Cast: Nagarjuna, Nani, Rashmika Mandanna, Akanksha Singh, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Murali Sharma
Director: Sriram Adittya T.
Nagarjuna and Nani star in ‘Devadas’, which is helmed by Sriram Adittya who has done two small films before. Ashwini Dutt returns as producer after a long gap with this film which also stars Akanksha Singh and Rashmika.
Doctor Das (Nani) is sacked from a corporate hospital and sets up a clinic on his own. Deva (Nagarjuna), a mafia don whose face is not known to the public, is wounded by the police and turns up at Das’ clinic. They become good friends. Das tries to get Deva out of the world of crime when he kills a goon (Naveen Chandra). This sets the stage for the rest of the film.
Sriram Adittya uses this big multi-starrer opportunity well. With two stars like Nagarjuna and Nani, he concentrates on providing entertainment. Instead of dealing with the conflict between a doctor and a killer in a serious tone, Adittya adds a whiff of humour.
Nagarjuna’s character is imbued with entertainment rather than seriousness. The don is pictured on the lines of Munnabhai MBBS. The doctor also provides some entertainment. Nagarjuna’s entry is definitely a highlight and Adittya uses his mass appeal well.
The first half is a complete entertainer, the story drags a bit and entertains only in parts in the post interval. The director also touches on corporate hospitals and how they treat patients but doesn’t get all preachy.
Nagarjuna and Nani steal the show. Nagarjuna is at his best, looks younger and fit. He carries off the mafia don role easily, a character he plays after many years. Nani’s performance matches Nagarjuna. He has changed his looks for this film. While he has done comedy before, it is different in Devadas. It’s a treat to watch Nagarjuna and Nani together on the screen.
Rashmika Mandanna plays an undercover cop and manages very well. Akanksha is the other lead actress, but her role is very short. As Deva’s love interest and appears mostly in songs. The large cast of supporting actors like Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore Murali Sharma and Srinivas Avasarala has short roles but is authentic. Venu and Satya provide the laughs along with the lead actors.
Mani Sharma makes a comeback as music director but this is not his best effort. The background score and cinematography are good, the dialogues entertaining.
The second half of could be trimmed a bit, but on the whole Devadas is typically entertaining multi-starrer that can be watched for Nagarjuna and Nani.
H09
