- Date of Release: 31 January 2025
- Genre: Action, Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Deva
Introduction
Straight up, I have one question for the makers of Deva – How Dumb Do You Actually Think The Audience Is? Right through the movie promotions, the official word was that Deva is NOT a remake of the 2013 Malayalam film Mumbai Police. The entire campaign was staged on this very foundation, despite the viewers sniffing it out from its trailer cut. I was still hopeful given the eccentric teaser that was cut (and the editor of that teaser cut must be given a raise). Sadly, the moment I sat to watch the film, I knew it spelled trouble because it felt just like Mumbai Police with an extra layer of fluff. It is a pity that the expectations were not set right, something that has now created a trust deficit for me having been gaslit this very time. Let me put it on record, I have no qualms of it being a remake but the least you can do is sell it to me as an adaptation. Just changing some parts of the original film doesn’t make this film an original – STOP FOOLING YOUR VIEWERS!
At the time of the announcement of Deva, I remember having put out a video of Mumbai Police on my Youtube channel (Popcorn Reviewss), citing how the source material might well be stale if Deva were to be its remake. In the discussion that ensued in my comments section, a very important point was discussed (and this will be the spoiler of Mumbai Police so if you haven’t watch it then directly skip to the next segment) – the gay angle of Prithviraj was applicable to the era of 2013 because homosexuality was a criminalized offence back in the day. So the concerned character then being a cop and viewed as someone on the right side of the law, had an inkling of being a criminal because of his sexual preferences, an act that was abolished in 2018. So sitting in 2025, the same would not be applicable for Deva too, that rightly doesn’t resort to it. But this ironically acts as a bane given that the shock value is completely missing, thereby leaving you with a lot to be desired! But this is only one of the many issues of Deva that starts off on a good note but completely falters after that.
Story & Screenplay
Deva borrows the basic skeketon of Mumbai Police with respect to its premise and pretty much the major beats of the film. The film opens with the introduction of Dev (Shahid Kapoor) who makes a mysterious phone call to his superior citing that he has solved the case, only for him to meet with an accident and lose his memory. Hence, the rest of the film follows his journey that is both internal and external – of having to find his own identity and know the whereabouts of a case that he had apparently cracked. Mumbai Police was essentially my first entry point to the brilliant Malayalam Film Industry, and for those who have watched the original will know the exact beats of this investigative thriller. But, I couldn’t help but see some glaring changes with respect to the tone of the drama, something that doesn’t necessarily work in favour of Deva.
The character of Dev is showcased to be a badass cop, as opposed to the character of Antony Moses (Prithviraj Sukumaran) in Mumbai Police who was understated with his character, having to internalize his issues even before the actual plot did kickstart. The badass nature of Dev is literally used as fluff here, even as you randomly see him trespassing a function of a VIP politician, and beating his bad guys to pulp. Or even rigorously thrusting his pelvis in a dance number that I have been grooving to ever since. Or even, randomly sleeping around with women, or flirting with the character of Diya (Pooja Hegde) at a wedding. It is very clear that the writing wished to highlight the alternate ending of Mumbai Police early on here, by almost reverse engineering the setup. But it comes with an added burden of contrasting tones in the film, as opposed to an understated one from the original.
So even as you groove and gravitate towards Dev dancing to ‘Main Hoon Don’, a homage to Amitabh Bachchan and his gangster avatar from the 70s, what eventually transforms of the character in the second hour is something diabolically different. The energy of the film that starts off on a high, is completely nullified and flattened out in the second hour. The obvious question would be on how that impacts the film – it does because the tonal shift isn’t measured to a point of being in control, something that naturally creates lags in the screenplay. The other issue for me was that Deva seems heavily liked a dumbed down version simply because it had the tedency to spoon-feed the viewers, unlike Mumbai Police. Some crucial plot-points were ‘uncovered’ in the original, while every little detail is served in a platter or alternately played out as a part of the flashback scene. What this does is that it never fully allows you room to invest in the investigation by playing the guessing game, even as you go through the motions without having a strong emotional connect for its characters. This also extends to the character of Rohan (Pavail Gulatie), and the bond that he shares with Dev.
After a decently watchable first hour that featured a solid action set-piece, things completely go out of hand in the second hour because the energy of the film is drastically lowered (primarily, because the writing and particularly the filmmaking did not account for the plausal tonal shift). I did have stray issues with a few plot points too – like Dev having to take the help of a sharp-shooter to actually crack the case, even as his own internal journey doesn’t quite add up in the course of the drama. But the major bummer for me came in its final act that actually seemed like a cop-out from the original Malayalam film. Yes, it may also have partly to do with the fact that I knew the mystery even before the film had started but simply the staging felt so patchy. The big reveal wasn’t actually big enough, the impact of a revelation was tepid and it all felt too vanilla for me. Ideally, the climax needed an additional layer of mystery simply to surprise the viewers because you were already walking on thin ice by stepping away from the original ending that was bold and brave for its time. At the very least, I expected a solid motive as well but all of it just went up in smoke as I felt woefully cheated by being gaslit into originally believing that Deva is an original film. The screenplay has its moments but just doesn’t elevate the drama like it should.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are punchy and atleast do their part in creating an ambience of Mumbai against the backdrop of crime. The music is excellent and although I wasn’t a fan of the usage of the dance number in the screenplay, I still found myself grooving to its beats. The BGM by the very talented Jakes Bejoy is incredible, and it definitely ‘tries’ to elevate the staging of a few scenes that otherwise wasn’t elevated by the filmmaking. The cinematography is exceptional with frames that wonderfully sync up with the BGM during a couple of action set-pieces that are nicely choreographed. A word of praise for the production design and the creative decision to shoot the film at real locations, that automatically adds depth to the frames. The editing is a little patchy but still doesn’t drastically hamper the viewing experience. What hampers the viewing experience to an extent is interestingly the filmmaking, which is a surprise because Rosshan Andrrews was the same man behind Mumbai Police too. It is surprising that the narrative largely remains dull after an eccentric start, simply because the transitional tone of the drama wasn’t accounted for. There was a reason why Mumbai Police had worked even before its climax – its tone was understated and pretty much constant throughout the narrative. But the decision to add fluff completely shifted the scenario here, that invariably accounted for a rather mid level of execution.
Performances
The performances are pretty good although not every character is provided with a character arc. Saadhika Syal as Shweta is a talent to keep.an eye on, and she impresses with her expressions despite a limited screen time. Having said that, talented actors like Girish Kulkarni and Kubbra Sait are woefully wasted, literally being treated as silent spectators despite both of them showing good screen presence. Pravesh Rana as Farhan is nicely understated with his performance. Meenal Sahu as Rebecca is decent although she isn’t exactly utilized well in the drama. Pooja Hegde as Diya is literally used as a prop while having nothing major to contribute in the film. Pavail Gulatie as ohan is sincere and earnest and tries his best to extract some emotions through his character. And I really feel for Shahid Kapoor (other than the fact that he blatantly lied through his teeth in his film promotions) because here is an actor who is always an honest tryer. He is a complete package – he can dance, he can emote, he can energize the proceedings and also be understated, both equally in a convincing manner. But his creative choices since Kabir Singh have been appalling – as many as 4 adaptations and 1 very forgettable film is hardly a filmography that one wishes to have in the last 5 outings. While he is again terrific here, the justification of the character wasn’t really evident, something that didn’t quite make be emotionally attached to him. And so, this was once again a solid performance of his that was a part of a ‘not-so-good’ film. It perhaps would be a good idea for him to pause, breath, analyze, strategize and restart from this point. And his denial of this film being an original film is an unpardonable offence, so he needs to be mindful of that the next time around!
Conclusion
Deva is a masterclass in gaslighting the original source material and the audience, thereby summing up the drama that might be watchable to some but largely average. Also, it must be emphasized that blatantly lying through the promotional campaign will not change the reality, that this is indeed an adaptation of Mumbai Police. The audience isn’t dumb and this will further create a trust deficit with them! Time to pull up your socks please! Available in a theatre near you.
