Upon exiting the cinema after watching “Devil – The British Secret Agent,” the latest Telugu cinema offering starring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, viewers are immediately thrust into a swirl of controversy surrounding the issue of the director’s credit. The film has hit screens with co-producer Abhishek Nama listed as the director, a detail which Naveen Medaram—who previously bore the title—vehemently contests, claiming the film as his own creation and asserting that he was wrongfully stripped of due recognition. The apparent fragmentation of the film’s leadership fails to overshadow the evident tireless work of its crew, though the disagreement casts a shadow over the ensemble’s accomplishments.
Reticent to propagate the debate within this review, we emphasize that “Devil” represents a collective conviction in a bold idea that conventional cinematic wisdom might deem eccentric. This somewhat vilified concept breathes life into the ventures of a filmmaker whose inclination towards masala cinema is unmistaken—though the film stops short of hitting the mark. Despite a series of narrative fumbles, the movie manages to captivate audiences with the audacious journey it undertakes.
Nandamuri Kalyan Ram’s portrayal of Agent Devil, a British Secret Service agent, ushers the movie into action under a boldly displayed English flag. Tasked with rescuing a British ship from pirates, his grandiose entry sets a tone of high seriousness that the movie does not deviate from. The plot launches as a murder mystery in the pre-Independence setting of Rasapadu, a town in erstwhile Madras. Underneath the wrathful gaze of Kenneth Bracken (played by Mark Bennington), a quintessential on-screen British antagonist, Agent Devil must navigate an array of suspects to untangle the circumstances of a local zamindar’s daughter’s death, all while ultimately angling towards a far grander espionage narrative linked to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The movie’s devotion to its own gravity demands that viewers overlook certain idiosyncrasies of the plot, such as the inexplicably deferential treatment of Devil by Bracken during an era marked by imperial disdain towards Indians. Yet, the film, fixated on grandeur storytelling, pays little heed to these concerns. The heart of the story lies within Devil’s secret mission to intercept a message from Netaji—a mission that pivots the protagonist towards an intricate network of freedom fighters and covert operations, still shadowed by the murder case of the zamindar’s daughter.
As Devil’s dual investigations unfold, audience interest surges; however, it’s not solely due to plot twists—which often verge on predictability—but rather owing to an array of minor surprises that pepper the narrative. A particularly striking scene within a prison stands out, not purely for the expected twist but for how dynamically it is staged. Amid the film’s peaks and troughs, Kalyan Ram emerges as a commendable driving force, maintaining the string of excitement and leaving viewers hopeful for his continued exploration of such novel concepts.
Where “Devil” stumbles is in its tendency to lean heavily on dramatic theatrics. The film wanders from its core strengths, instead veering towards bombastic, and at times, needless expositions. Character arcs, such as that of Manimekhala (Malavika Nair), are introduced with promise but quickly devolve into mere plot devices that catalyze grandiose sequences, ultimately detracting from the film’s otherwise solid elements.
The film’s resolution feels particularly disjointed, leaving a sense of dissatisfaction as none of the meticulously laid plot elements coherently align. Nevertheless, the ambitious union of murder mystery and spy thriller, peppered with some engaging ideas and unexpected plot maneuvers, forms a semblance of what the film ambitiously aspired to be and the distinctive cinematic experience it sought to render.
“Devil – The British Secret Agent” is currently available for viewing in theaters, presenting audiences with a mixed bag of intrigue and flaws—a reflection of Telugu cinema’s ceaseless pursuit of narrative innovation and expansion within the realm of Indian cinema.
