Film: Devara Part 1
Cast: Jr. NTR, Saif Ali Khan, Prakash Raj, Janhvi Kapoor
Director: Koratala Siva
Rating: 2 Moons

Devara Part 1, starring Jr. NTR, Saif Ali Khan, Prakash Raj, and Janhvi Kapoor, is yet another action thriller from the Telugu cinema world. Down South, filmmakers are known to deliver action-packed movies and Devara joins the list of smuggling stories, previously showcased in KGF, Pushpa and more. Koratala Siva's directorial is energetic but stretched.

Devara is set in coastal Ratnagiri where smuggling is done over sea. The revenge-driven drama revolves around Devara (Jr. NTR) and Bhaira (Saif Ali Khan) who are smugglers and eventually become enemies over their beliefs and opinions. Unbeknown to them, they are smuggling deadly weapons used in anti-national activities. Devara opts out and takes an oath to stop the evil business resulting in a fallout with Bhaira. He mysteriously disappears and for 12 years, Bhaira is on a mission to hunt him to death.     

The narrative is captivating in the first half, building the story and keeping viewers hooked. However, later it gets lengthy and unnecessarily stretched. The Koratala Siva directorial promises to be a content-filled, action-packed film but has loose ends. The second half could have been polished with a tighter script. Because of its weak climax, the film ends abruptly. 

Jr. NTR in a double role proves his mettle by delivering a praiseworthy performance. As Devara, he is powerful, muscular and fearless; on the other hand, he is naive and timid when playing Vara, his son. Saif Ali Khan who has impressed with negative roles before, is menacing as Bhaira in his Telugu debut. Janhvi Kapoor, who also makes her Telugu debut here, is just the female element in the film with hardly any screen space, like Alia Bhatt in RRR. Prakash Raj and Murali Sharma add weight to their characters.  

Koratala Siva's directorial fails to impress with its poor storyline and action choreography. The background score does not complement the emotion and drama. A few unneeded songs fail to maintain viewers' interest.