Kabir Singh, starring Shahid Kapoor in 2019, was a remake of the Telugu film Arjun Reddy. The film was a box office success. Three years later, his film Jersey was also a remake of a Telugu film but the film failed. During the promotion of his film Deva, the producer-director has been avoiding the fact that it is a remake of the Malayalam film 'Mumbai Police', directed by Roshan Andrews and starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jayasurya and Rahman, released in 2013.

However, those who have seen the original film will easily understand that director Roshan Andrews has kept the original soul of the story intact. The original story was written by Bobby Sanjay. This time too his name is in the story credits. This time Abbas Dalal and Hussain Dalal, Arshad Hussain and Sumit Arora have also joined him in writing. They have taken the story out of the background of Kerala and planted it in the world of Mumbai. Therefore, an attempt was made to make it new by adding some dance, song and political aspect, which proved to be dull. The climax of the film was definitely changed from the original film so that it could be avoided from being called a remake.

What is the story of Shahid Kapoor's film 'Deva'?

At the beginning of the story, ACP Dev (Shahid Kapoor) meets with an accident. When he is admitted to the hospital, he finds out that he has lost his memory. His best friend DCP Farhan (Pravesh Rana) reminds him of the past. From there, we get to know about Dev's aggressive, short-tempered, rule-abiding nature, and the one who teaches a lesson to those who disrespect the uniform.

Farhan's friendship with Dev is also connected to ACP Rohan D'Silva (Pavel Gulati). The police is in search of gangster Prabhat Jadhav (Manish Wadhwa), but whenever they raid, he escapes. Dev falls in love with Diya (Pooja Hegde), the journalist daughter of a constable working with him. When Prabhat is killed, Dev gives the credit to Rohan, who has no respect at home.

Rohan is killed on stage on the occasion of Maharashtra Foundation Day. Dev is searching for his killer and reaches him, but after the accident he has lost his memory. His nature changes, but not Pratibha. Farhan gives him the responsibility of finding Rohan's killer again. Now very calm, Dev starts investigating the case.

This film of Amitabh Bachchan will remind you of this 

This is Roshan Andrews' first Hindi film as a director. Before the interval, the story moves forward at a slow pace. The layers of Dev's past are revealed in it. In one scene, the doctor says that before the accident, you were Dev A. After the accident, you have become Dev B. The writers have presented Dev's dilemma after losing his memory in a cursory manner. It could have been presented in a better way.

Do it this way: Despite heavy themes like friendship, crime, conviction and redemption, Deva's presentation is lifeless. There is no suspense or thrill in the incident of catching and killing Prabhat Jadhav. There is an attempt to show his status with the police entering the streets of Dharavi. It reminds one of Agneepath starring Amitabh Bachchan. The love story of Dev and Diya is also meaningless.

How is the climax of the film?

Diya's character was not in the original film. Even if it was not there in this, it would not have made much difference. Despite being a journalist, her character is not able to contribute much to the story. Her father is unable to walk after being injured in the explosion but Diya dares to have any regrets. Dev's affair with his married neighbour and revealing her secret is very superficial. The climax of the film comes out flat. It is painful to see no introspection about Dev's state of mind or the ill-effects there. The lack of any emotion in the emotional scenes is also the biggest shortcoming of the film.

Shahid Kapoor has earlier been seen in films like Haider, Udta Punjab, Kabir Singh in aggressive, slightly crazy, temperamental and outspoken roles. You are not surprised to see him in the role of Dev. Although he looks comfortable in the process of becoming a calm Dev from an aggressive one. Pooja Hegde has nothing special to do. Parvesh Rana is a perfect casting in the role of a restrained policeman.

Pavail Gulati looks innocent. The fight in his scene of altercation with Dev has become weak. Kubra Sait, who appeared in a supporting role, is also average. Editor A Sreekar Prasad had full scope to reduce the duration of the film with tight editing. Vishal Mishra's music is average. Cinematographer Amit Rai shows Mumbai very well with his lens. If Dev's screenplay had been tight, this could have become an excellent film.