Devil movie review: Kalyan Ram film lacks punch

Devil takes time to establish various characters surrounding the murder. The characters are randomly thrown into the story with no time given to the audience to get invested in the proceedings. The hero also enters this scenario, slightly raising curiosity with the help of Satya, suggesting larger drama at play.

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The romantic angle is forcibly inserted in the story, as a drama within the drama. Due to this layered nature of the story, the connection with the characters never takes root. Then the murder investigation is left behind, and the film moves to a higher level of national fervour and freedom struggle. And this larger angle, too, runs on predictable lines, led by an all-powerful, one-man army that will surely defeat all armies that might stand against it.

There is no sense of historical accuracy or even the pretence of taking history seriously here. It is all about a typical mass hero on a rampage in a historical setting. All the lead characters are paper-thin in this setting.

Satya briefly entertains. A song sung by Sid Sriram is good. A song featuring Elrom Nourozi, though visually inaccurate in this historical setting, is well picturised. The camera work is also good. The production values are rich. The producer has spent well on the project, but the basic premise lacks any sincerity. Srikanth Vissa credited with the story, screenplay and dialogues fails to impress. Not withstanding the credit, the direction has no imagination.

Kalyan Ram is sincere in a film lacking originality or depth. Samyuktha is just there as the character. Malavika Nair impresses in the brief screen time.

Devil is strictly for fans of Kalyan Ram.

Devil movie cast: Kalyan Ram, Samyuktha Menon, Malavika Nair, Ajay, Sita, Srinivas Aiyangar
Devil movie director: Abhishek Nama
Devil movie rating: 1.5 stars