Zee Studios and Roy Kapur Films’ Deva (UA) is the story of a brave cop. Dev Ambre (Shahid Kapoor) is a brave police inspector who spares no one. He has just completed the investigations in the murder of his colleague, ACP Rohan D’Silva (Pavail Gulati). But before he can file his report, he meets with a road accident and loses his memory. After partial recovery, he is, therefore, unable to recall the name of the murderer. He revisits the investigations and finally reveals the killer’s name and motive.
The film is inspired by Malayalam film Mumbai Police. Bobby Sanjay has written a story which is different and unusual. The screenplay, written by Bobby Sanjay, Abbas Dalal, Hussain Dalal, Arshad Syed and Sumit Arora, is not half as exciting as it ought to have been. For one, the audience will find it difficult to invest their time in Dev solving the mystery of the murder of the ACP because of two reasons: firstly, the relationship between Dev and Rohan doesn’t come across as if the latter meant the world to the former; and secondly, as far as the image goes, the actor playing Rohan (Pavail Gulati) is not a star for the viewers to feel miserable about his death. The revelation of the suspense appears so convoluted that the audience would not feel elated after all the hardships Dev has to go through to solve the murder case. Also, the revelation itself doesn’t ring true because it is not clearly established as to why the killer would take such a drastic step. Agreed, the murderer feared the worst but yet, the extreme step of a cold-blooded murder seems too much to digest, especially considering that the killer is a good person at heart. The first half moves at a slow pace and hence often gets boring. The pace picks up after interval, but the drama gets slow and boring at several points after that too. Overall, the drama would appeal more to the classes than the masses for whom comprehension of the same might also be a problem. Abbas Dalal and Hussain Dalal’s dialogues are good at places but not consistently so.
Shahid Kapoor does an extraordinary job in the title role. If his performance is intense, his action scenes are thrilling and his dances are just too terrific and graceful. Pooja Hegde gets hardly any scope as Divya Sathaye. She looks pretty. Pavail Gulati is sincere as ACP Rohan D’Silva. But, as mentioned above, an actor with a solid image and fan-following was required to play the character. Pravesh Rana is alright as DCP Farhan Khan. Girish Kulkarni spews venom as bad man Apte. Kubra Sait is okay as Dipti Singh. Rishi Deshpande makes his presence felt as Ashok Sathaye. Shivraj Walvekar is natural as Rohan’s father. Manish Wadhwa is effective in a special appearance as Prabhat Jadhav. Upendra Limaye, in a special appearance, leaves a fine mark as sharp shooter Prince. Pravin Patil is adequate as JCP Abhay Rana. Meenal Sahu has her moments as Rebecca. Aditi Sharma stands her own as Bhawna. Pritam Pyare (as Fareed) and Chandan K. Anand (as Mandar) lend fine support. Siddharth Bodke (as Bunty), Bhawana Aneja (as Alka Ambre), Dr. Snehal Vijay (as the nurse), Amit Sharma (as the special correspondent in the newspaper office), Aditi (as the nurse), Kishori Shahane Vij (as Sunita Apte), Farida Patel Venkat (as the Parsi aunty), Akshay Sharma (as the cell phone repair guy), and Charu Shankar (in a special appearance, as the neurologist) do as desired. Others are passable.
Roshan Andrews’ direction is alright but his narration targets the class audience mainly. Also, his narration gets confusing at times. Vishal Mishra’s music is good. The Bhasad song is mass-appealing. Raj Shekhar’s lyrics are fairly nice. Bosco Leslie Martis’ choreography is lovely. Jakes Bejoy’s background music is superb. Amit Roy’s cinematography is of a good standard. Action and stunts scenes have been extraordinarily choreographed by Supreme Sundar, Abbas Ali Moghul, Anl Arasu, Parvez Shaikh and Vikram Dahiya. Sandeep Sharad Ravade’s production designing is of a fine standard. A. Sreekar Prasad’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Deva is too class-appealing to make any impact at the ticket windows. It will prove to be a flop show.
Released on 31-1-’25 at Inox (daily 12 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: quite good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak almost everywhere.
