Jr NTR on ‘Devara: Part 1’ and how Janhvi Kapoor ‘manifested’ her role in the film

Fresh off the success of ‘RRR’, Jr NTR explains his mindset on ‘Devara: Part 1’, his first solo release in six years, the challenges of shooting the film, and working with Janhvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan

Keeping in fashion with pan-Indian actors promoting their films in centres outside their home turf, Jr NTR was in Chennai recently for the press meet of Devara: Part 1, his upcoming film post the monumental success of RRR. Pointing out how this is his first solo film in six years, the Temper actor has no qualms in accepting that he’s high-strung about the release.

“RRR was a film by Rajamouli; this is all on us! I’m very confident of team Devara thanks to the kind of technicians we have... my director Siva (Koratala Siva), Sabu sir (production designer Sabu Cyril), Sreekar sir (editor Sreekar Prasad) and Randy sir (cinematographer Rathnavelu). Anirudh has been killing it lately, too. They all have done something wonderful in the film and I wish I could show it on my face,” says a laughing NTR.

The Anirudh factor

Speaking of Anirudh, NTR says, “Tamil audiences have been listening to Ani for longer and he’s been rocking. I’ve said it many times; this is Ani’s era. Many technicians have a phase of huge success but after a point of time, it fizzles out. We have seen multiple examples. But I feel this person is here to stay.”

“He puts in a lot of hard work; even if we are in dire need of an output that needs to come in that very day, he doesn’t compromise on it because he knows how important music is for any movie, not just Devara. I don’t remember the last time I actually went berserk seeing Rajinikanth sir and it happened in Jailer... because of the music,” says NTR. “The same happened with Vikram and Master. I’m sure that one day he will go to the level of AR Rahman sir to compose something grand internationally. That’s my vision. There’s so much work he has put in for Devara and the trailer is just a small gist of what’s going to come.”

For the love of God

Elucidating on the meaning behind the film’s title, NTR says, “In our South Indian culture, we have many kula deivams (local deities). In Telugu, these Gods are called devara while the Goddesses are named devata.”

NTR adds that he believes the title has a pan-Indian reach, “As a title, Devara sounded new and thought that this title would work in other languages just like how RRR did. There are two lead characters, Devara and Vara.”

The keyword is ‘ambitious’

NTR calls Devara his most enterprising project and that’s quite a claim for an actor who has recently been a part of a film like RRR. “This is probably the most ambitious movie I’ve been a part of so far in my career. It’s very high on VFX which is a different craft altogether and Rajamouli has mastered it. He knows when, where, why and how to use it. So it’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” says the actor.

“Water is probably the toughest medium to work with on VFX, as it’s difficult to make it look realistic, but I think we’ve pulled off the job quite brilliantly. In a huge floor space, Sabu sir constructed a 200-foot by 150-foot tank that was about six feet deep. This was only for the boat scenes. For the underwater sequences, we constructed another swimming pool that was about 20 feet deep,” says NTR who calls the work in Devara “nothing less than of an international standard”. 

“Unfortunately, when a production designer does a great job, people think it’s done by VFX. With the kind of boats he created for the film, all they needed were motors and they were sea-ready. The underwater shoot for Devara was probably the toughest; we shot for about 30 days underwater and it also involved some crazy stunts.”

Skipping the pan-India game

RRR might have made NTR a household name across the country, but he does not believe every film of his has to match that tag. “I’m not in this pan-India game. Only when a story can travel across boundaries, you push it; you don’t do it because you have a pan-Indian market. There are certain stories which will work locally, some that will work only in the south, some across the nation and certain stories will work globally,” says NTR, citing Kantara as an example.

“My mother’s a Kannadiga. I grew up all my life listening to the stories of Guliga and Panjurli (deities). My mom and my grandmother used to tell me stories about it and now, a movie has come out on it. I never thought the movie would strike a chord with the country, but it did. The writer and filmmaker should have the ability to connect it with the masses and only then will it happen. Having said that, I feel that the story will decide if it’s going global or not.”

NTR adds that they never intended to make Devara as a two-parter. “We felt that to tell a story like this, a single-part, three-hour narration is not enough. If our audiences were ready to watch a five-hour movie, we would have done that. But we have a stigma that it might test the patience of the audience. Animal was 3 hours and 24 minutes, and that movie worked. Such a runtime needs to be justified.”

The power of manifestation

Jr NTR’s grandfather and legendary actor NT Rama Rao had starred alongside veteran Sridevi in a dozen films and with Devara, Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor is making her Telugu debut. NTR says Janhvi manifested her addition to this project.

“Karan Johar called me one day and said Janhvi is a bright actor and asked me to have her in my movie. I told him we were still at the writing stage. But I think she manifested so much that by the end of it, we had no choice but to cast her and she has killed it in film,” says NTR, adding that Janhvi initially had her inhibitions. “She had a lot of fear and tension, especially with Telugu, dancing and more importantly living up to that expectation of Sridevi garu. But Janhvi has shocked us all... in some angles she looks just like her mother and in others, she looks completely different.”

Only as strong as his villain

Janhvi is not the only cast member picked from the shores of Bollywood for Devara; its antagonist is Saif Ali Khan who recently made his south debut with Adipurush. NTR says that it was a conscious decision to not show much of him in the trailer. “Unfortunately, the film is so tightly-knotted that I cannot reveal everything. He’s amazing and has done something that he hasn’t done before. Omkara and his role in the film was amazing, and here he plays Bhaira who is equally as powerful as Devara,” says NTR.

“Devara is a mass film with a lot of commercial elements,” adds NTR before clarifying what sets his film apart. “In mainstream commercial films, the protagonist comes to the aid of people who don’t have confidence, gives them that and takes them forward. But here, it’s the opposite; when people have a lot of confidence, somebody comes from the outside and says ‘No, we need to have a little bit of fear’. It is a very beautifully-articulated heroism.”

NTR also says that the characters played by Kalaiyarasan and Shine Tom Chacko are unlike what they have done before. “Devara is an action drama and when you have to tell drama, you need to have a lot of relatable characters and that’s what we have done. I can’t wait for you all to catch it.”

Devara: Part 1 is scheduled to hit theatres on September 27, 2024

Published - September 23, 2024 03:08 pm IST