hard surfaces.
This and a few more conventional pleasures make the first half of “Devara: Part 1” quite enjoyable. The plot moves forward more than it moves, and the film only reaches a dramatic precipice before the pre-intermission break. At this point, the drama stops being about Devara and Bhaira’s rivalry and starts being about Vara, now an adult and the awkward bearer of his father’s legacy. This second half of the film occasionally builds on its initial promise, especially when the relatively shy Vara tries to fill his father’s oversized shoes. That fight sets up a pretty obvious twist, which then turns into a more novel twist and ultimately lays the groundwork for the implicitly promised sequel. Sure, sure, but why aren’t there more fight scenes in the water? Couldn’t there have been stronger dialogue and maybe more dancing and less exposition?
These burning questions threaten to overshadow the most charming parts of “Devara: Part 1,” particularly the supporting performances by diligent character actors like Sharma and Srikanth, as well as Kapoor’s turn as Thangam, Vara’s flirtatious love interest. A packed matinee screening in Times Square took a bathroom break during Thangam’s prescribed solo dance number; They missed the best musical number in the movie. However, my audience did not forget to applaud every time Rao performed a heroic push-up or danced to songs they had already memorized. Rao’s emotional range isn’t yet wide, but he unleashes a devastating charm offensive every time he fights (with great posturing) or dances (with disarming exuberance). Some scenes also feature a couple of standout visuals and effects, but only a few have enough drive and style to sustain their entire duration.
So how much do we need a “Devara: Part 2”? Siva rarely challenges his charming cast to step outside their comfort zone, but he and his collaborators still deliver much of what you could want from an action musical about a group of murderous but righteous pirates. A sequel could be an exciting improvement over what this half-tent lifter establishes. It could also sink under the weight of viewers’ reasonable expectations.