Devara: Part 1

Devara: Part 1 is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva. It is produced by Yuvasudha Arts and N. T. R. Arts. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in dual roles, alongside Saif Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Srikanth and Shine Tom Chacko. It is the first part of a planned duology and marks the Telugu film debut of Khan and Kapoor. The film follows Devara, chieftain of a coastal village, who feuds with his counterpart Bhaira over arms smuggling through the Red Sea.

The film was officially announced in April 2021 under the tentative title NTR30, signifying Rama Rao's 30th appearance as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in May 2023. In late-2023, the film was split into two-parts. Principal photography for this part commenced in April 2023 and wrapped in August 2024. Filming took place in Hyderabad, Shamshabad, Visakhapatnam, Goa and Thailand. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by R. Rathnavelu and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.

Devara: Part 1 released worldwide on 27 September 2024 in standard, IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, D-Box and PVR ICE formats to mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. It grossed ₹140 crore worldwide on its opening day, making it the Rama Rao's second biggest opener to date. The film was a commercial success grossing ₹380–521 crore on a budget of ₹250–300 crore, making it the third highest-grossing Telugu film of 2024, fifth highest-grossing Indian film of the 2024 and the eighth highest-grossing Telugu film of all time. The film went on to win SIIMA Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Playback Singer (Female), and Best Lyricist.

Plot

In 1996, a high-level meeting is held concerning security threats to the 1996 Cricket World Cup in India from arms dealer Daya and his brother, Yethi.

The police capture Yethi's henchman and interrogate him. They learn Yethi was going to see Muruga, a smuggler in the Ratnagiri mountains. Going undercover as smugglers, the police led by Officer Shivam head to Ratnagiri to find Yethi. They approach DSP Tulasi, who tells them that Muruga is dead, and to visit the Red Sea villages. They visit Bhaira, chief of one of the villages, and threaten him to smuggle goods, only to be violently rejected by him. They find Singappa, who takes them offshore in a boat. Shivam tries to make an offer to him by showing off a diamond ring which is abruptly thrown into the sea by Singappa. As Shivam dives in to retrieve the ring, he finds human skeletons on the seabed, terrifying him. Singappa starts narrating the story which begins 12 years earlier.

In 1984, the villagers are smugglers in the night, bringing cargo for Muruga from the merchant ships. Devara, the chieftain of one of the villages, is one of the smuggling leaders, along with Bhaira. Unbeknownst to them, the cargo is illegal arms which are used in robberies, and one such incident occurs near their villages. During a smuggling expedition, they are caught by the coast guard and the commander of the vessel, Irfan, reveals the items they were smuggling, which indirectly led to the death of one of Devara's villagers.

Devara has a change of heart and decides to cease their smuggling operations, which is not liked by the other chieftains, including Bhaira. They hatch plans to kill him but fail. Devara stops the villagers from entering the seas for smuggling. He disappears after an attempt on his life and leaves a warning that he would continue to stop those who venture into the sea for smuggling. Years pass, and everyone adopts fishing to earn their livelihood as Devara stops those smuggling, while remaining invisible to the villagers. His son, Vara, grows up to be timid and soft-spoken, unlike his father, and tells the women in his family that Devara abandoned them. Vara's childhood friend, Thangam, is in love with him, but wishes he was more like Devara.

On the other hand, Bhaira trains a private army to kill Devara. Tulasi and Muruga again offer an opportunity to Bhaira to smuggle for them along with killing Devara, the biggest thorn in their operations. When Bhaira's men harass Vara's sister, he beats them up in a drunken fury. The following morning, he is accused of killing one of the men, but Vara pleads to Bhaira that he is not responsible. Bhaira tells him to prove it by joining the smuggling operation with his men. He later reveals that he killed his own injured man to get Vara to join them so that he can draw out Devara at sea.

Meanwhile, Devara's wife learns of the smuggling operation and asks Singappa to stop Vara, or Devara will kill him. However, Singappa reveals that Devara has been long dead, and the person who has been attacking the smugglers is actually Vara. He built a facade and story so that everyone would think that Devara is still alive. Meanwhile, Vara attacks Bhaira's men at sea and brings the injured men back to the shore. To instill even more fear in the villagers, Vara also injures himself, in front of Singappa and Devara's loyal aides, as he "went against his father".

When Shivam asks Singappa about Devara's killer, a flashback reveals that he was killed by Vara on the day he supposedly disappeared.

Cast

Production

Development

In February 2020, N. T. Rama Rao Jr and Trivikram Srinivas were reported to be collaborating on a second film, following Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018), tentatively titled NTR30. The film was to be produced by S. Radha Krishna and Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under the banners of Haarika & Hassine Creations and N. T. R. Arts. Later that July, Koratala Siva announced another project, AA21, with Allu Arjun in the lead, to be produced by former distributor Sudhakar Mikkilineni's newly launched production studio, Yuvasudha Arts. However, neither project materialised. In April 2021, it was reported that Rama Rao and Siva would collaborate on NTR30, marking their second collaboration after Janatha Garage (2016). The film was officially announced on Ugadi (13 April 2021) with Yuvasudha Arts producing the film in collaboration with N. T. R. Arts. However, production was delayed due to Siva's commitments to Acharya and Rama Rao's to RRR.

Siva described it as a "large-scale project that has more commercial appeal" in comparison to his debut film Mirchi (2013). Following the box-office failure of Acharya, Siva wanted to fine-tune the script making necessary changes before finalising it as a draft, which delayed the commencement of filming throughout late 2022. By November, Siva started the pre-production works of the film with production set to begin in early 2023.

Initially set to begin production on 24 February, work on the project was delayed due to the death of Taraka Ratna as well as Rama Rao's participation in the Academy Awards campaign for RRR. The film was officially launched on 23 March with a puja ceremony held in Hyderabad with the presence of the cast and crew and S. S. Rajamouli preceding with the muhurtam shot. The film's title Devara was officially announced on 19 May 2023, the eve of Rama Rao's birthday. On 4 October, Siva announced that the film would be split into two parts.

Casting

The technical crew consist of musician Anirudh Ravichander, cinematographer R. Rathnavelu, editor A. Sreekar Prasad, production designer Sabu Cyril, stunt choreographer Kenny Bates and visual effects supervisors Brad Minnich and Yugandhar T. Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur and Rashmika Mandanna were considered to play the female lead, but turned down the offer. Janhvi Kapoor was confirmed to play the lead female role, in her first South Indian film. At the India Today Conclave, Janhvi described it as a "dream come true" moment on working with Rama Rao as she recalled on how she manifested her debut in South industry through Rama Rao's film in her past interviews. In April 2023, Saif Ali Khan was signed as an antagonist, marking his debut in Telugu cinema. Khan stated that speaking a new language for the film was challenging for him, and he did feel like a “newcomer”.

Prakash Raj and Meera Jasmine participated at the launch ceremony, thereby being part of the film. In May 2023, further supporting cast members joined the film with Mani Chandana and Tarak Ponnappa being part of the sets. In June 2023, it was announced that Shine Tom Chacko was cast in the film. Kalaiyarasan, Narain, Murali Sharma and Abhimanyu Singh also joined the cast after filming few preliminary sequences. In February 2024, reports surfaced stating that Shruti Marathe, a Marathi actress, had been chosen to star alongside Jr NTR. Shruti confirmed this during an interview with the Marathi Star Media portal. Siva later revealed that he chose Shruti as Devara's wife as he didn't want an actress to look like a second heroine in the film. He further added that he had been searching for an actress who complemented Devara's personality and he clarified that if he had cast any reputed actor then perhaps their image would have sidelined the role.