India Box Office: ‘Devara Part 1’ Makes A Splashing Opening
by Sweta Kaushal · ForbesPopular star NT Rama Rao Jr (RRR) is back in theatres with his new movie - Devara: Part 1 - and the film has already made it to Comscore’s top scorers’ list in the US as well as worldwide in its first weekend. Directed by Koratala Siva (Acharya), the film made a global opening collection of more than $32 million. Janhvi Kapoor (most recently seen in Ulajh) and Saif Ali Khan (Omkara, Vikram Vedha) also feature along with Jr NTR in the Telugu film which hit theatres on September 27.
Comscore ranked Devara Part 1 on the second slot on its list of top scoring films worldwide over the weekend ending September 29. The film earned $32.93 million in three days at the ticket windows. Chris Sanders’ epic adventure The Wild Robot stood first on the list with nearly $45 million global collection. With a collection of $5.2 million in the US markets alone, the Telugu film also made it as the fourth-highest scoring movie over the weekend in the US.
Devara Part 1 made a global opening collection of more than $17 million on Friday. It grossed more than $1 million in the US opening night pre-sales. In India, the Hindi version of the film made an opening collection of nearly $1 million. It made a little less than $9.5 million in India (all languages combined). Following Kalki 2898 AD, Devara Part 1 is now the second highest-opening Indian film (all languages) of 2024.
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Devara Part 1 is set in the Indian coast lands and tells the epic action saga centered around Devara — a fearless man who reforms to embark on a dangerous journey to safeguard the lives of his fellow villagers. Popularly known as Man of Masses, Nadamuri Taarak Rama Rao Junior aka Jr NTR features in the lead roles of father and son in the film which is told in flashbacks narrated to a cop. The film also stars Prakash Raj, Kalaiyarasan, Shruti Marathe and Shine Tom Chacko.
The film holds a promising premise for an epic like Devara Part 1. However, the execution is more of a populist exploration of morality versus necessities. A lack of emotional depth in the writing is compensated for by Jr NTR’s skills who manages to engage audiences in his own style. All the actors are fully immersed in their art, and their dedication reflects onscreen. An ending styled after Bahubali The Begining, Devra Part 1 boasts of characters with little emotional arc and they often seem to be bursting into one emotion or the other. Set in the 20th century, the film treats us to grand visuals and brilliant camerawork.
Devara: Part 1 is produced by Yuvasudha Arts and NTR Arts and presented by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram. The Hindi version of the film is presented by filmmaker Karan Johar’s Dharma Production. Production designer Sabu Cyril worked on the film which also had cinematographer R. Rathnavelu onboard. Anirudh Ravichander composed the music. A major part of the film shows action on ships in the sea, and underwater. It took around 35 days of shoot under and over water for the sequences.