Deva Movie Review & Rating: A bunch of cops in Mumbai track down the killer of a fellow officer, opening up several cans of worms. That, more or less, was what the Roshhan Andrrews-directed Mumbai Police (2013), headlined by Prithviraj Sukumaran, was about.
Another bunch of cops in Mumbai do the same, broadly, in the 2025 ‘Deva’, also by the same director. From what I remember of the original, there seem to be several scenes which are exact replicas, but for some reason best known to themselves, the filmmakers have taken great pains to prevent themselves, as well as anyone else, dubbing the Shahid Kapoor starrer a remake.
Kapoor plays Dev Ambre, a hot-headed cop who is constantly on the boil. A drunk-on-power neta (Girish Kulkarni) who doesn’t abide by the rules? Wade into said neta’s goons, and shout him down. A colleague (Pavail Gulatie) who is being too soft on the politician? Give him a lecture on good cops who need to do their duty. Female colleague (Kubbra Sait) daring to tell him that she may know more about a locality? Scoff at her.
Basically, Dev aka Deva comes off as a cross between Zanjeer’s Vijay — several scenes have been helpfully shot against a Mumbai wall with Amitabh Bachchan’s visage plastered across it — and Dirty Harry, with a vigorous dance sequence involving a number of crotch thrusts thrown in, as a differentiator.
Kapoor’s close-shaved head in this one may remind you of his appearance in ‘Haider’, which was his last striking performance. He adds in a cocked-to-a-side head, collar open enough to show off chain against buffed, gleaming chest, dangling cigarettes, and a slo-mo stride to match.
The look is a good fit for a badass movie cop. But Shahid Kapoor cannot get past that, getting stuck in a flat, stylised delivery, for the most part. Naming a film after a titular character skews the script: everything flows from hero Shahid Kapoor’s actions and reactions, whereas a ‘Mumbai Police’ keeps our attention on everyone in it, even if Sukumaran is clearly in the lead.
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Leading lady Pooja Hegde, who returns to the screen after a gap, leaves an impact in her brief role. Less can, more often than not, be more.
There are at least a couple of instances when Shahid Kapoor does come alive, reminding us of the actor that he can be. Both are scenes in which he allows his character to be vulnerable, and you wish there were more of these, rather than the loose threads and the long slack-blah stretches which make you feel every minute of its nearly two-and-a-half hour length.
Deva movie cast: Shahid Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Pavail Gulatie, Pravessh Rana, Girish Kulkarni, Kubbra Sait
Deva movie director: Rosshan Andrrews
Deva movie rating: 1.5 stars