Deva, Overview: Different, not distinguished

It is different. Though the central character is an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), and a tough nut at that, the film has a modest littering of corpses and a very few incredible, blood-letting or torture sequences. Based on these very qualities, Deva, which is almost poles apart from the spate of current films that are contrary to this approach, should be welcomed. Moreover, it stars Shahid Kapoor, who is yet to be labelled a hit man, most of his films not being of the skullduggery variety, as the protagonist. So, when you go to watch Deva, so titled because the hero is named Dev Ambre, you go with an open mind, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. In treatment, Deva emerges different and refreshing for the large part. But when all roads lead to the conclusion that Dev Ambre is not merely a hard-nosed, no nonsense cop, he is an icon with a major, unpardonable blotch, you feel let down.

One cannot cite many examples of a film or a book that turns itself upside down in the end, making you feel that you have been taken for a ride. As a writing tool, there is nothing that prevents the author from conceiving such a character, and giving a major twist in the end. Yet, he runs the risk of making the audience feel why did it not see this coming up and why were there so few, or no, points in the plot that made you start thinking in that direction. One such instance comes to mind from the distant past, and it is from a crime novel by that master of crime-suspense-thrillers, Edgar Wallace, who was a classy mystery writer a century ago. Memory might fail me here, but I will hazard a guess and remember its title as The Crimson Circle. The book was written from the point of view of a certain character, with hardly a clue pointing to his evil designs, and, in the end, you least expect the same man to be the ring-leader of a major criminal gang. The revelation shakes you up in no small measure. Is Deva inspired by that novel?

Dreaded criminal Prabhat Jadhav manages to give the slip to the police every time his whereabouts are discovered and the police mount a raid. In one such raid, the building where the man is supposed to be hiding explodes during the raid, killing a few policemen and injuring Deva. Divya Sathaye, a journalist, suggests that there could be a mole in the police department who tips Jadhav off, and that is how manages tom escape. Jadhav has a mass following and is apparently backed by a politician, Jairaj Apte. Deva goes to a rally being addressed by Apte at the Hutatma Chowk (Martyr’s Square), and mocks him with lewd acts. At another raid to capture Jadhav, Deva is joined by his best friend, who is like a brother to him, ACP Rohan D’Silva. Rohan’s rich family hates Deva, who comes from a very humble background, but the two are inseparable. In the raid, Jadhav corners Rohan and is about to shoot him dead, when Deva’s hail of bullets kill Jadhav, and Rohan is saved.

On Maharashtra Day, the day when the Indian state was formed, Rohan is to be honoured with a medal. As he is delivering his acceptance speech, somebody shoots him dead. The shot comes from a sniper, a sharp-shooter, who must have been several hundred metres away. Deva rushes towards an under-construction building, and goes after a suspect, with back-up. But there is no one there. The police are unable to track the killer. Dev goes to Rohan’s house and impounds the passports of his family members, suggesting that they could be suspects in the killing, which could be related to property matters. Slowly but steadily, a few clues come-up that could help in the hunt for the killer, but to no avail. The police think it would be a good idea to get professional sharp-shooters to give his inputs and recreate the killing. One such sharp-shooter is convinced that the shot was fired from a German made, assembled rifle, with dual SIM cards, one implanted in the gun and another operated by the killer from his phone. No man was involved in the killing. Is this the break-through? ACP Dev, meanwhile, loses part of his memory in a road accident.

A plot like this needed a taut screenplay, and it is taut for the major part. But once the end is in sight, it meanders a bit. Five writers are credited: Bobby–Sanjay, Abbas Dalal, Hussain Dalal, Arshad Syed and Sumit Arora. The script is based on ‘Mumbai Police’, a 2013 Malayalam film, written by Bobby-Sanjay and starring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the titular role. Dialogues are by the Dalal Duo. The end has been changed, with the makers probably concerned that the audience might not accept the central character as possessing a chauvinistic, macho persona to conceal his homosexual orientation. One little hint is dropped when, after the killing of Rohan, Dev picks up the video camera of a media-person and asks him whether he was recording any footage in the direction of the under-construction building, before rushing towards it. Why that question or concern? One has to wait till the end to get the answer.

Dialogue is not clap-trap, as is the norm in most films in the crime-busting hero genre. In fact, it is, at times, pedestrian, as when Diya expresses her feelings about there being a mole in the force, and then goes ahead to define what a mole is. Completely redundant. Similarly, when his boss wants to suspend Dev, he says that Dev’s duties would be transferred to “Mr.” so-and-so, another police officer. In the force, they would never say “Mr.”. It would be ACP or DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police), or any such designation. A nice exchange is heard when both Dev and Diya tell each other, in turns, that they do not know how to accept compliments. The end extends the violent nature of Dev to a full-fledged assault on dangerous, ‘heavy’ prisoners with the police cane, but fails to be a striking denouement, as it does not add anything to the narrative, except the fact that Dev was a cop at heart. But that was never in doubt. One thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that all developments and leads are passed on to Dev by his junior officers or Diya. He seems to be incapable of conducting a decent investigation himself.

Rosshan Andrews, active in the Malayalam film scene since 2005, makes his Hindustani debut with Deva. It is a stylised film, bound to elicit mixed responses. The film has no really big names besides Shahid, who hovers on the borders of the top stars’ league. Would a star cast have helped? I doubt, for Rosshan has been successful in extracting serviceable to good performances from a relatively less distinguished cast. It was a risky film from the word go. Audiences anywhere is India would not easily swallow the depiction of the action hero as a patently flawed personality, and that his blemishes go against the very roots of moral values. They would accept chauvinism, attitude, swag, bombast, clap-trap dialogue, and over-the-top portrayals, but, in the end, he has to uphold moral values of honesty and principles of justice. Here, they are let down on both fronts.

Shahid Kapoor needs to be commended on accepting the role and remaining consistent through the film. He might not have height, but he does have the physique to go with the role. You cannot blame him if he does not sound convincing enough when he challenges his superior with, “Nobody can suspend me for the next 48 hours.” It is the dialogue which is hollow, not the rendition. Pooja Hegde as journalist Diya fills the bill. Pavail Gulati impresses as Rohan D’Silva. Girish Kulkarni is type-cast as a Maharashtrian leader, as does Pravessh Rana as Farhan Khan, Dev’s brother-in-law. Adequate support comes from Kubbra Sait as Dipti Singh, Manish Wadhwa as Prabhat Jadhav, Gaurav More as Nagesh, Abhilash Chaudhary as Jigar, Pravin Patil as JCP Abhay Rana and Aditi Sharma as Bhavna.

Moving behind the screen, Amit Roy wields the camera, which is fluid and effective. Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad does justice to his veteran, well-earned status. Music by Jakes Bejoy and Vishal Mishra meet the cut.

Deva needed a much sharper plot execution and more meat than there is on offer.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/3x77q40hATw