Devil is one of those films where it is hard to pinpoint what is holding the film back from reaching its full potential because everything appears functional. It is by, no means, a lazy effort. There are moments of genuine intensity, especially in the second half, where the drama and the conspiracy get thicker. The biggest twist in the film, which is revealed in a British prison/torture chamber, halfway through the second half and is followed by a bloody action sequence, is the film’s strongest stretch and you wish the film had more such moments to offer.
Novel Exteriors, Cliched Interiors
Is it the casting that’s deterring us from fully believing in the film’s world? It’s the same stock actors that we see in every film. We have Satya play second fiddle to the hero, serving as the recipient for all the exposition so our doubts about the narrative are cleared. It’s the same Srikanth Iyengar playing yet another eccentric and rhetorical character. It’s the same Ajay, playing yet another cunning character that we have seen him play a dozen times before. The British villains (whose English dialogues overlap with Telugu translation, with a fake English accent) sound just like every bad guy in every Telugu movie. The popular ‘Koti college’ that we see in every movie is also here, doubling up as the British Secret Service office. I might sound like I’m nitpicking, but the truth is, that these elements keep us reminded of the fact that we are watching yet another Telugu movie that’s just pretending to look different, using the period setting as a facade, but at the core, it is the same Telugu film we see every week. This is why even when the bad guys brutally torture men, women and even kids, the impact is barely felt. Devil is a reminder that little things make or break a word. Likewise, visual choices like stylised drone shots and using lights within the frame behind the characters to beautify the shot come across as anachronisms.