Luv Films’ Devmanus (Marathi; UA) is the story of a saintly man. His simple life spirals into a moral struggle because of a life-altering act.
Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) lives in Kopargaon with wife Laxmi (Renuka Shahane). He had taken a loan for his son’s foreign education. Since his thankless son, settled abroad, refuses to send Keshav money, Keshav is unable to repay the loan. Dilip (Siddharth Bodke) keeps pestering Keshav for his money, and each time Keshav pleads inability to repay, Dilip has sex with his girlfriend right in Keshav’s house. One day, he even asks Keshav to supply him his young neighbour, Rama (Avni Tamhane), promising to waive his loan amount in return. This agitates Keshav so much that he ends up killing Dilip. Keshav then chops Dilip’s body into pieces and burns them. How he manages to dodge investigating police officer Ravi Deshmukh (Subodh Bhave) and Dilip’s employer, Vilas Jedhe (Abhijeet Khandkekar), is what the latter part of the drama is all about.
The film is a remake of Hindi film Vadh. The story of Vadh was written by Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal. The story has a couple of interesting twists. Neha Shitole’s screenplay borrows heavily from the screenplay of the Hindi original. It is engaging but having said that, it must be added that Keshav’s victory comes by sheer chance rather than because of his intelligence or perseverance. Therefore, the satisfaction which the audience experience is not complete. Nevertheless, the twist of police inspector Ravi Deshmukh’s affair with the wife of a key character in the drama is interesting. Neha Shitole’s dialogues are nice. A word about the title here: ‘Devmanus’ does not completely befit Keshav’s character.
Mahesh Manjrekar performs excellently as Keshav. Renuka Shahane is very good in the role of Laxmi. Subodh Bhave is natural as police inspector Ravi Deshmukh. Siddharth Bodke is effective as Dilip. Abhijeet Khandkekar is adequate as Vilas Jedhe. Ruturaj Shinde has his moments as Keshav’s son, Madhav. Pournima Dey is okay in a brief role as Vilas Jedhe’s wife. Gayatri Bansode is alright in a brief role as Dilip’s wife. Avni Tamhane makes her presence felt as Keshav’s neighbour, Rama. Dr. Mohan Agashe is alright in a tiny role. Sai Tamhankar makes her mark in a song-dance number. Others do as desired.
Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar’s direction is alright. Rohan-Rohan’s music is so-so. Lyrics (Prashant Madpuwar and Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar) are okay. Ashish Suresh Patil’s choreography is average. Advait Nemlekar’s background music is impactful. Amey Vasant Chavan’s camerawork is good. Ajay Thakur’s action and stunt scenes are functional. Siddharth Tatooskar’s production designing is okay. Faisal Mahadik’s editing is suitably sharp.
On the whole, Devmanus is an ordinary fare.
Released on 25-4-’25 at Plaza (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Inox Pictures. Publicity: good. Opening: average.
