The brilliant actor Shahid Kapoor was once upon a time typecaste in romcoms. He is being typecast again – not into violent unhinged characters, but in roles where he keeps shouldering films with weak writing. Kabir Singh, Jersey, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Bloody Daddy. And add Deva to the list.
The formula is simple. Got an undercooked story? Fret not. Bring in Kapoor, give him an extreme personality trait that overwhelms the screen, and hope that the audience relishes the faulty story. Sadly, the formula has been repeated so often that it’s now stale. Stinking. This time, it was Deva.
Set in the city of Mumbai, Deva is a whodunit that revolves around Dev Ambre (played by Kapoor), a berserk and aggressive police officer who is investigating a high-profile murder case. The moment he solves the case and finds out the culprit, he meets with an accident resulting in temporary memory loss. Now Dev has to fit the puzzle pieces together from scratch, not knowing the head or tail of this investigation.
Directed by Rosshan Andrrews, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Umesh KR Bansal, the film stars Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Pavail Gulati, Pravessh Rana and Kubbra Sait in lead roles.
The movie belongs to the thriller genre, and although the story manages to keep the mystery alive until climax, it’s not impossible to guess “who did it.” While the concept in itself is interesting, the film feels like a wasted potential. Multiple issues plague Deva’s story, screenplay and the characters.
Let’s start with the story. In any murder mystery, uncovering “who” did it is just the beginning—the real intrigue lies in the “why” and “how.” While Deva does a decent job answering the first question, the murder’s motive and execution fall flat. The motive has to be compelling and the execution jawdropping for you to gasp in shock. Unfortunately, Deva does neither. Instead of an “Oh my God” moment at the end, it leaves you with “meh.”
To top that, the plot is stuffed with characters that add no value to the narrative except for validating the lead, Dev–whether it’s his sister Alka, or the local politician and his goons, or a gangster’s henchmen. Even the film’s heroine Diya (played by Hegde) suffers the same fate. She juggles three roles–an honest police constable’s daughter, a supposedly fearless journalist (who lacks basic instincts, but more on that later), and Dev’s love interest—yet her character remains painfully superficial. Her screen presence is reduced to tired cliches: she shows concern for her father only when he gets injured on duty, her role as a journalist is summed up by a single scene of her typing at a news desk (without ever actually chasing a story), and her romance with Dev is boiled down to a scene where she visits his house, casually changes into just a white shirt, and starts kissing him. Point being, her scenes feel force-fed into the edits, and are as emotionless as her character.
Then there is her baffling lack of instincts: she speculates that there is a mole in the police department, but never bothers investigating. In another instance, when she meets Dev post his accident, she fails to notice his memory loss despite claiming to know him inside out.
While real-life journalists are out chasing stories and uncovering the truth, reel-life ones (like Alia Bhatt in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani or Hegde in Deva) are more invested in donning a perfect outfit and delivering dramatic one-liners that don’t match their flimsy personalities.
What’s worse is, Dev and Diya’s romantic relationship is barely touched upon, let alone explored. In fact, the love story of a supporting character Rohan (played by Gulati) gets more depth and screentime. The lack of chemistry between the lead pair is as jarring as their awkward on-screen kissing.
Deva does not justify Dev’s butt-kicking and arm-twisting. While we are vaguely informed about his troubled childhood, his adolescence and adulthood are shrouded in mystery. This time, Kapoor’s character is a rebel without a cause. But ironically, the actor’s signature defiance, arrogance and swank – (traits he has become synonymous with in recent roles) – are the only elements that keep this 2:36 hour-long feature from sinking entirely. Kapoor single-handedly keeps the audience engaged with some trademark action moves, making do with the weak dialogues he is made to deliver. The badass cop gets relief only once, when he shares the screen with a convicted sharpshooter, who for a few minutes elevates the film’s mood before it slips back into mediocrity.
While the film is cluttered with unnecessary chase sequences and over the top action, Deva does have its moments. One standout was the convicted sharpshooter, and the other was Dev’s street-style thrashing against the pulsating Marathi rap track “Marji Cha Maalik.” This upbeat track injects much-needed energy in the film and undoubtedly remains the highlight.
Watching flawed films is not as disheartening as watching Kapoor helming every single script earnestly. We beg to question: is there really no filmmaker who can write a role worthy of this man’s acting prowess? No one?
Well, we chose our takeaway–the rap, of course. But if you don’t find yours here and are craving a solid whodunit this weekend, we suggest an Agatha Christie classic or an Enid Blyton mystery.
A Zee Studios and Roy Kapur Films production, Deva released on 31 January and is now playing in cinemas worldwide.