Interview: Can Devara go Kantara's way? Jr NTR opens up ahead of film's massive release

Nandamuri Tarak Rama Rao Jr., aka Junior NTR, is gearing up for the grand release of his pan-India magnum opus Devara, scheduled to hit the screens on September 27.

The actor, who won the hearts of many by playing a courageous freedom fighter who easily fended off tigers and the British rulers in S S Rajamouli's RRR, claims he is nervous on the eve of Devara's release.

Talking to the media, Jr NTR confesses, "RRR was an out-and-out Rajamouli film, so I was not worried and enjoyed all the promotional interviews without any pressure. But with Devara, though I'm confident about the film, I can feel the enormous pressure now because this is my first solo release film in six years.”

Koratala Siva and Jr NTR have worked together in multiple projects – in Jr NTR's Brindavanam and Oosaravelli, Siva was a dialogue writer, and in Janatha Garage, he donned the director's hat. Devara is the fourth association between Siva and Jr NTR.

Two-part film

According to Jr NTR, Siva had narrated the gist of Devara when he was shooting for RRR and he later developed it into a “brilliant script”. Jr NTR plays a dual role in the film, as Devara and Vara.

At first, the idea was not to release it in two parts. But that happened organically, admits the actor, who comes across as talkative and open.

In fact, even when they had started shooting for the film, it was not meant to be a two-part film, he explains. However, as the making of the film progressed, the runtime of the sequences they had shot was more than five hours.

“If our audiences were open to watching a five-hour-long film, we would've released Devara as a single-part movie. Unfortunately, that is not the scenario here in India and so, we decided to release our film in two parts. Siva's script is tightly written and it had the perfect flow for the two parts so, making a two-part film wasn't our intention, it just happened organically,” he explains.

Male deity

Further, talking about the title ‘Devara’, the actor says, "All the southern states have the culture of worshipping a family deity in villages. Kantara was also made based upon one such deity, which I heard from my mom during my childhood. Devara is the male version of the deity in Telugu.”

The core idea of Devara revolves around a hero unusually not displaying too much bravado. Jr NTR elaborates, "Generally, in Indian mass entertainers, a hero is someone who would come and boost the confidence in people as they are scared to fight against the mighty villain. But Devara tells a story that is quite the opposite. Sometimes, too much confidence is not good and you have to fear certain things in life. Siva has beautifully handled this unique aspect and made it into a beautiful film.”

On music composer Anirudh

On music composer Anirudh, Jr NTR is all praise. He feels that Anirudh too will go international like the celebrated AR Rahman.

"The entire country is tuned to Anirudh's songs and background score. I have seen composers who have delivered consecutive hits and they have fizzled out after a point. I feel Anirudh is not the usual kind of a composer, he works hard to ensure that his songs become hits and elevates the film with his background score,” he says.

After a long time, Jr NTR remembers going berserk on seeing Superstar Rajnikanth in Jailer and the major credit for that goes to Anirudh, he adds.

“His works in Master and Vikram are also impeccable. Another quality I see in Anirudh is that he doesn't get pressurised even if there is a dire situation where he has to deliver a song in a couple of days. Anirudh's work in the Devara trailer is just a glimpse, what he has done to our film is phenomenal,” Jr NTR gushed.

Jr NTR on Janhvi Kapoor

NTR Senior and Sridevi had acted together in many blockbusters. Now, Junior NTR and Sridevi's daughter Janhvi Kapoor share screen space for the first time in Devara.

Jr NTR narrates how Janhvi came aboard the project. "One day I got a call from Karan Johar saying that Janhvi wants to be a part of my film with Siva. She wanted to be a part of Devara and eventually got it as Siva also felt that Janhvi would be the perfect choice," he narrates.

However, he adds that she is a "good talent" and also worked hard to get her lines right in Telugu. "Initially, I felt she was a little scared but later, she understood her character and played her part well. In some angles, she reminds me of her mom Sridevi Garu, who is an epitome of grace and beauty. I could also feel traces of Boney Kapoor in her,” he says with a smile.

Ambitious film

For Jr NTR, Devara is his most ambitious film yet. It took a lot from him, he admits.

"Our production designer Sabu Cyril sir built a massive boat for the film. Unfortunately, today, most of us think that filmmakers create everything with the help of visual effects and they don't even recognise the immense work of our production designers. We took the boat built by Sabu Cyril sir and his team into deep waters and shot for several days. Rathnavelu sir's lighting and camera work are another advantage. He treated the film as real as possible with his cinematography and at the same time he has created the epic feel that is required for a film of this size,” says Jr NTR.

The actor also heaps praise on Saif Ali Khan, who plays the antagonist in Devara. "Siva and I are big fans of Saif sir's work in Omkara. From the beginning, we wanted to cast him, and glad that Saif sir agreed to play the antagonist. He has just taken the film to a different level with his intense performance,” he points out.

Jr NTR has also dubbed his Tamil lines in Devara. "I wanted to dub my lines in Tamil because as an actor, I feel that my expressions will be conveyed to the audience only if I dub the lines in my voice. Though people will forgive me for my Telugu accent, I took extra care to say my Tamil lines without a major flaw. I should thank my dubbing supervisor and Tamil dialogue writer Vijay who also helped me with RRR's Tamil dialogues".

Pan India and global recognition

Jr NTR feels the subject plays a key role in whether it is a global or a pan-India film.

"Just because I got pan India and global recognition in RRR, I can't cater to audiences across the globe in all my films. Devara has the potential to attract audiences in various parts of India but tomorrow, I could get a subject only for Telugu audiences and that need not be released all over the country. As I said earlier, my mother is a Kannadiga and I grew up listening to Panjurli. When Rishabh made Kantara it was only meant for Kannada audiences but the story is very captivating that the film travelled and reached crores of people in our country by breaking the language barriers,” he points out.

So, who knows where Devara is headed?