You would think that an actor like Jr NTR, who is 29 films old, wouldn’t feel nervous about his film’s release. “If you take RRR, it was all Rajamouli and so we were entirely banking on him. But, Devara is my first solo release after six years, which is quite a long time. I don’t remember the last time I was this nervous,” says Jr NTR, with just days left for the release of the Koratala Siva directorial.
While he is nervous on one hand, he is quick and confident to declare that Devara is “hands down, the most ambitious film that I have been a part of.” Talking about the scale of the film, the actor is all praises for production designer Sabu Cyril. “Sabu sir constructed a 250 ft by 150 ft tank, which was about 6 ft deep, for the boat placements and other surface-level water shots. For the underwater sequences, we constructed another tank, which was about 20 ft deep,” says Jr NTR. “Unfortunately, we live in an era where production design is misunderstood as VFX,” he says, before adding, “Water is one of the toughest elements to bring about through VFX. It needed to be very realistic and I think we have pulled it off quite brilliantly.”
Jr NTR plays both the father and the son in Devara. Shedding light on the meaning of the film’s title, he shares, “The local deities or grama devatha are also referred to as devara in Telugu. While a female deity is referred to as devatha, a male deity is called devara. My older character is called Devara while my younger character is Vara.” He also assures that Devara will be a novel addition to the commercial film genre. “Usually in a commercial film, a protagonist comes to the aid of people with no confidence. In Devara, there is a lot of confidence among people and they need to be reminded that there is someone who must be feared,” says Jr NTR.
The actor then goes on to praise composer Anirudh. “I genuinely believe Anirudh is here to stay, his is no fleeting success. He doesn’t compromise on quality, even under pressure. His dedication is unwavering because he knows the impact music can have on films.” He is also confident that the composer will reach great heights and create something grand and global. “Not only Devara, I could also take Jailer as an example. I went berserk seeing Rajinikanth sir on the big screen, thanks to Ani’s music, which played a huge role. I can say the same about films like Vikram and Master.”
Speaking about his co-star Janhvi, Jr NTR says she has “killed it” in Devara, which marks her Telugu debut. “At times, she looks like an exact copy of Sridevi ma’am, while in other times she is quite different. I think that’s where the Boney Kapoor side comes into play,” he shares jokingly. According to Jr NTR, Saif Ali Khan’s character in Devara was inspired by the actor’s role in the 2006 film, Omkara.
“Saif Ali Khan has done something completely new and different in Devara. Saif’s Ishwar “Langda” Tyagi from Omkara was an unforgettable character for Siva and me. We were inspired by that character to create something unique for Saif sir in Devara. His character Bhaira is as powerful as Devara,” he says, adding, “Not only Saif sir but Kalaiyarasan and Shine Tom Chacko have also done interesting roles in the film.”
Having achieved nationwide fame with RRR, it would only be natural to think Jr NTR would want to cater to every set of audiences with every project going forward. On the contrary, the actor asserts that he is not into the pan-Indian game. “Only when a story has the inherent capacity to travel beyond one place, should you push it.
Certain stories will work only for Southern audiences, while others will work globally. A beautiful example would be Kantara. As my mother is Kannadiga, I am half-Kannadiga and I grew up listening to the stories of Guliga and Panjurli deities. When Kantara came out, I was excited to watch it, but I never thought it would strike a chord with the entire country. The writer and the filmmaker should be able to connect a story with the masses, and only then will it become pan-Indian,” the actor signs off.