“Deva Review: Shahid Kapoor Steals the Spotlight in This High-Octane Thriller”
Deva Review: Shahid Kapoor anchors the adroitly mounted thriller buoyed by a screenplay that, to great effect, significantly alters the plot of the film
Shahid Kapoor is winning the hearts of the audience with his excellent acting in Deva. He has presented this thriller with a story that changes the story of the film which has been re-worked (Mumbai Police, 2013) to some extent.
Director Roshan Andra Yooj, in his first Hindi film, has not only replicated the lead actress’s personality as in his Malayalam film – he has kept the original project on a high note for the first time – but has also given a twist on the story of a good cop versus a bad cop.
A mixture of these masala ingredients is sprinkled on the bhee.
Deva travels in the mind of a wounded and confused Mumbai Policeman, who says most of the things on his own through his fists. And, during the blast, all memories of the guilty police man vanish and all that he manages to save is his retaliatory mentality.
When he is being cornered or threatened, his ability to provoke him, gets him out of difficult situations, even when his mind is not completely fine. He has many enemies and opponents both inside and outside the police force. But the more he is surrounded, the more he is seen having fun.
To put it simply, a hard policeman who has many obstacles against him wants a second chance in life and a case which gets resolved only after a serious head injury. It combines the elements of many action styles, ranging from purely emotional to psychological, from experimental to shocking. So, is there anything new in God? Yes, there is.
Take some simple narrative moves in your stride and react to the tough spectacle of a policeman trapped in a corner fighting his inner demons as well as the violent criminals roaming in the underworld of Mumbai, and you have a film that holds your attention throughout its 157-minute night.
It is not often that a film is so long that it does not start weighing on the audience after the story ends.
Due to the combination of many factors – capable performances, first class work by cinematographer Amit Roy, specially calibrated production by E. Shrikar Prasad and the living background score of Bijoya – Deva does not lose his tension even in those scenes where movement is allowed (as a part of a larger design), sometimes it becomes a little less.
Due to a motor accident (in the first scene of the film), the memories of the police man in the title role get spoiled.
The recovery process is slow but on the advice of a neurologist he comes back into the depths of the pain. He stands on his feet and the act of putting the pieces back together helps him to revive anything that is left in his memory.
Two parts of Dev Ambre’s (Shahid Kapoor) story – Before forgetting and after forgetting – Dev E and Dev Bee’s wounds, internal turmoil and the reasons behind moral instability are brought to the fore. It depends on the latter personality that by coming back in the confused Hee-prophet case, who is now found in the search, the person who tries to get back what he had lost earlier. Dev has good friends around him.
Her immediate boss, Parahaan Khan (Pravesh Rana), is her sister’s husband. The wedding script gives the writers an excuse to stage the film’s only song-and-naturist set, no matter how mismatched it is. It is difficult to digest a corrupt, slanderous, and thug policeman shaking his leg vigorously.
Dev also relies on a valuable assistant, Rohan Disilva (Pavel Gulatee), his childhood friend who stands by him in good and bad times. At the end of the first part, the strength of the bond between two selfless men is highlighted. In the story, this story is a long one around which a mysterious and dangerous investigation ultimately revolves.
Loss of memory is an old story in popular cinema. Deva uses it as an important mode in his work of Dev Amber, his very great department and in his relationships with those people who matter to him. In the last lot a Khojee letter was given along with (Pooja Hegade), who is the daughter of a constable.
Diya offers to help Dev with her skills in his official investigation, gathering information on how and why a wanted Mumbai criminal manages to elude the police time and again.
But her role is largely limited to what she is here for – acting as the hero’s romantic interest, which gets less and less as the film nears its end. In fact, except for singing at a wedding she attends, she has to do without a love song.Even less important is Deepti Singh (Kubra Sait), a member of the police team charged with raiding the criminals’ hideouts.
Dev A thinks nothing of her but Dev B, now free of his former prejudice, ropes her in for his operation. But this is a man’s world and there is little room for a woman in uniform. Deepti goes along, providing sporadic information or tips and staying away from the limelight.The devilish Dev has god-like power. She has a record of bursting out of temper.
Whether he is taking on a mafia don-turned-politician (Girish Kulkarni in a cameo) or a gang of goons working for a criminal, his methods are always reckless. A courtroom sequence in the film shows Dev having five cases pending against him. His bosses are having a tough time reining him in.
Farhan helps him put together the scattered puzzle pieces, which at first glance seems like a perfectly logical thing for a friend to do. But somewhere, while narrating the story to his trusted friend, Farhan highlights a crucial detail that he had no idea about.This element stands out because it is a turning point in the story.
It is an encounter in which a man on the run is shot dead and on which the rest of the film – a little of the first half and the whole of the second half – hinges.Thankfully, such gaps are not common in Deva. The changes made to the plot that give the film a new run-up to the climax and the final conclusion serve the purpose of keeping the audience guessing.
So, even if you remember the Malayalam film and know how it ends, Deva has something special in store for you.It is Shahid Kapoor’s show all the way, but Deva is definitely not just for fans of the star.
