Devara: Part 2

About the film

Devara: Part 1 is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva. It is produced by Yuvasudha Arts and N. T. R. Arts. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in dual roles, alongside Saif Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Srikanth and Shine Tom Chacko. It is the first part of a planned duology and marks the Telugu film debut of Khan and Kapoor. The film follows Devara, chieftain of a coastal village, who feuds with his counterpart Bhaira over arms smuggling through the Red Sea.

The film was officially announced in April 2021 under the tentative title NTR30, signifying Rama Rao's 30th appearance as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in May 2023. In late-2023, the film was split into two-parts. Principal photography for this part commenced in April 2023 and wrapped in August 2024. Filming took place in Hyderabad, Shamshabad, Visakhapatnam, Goa and Thailand. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by R. Rathnavelu and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.

Plot

In 1996, a high-level meeting is held concerning security threats to the 1996 Cricket World Cup in India from arms dealer Daya and his brother, Yethi.

The police capture Yethi's henchman and interrogate him. They learn Yethi was going to see Muruga, a smuggler in the Ratnagiri mountains. Going undercover as smugglers, the police led by Officer Shivam head to Ratnagiri to find Yethi. They approach DSP Tulasi, who tells them that Muruga is dead, and to visit the Red Sea villages. They visit Bhaira, chief of one of the villages, and threaten him to smuggle goods, only to be violently rejected by him. They find Singappa, who takes them offshore in a boat. Shivam tries to make an offer to him by showing off a diamond ring which is abruptly thrown into the sea by Singappa. As Shivam dives in to retrieve the ring, he finds human skeletons on the seabed, terrifying him. Singappa starts narrating the story which begins 12 years earlier.

In 1984, the villagers are smugglers in the night, bringing cargo for Muruga from the merchant ships. Devara, the chieftain of one of the villages, is one of the smuggling leaders, along with Bhaira. Unbeknownst to them, the cargo is illegal arms which are used in robberies, and one such incident occurs near their villages. During a smuggling expedition, they are caught by the coast guard and the commander of the vessel, Irfan, reveals the items they were smuggling, which indirectly led to the death of one of Devara's villagers.

Production

In February 2020, N. T. Rama Rao Jr and Trivikram Srinivas were reported to be collaborating on a second film, following Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018), tentatively titled NTR30. The film was to be produced by S. Radha Krishna and Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under the banners of Haarika & Hassine Creations and N. T. R. Arts. Later that July, Koratala Siva announced another project, AA21, with Allu Arjun in the lead, to be produced by former distributor Sudhakar Mikkilineni's newly launched production studio, Yuvasudha Arts. However, neither project materialised. In April 2021, it was reported that Rama Rao and Siva would collaborate on NTR30, marking their second collaboration after Janatha Garage (2016). The film was officially announced on Ugadi (13 April 2021) with Yuvasudha Arts producing the film in collaboration with N. T. R. Arts. However, production was delayed due to Siva's commitments to Acharya and Rama Rao's to RRR.

Siva described it as a "large-scale project that has more commercial appeal" in comparison to his debut film Mirchi (2013). Following the box-office failure of Acharya, Siva wanted to fine-tune the script making necessary changes before finalising it as a draft, which delayed the commencement of filming throughout late 2022. By November, Siva started the pre-production works of the film with production set to begin in early 2023.

Initially set to begin production on 24 February, work on the project was delayed due to the death of Taraka Ratna as well as Rama Rao's participation in the Academy Awards campaign for RRR. The film was officially launched on 23 March with a puja ceremony held in Hyderabad with the presence of the cast and crew and S. S. Rajamouli preceding with the muhurtam shot. The film's title Devara was officially announced on 19 May 2023, the eve of Rama Rao's birthday. On 4 October, Siva announced that the film would be split into two parts.

Music

The film's soundtrack album and background score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander in his fourth Telugu project after Agnyaathavaasi (2018), Jersey (2019), and Nani's Gang Leader (2019).

The first single, titled "Fear Song" was released on 19 May 2024. The second single titled "Chuttamalle" was released on 5 August 2024. The third single titled "Daavudi" was released on 4 September 2024. The fourth single, titled "Ayudha Pooja" was released on 26 September 2024 along with the full soundtrack album.

Marketing

On 8 January 2024, the makers unveiled a glimpse into the film through social media platforms. Another glimpse that revealed Khan's character Bhaira was released on 16 August, coinciding with the actor's birthday. The film's trailer was launched at an event held in Film City, Mumbai on 10 September. The trailer, however garnered mixed response from certain sections of audiences; actor Vishwak Sen criticised few social media users peddling targeted hate against the trailer. Another trailer was released on 22 September 2024, five days ahead of the film's release.

Key details