Devadas (2018 film)

Devadas
File:Devadasposter.jpg Pre-release poster
Directed by	Sriram Adittya
Written by	Sriram Adittya
Starring	Nani Rashmika Mandanna Nagarjuna Akkineni Aakanksha Singh
Music by	Mani Sharma
Release date	27 September 2018 (2018-09-27)
Running time	159 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹25 crore
Box office	₹61.5 Crore

Devadas is an Indian Telugu action comedy film featuring an ensemble cast of Nani, Rashmika Mandanna,Nagarjuna Akkineni and Aakanksha Singh in the lead roles. It is both written and directed by Sriram Adittya and was released on 27 September 2018. The soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma.It was produced by C. Ashwini Dutt under the banner of Vyjayanthi Movies. It emerged as a box office Hit.

Plot

Das (Nani) is a sincere doctor who gets kicked out of a corporate hospital because of changing the head doctor's medication while treating a patient and later on starts working at a private clinic nearby his brother's (Naresh) medical shop. On the other hand, Deva (Nagarjuna Akkineni) is a dreaded don who is on the run. During a gun fight with his enemies, Deva gets hurt and reaches Das’s hospital late in a rainy night and gets treated there. This small meeting between Deva and Das turns into a deep friendship. As time passes by, one crucial incident regarding Deva and his mafia background causes a rift in the friendship. In the climax, Deva learns to change his ways and the two friends are last seen together on a boat with their two girlfriends.

Cast

• Nani as Dr. Das
• Rashmika Mandanna as Inspector Pooja
• Nagarjuna Akkineni as Don Deva
• Aakanksha Singh as Reporter Jahnavi
• R. Sarathkumar as Dada, Deva's adopted father
• Kunal Kapoor as David
• Naveen Chandra as Ajay, Dada's son
• Murali Sharma as Police Officer Sharma
• Vennela Kishore as Dr. Kuchipudi, a psychologist
• Rao Ramesh as Dr. Bharadwaj
• Naresh as Mohan, Das' brother
• Satya Krishnan as Das' sister-in-law
• Manobala as Tata Rao, Pooja's assistant
• Srinivas Avasarala as Rajan, Deva's personal assistant
• S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Medimax Hospital chairman, Seetharamayya (cameo appearance)
• Sampoornesh Babu as an actor (Cameo appearance)
• Aishwarya as Fishfry Lakshmi
• Prabhakar as Deva's henchmen
• Prudhviraj as Jahnavi's manager
• Sivannarayana Naripeddi as Pooja's father
• Raghu Karumanchi as a local rowdy
• Prabhas Sreenu as David's henchmen
• Uttej as Raju, chairman Seetharamayya's driver
• Sameer as a doctor
• Satya as Jacket, Das' clinic compounder

Soundtrack

Devadas music is composed by Mani Sharma. Songs are penned by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry and Ramajogayya Sastry. Sify called the album a "lacklustre" album, stating that although "Vaaru Veeru", "Chettu Kinda Doctor", and "Emo Emo" were good songs, the rest were lacking when it came to Mani Sharma's expectations.

Devadas
Soundtrack album by Mani Sharma
Released	21st September, 2018
Recorded	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	29:16
Label	Aditya Music
Producer	Mani Sharma
Mani Sharma chronology
Ee Maya Peremito (2018) Devadas (2018)

Track-List

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Vaaru Veeru"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	Anurag Kulkarni, Anjana Sowmya	4:26
2.	"Chettu Kinda Doctor"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Padmalatha	5:10
3.	"Laka Laka Lakumikara"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Anurag Kulkarni, Sri Krishna	4:53
4.	"Hey Babu"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Karthik, Ramya Behara	5:00
5.	"Emo Emo"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	Sid Sriram, Ramya Behara	4:26
6.	"Manasedo Vethukuthu Undi"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	Yazin Nizar, Anurag Kulkarni	5:21
Total length:				29:16

Box Office

Devadas opened to a decent response at the box office as the word of mouth was mixed and collected a good amount in the first week. Upon release, the film competed with Mani Ratnam's Chekka Chivantha Vaanam which eventually pushed Devadas out of many theaters. Anand Shankar's NOTA that released a week later weakened the film further. The film only recovered 80% by the time the film closed almost a month later. The film could only collect 31 crore share at the box office while the distribution rights was 36 crores, and it turned out to be a below average hit. Because of the ensemble cast, the budget had been raised a lot and though the film had collected a relatively good amount, it was not able to pass the high budget.

Critical Reception

The film garnered mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised it for its comedy but criticized it because it was too loud with its message and the way the two friends Deva and Das bond.

Times Of India rated the film 3.5 stars and said, "Devadas certainly has its moments with some cracking humour and solid performances by its two stars. A tad too long, with some avoidable melodrama and a weak climax prove to be troublesome, but it doesn't take it away from a hilarious first half which makes it worth your while. If you're somebody who enjoys Nani's brand of humour - Devadas is a must-watch."

The News Minute wrote, "All this leaves you wishing that the director, for a brief moment, had realised the pot of gold he had at his disposal. It displays a certain brash level of amateurishness if your actual comedians in the movie, the sidekicks, almost get as much screen time as your protagonists. Food for thought! So, if you want to watch a comedy featuring Nani, watch it. Don’t watch if you are hoping for an ‘action’ comedy."

Greatandhra gave the film 2.75 stars and wrote, "While it’s not preachy, the film surely gets a tad bit tiresome in the second half, especially since the director kind of restraints himself from making an out-and-out over the top film with loads of comic capers."

Idlebrain's Jeevi wrote, "Plus points of the film are Nagarjuna, Nani and entertainment. On the flip side, we expect more freshness, organic narration and depth in content when a young director like Sriram Aditya is directing a multistarrer. On a whole, starcast and entertainment dominates this multi-starrer while we walkout with a feeling that the movie could have been better!"

123telugu gave the film 3 stars and wrote, "On the whole, Deva Das is a decent multi starrer which clicks because of Nagarjuna and Nani’s good screen presence. Story wise, there is nothing new and the first half is also ordinary. But things change from the second part as the good dose of emotions and interesting ending work for the film. All you need is to keep your expectations in check and enjoy Nani and Nag’s unique bromance unfold on screen."

Telugu360 gave the film 2.75 stars and said, "DevaDas is an average film with adequate entertainment at times. Friendship scenes between Deva and Dr. Das came out well, so is entertainment in first half. Director played to Nagarjuna & Nani’s strengths. On flip-side, story is weak, plot has nothing much to write about and 2nd half is boring at times. Overall, if you don’t crave much for strong story point, give this movie a try."

Sify gave the film three stars and stated that "DevaDas has a not-so-engaging story. But the comedy works very well in the first half. The second half falters with many dull moments. A violent don becoming a good man is an oversimplification. Nice technical output needs a pat."

The Hindu criticized the film for poorly etched characters and wrote, "Despite all this, if Devadas holds attention, it’s because Sriram Adittya knows how to utilise its two leading actors and serve up plenty of fun moments. In the end, he gets Deva and Das to look at life from each other’s perspectives with some melodrama."

Deccan Chronicle gave the film three stars and said that it was "Nag and Nani's show all the way".