Deva

A Bollywood thriller that follows different approaches - that sounded very promising! You don't get to see Indian films in German cinemas (outside of the big cities) every week. But first things first!

At the beginning of DEVA you see extremely dark corners of Mumbai where crime can clearly flourish. Such a realistic and socially critical approach is extremely unusual for Bollywood thrillers. But it is standard for films of this kind that we see Dev Ambre (Shahid KAPOOR), a kind of super-cop who has worked his way up from the lower layers of Indian society. But such a rabid cop from the common people sometimes goes too far. Even friends from a good family like Rohan (Pavail GULATI) and a benevolent superior like Farhan (Pravesh RANA) don't always help. During the investigation into a notorious criminal who is making the whole of Mumbai unsafe, it turns out that there must be a mole within the police who is passing on explosive information to the criminals. Corruption at the highest level! At some point, the super criminal falls into the net of the police officers who are investigating at full speed. Now everything should really be cleared up, but the plot of the film is far from over.

Turbulent action scenes, a narrative style nested in flashbacks and a very skilful misleading of the audience! A lot is said that can only be put together afterwards. The star of the film is definitely Shahid KAPOOR, whose cheeky performance is reminiscent of Tomas MILIAN from the Italian EuroCrime classics of the 1970s. In terms of wiry sex appeal, KAPOOR can also hold his own against a EuroCrime veteran like Luc MERENDA. This seems to have been quite a daring move for Hindi cinema. Rosshan ANDRREWS' action blockbuster did not do particularly well at the box office.

If you like crime films based on classic Italian models that have been shot using absolutely contemporary means, you'll be well served here. Indian films are still unusual for western viewing habits, but that's exactly why they're so interesting. This is pure genre cinema that goes all out!

After just under three hours, a resolution is presented that you could have expected from the Black Series films of American cinema in the 1940s. Indian cinema knows how to transfer the models of film history to the Mumbai of the imagined present. It's not boring, but you shouldn't expect any great insights either. It remains exciting to see how Shahid KAPOOR's film career will develop. Will cheek win? Or will he be knocked out by box office poison?