‘Deva’ Review: Rosshan Andrrews Remakes His Own ‘Mumbai Police,’ with Lackluster Results

A police officer with memory loss re-investigating a case that he had solved, just before he had the head injury which made him unable to recall who the killer is. An ending twist so surprising and risky that it made you gasp. And a performance by a leading man vulnerable and layered enough to enable you to get past the problematic portrayal of identity. These were some of the aspects which made Rosshan Andrrews’ 2013 film Mumbai Police, starring a terrific Prithviraj Sukumaran, such a standout.

Now, 12 years later, the same director has reworked the delicious story by Bobby-Sanjay for Hindi audiences. But this version has little of that power. Deva is a diluted, labored retread.

The biggest fault line is that the remake writers — Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal, with Arshad Syed and Sumit Arora — have expanded and changed the narrative to serve the stardom of its lead actor. 

Shahid Kapoor is a strong actor who has delivered a range of solid performances in films such as Kaminey, Haider, Udta Punjab and Kabir Singh. Here, too, he seamlessly moves between the two avatars of police officer Dev Ambre. One is arrogant, trigger-happy, struggling with daddy issues and alcohol and therefore borderline unhinged; imagine Kabir as a Mumbai cop. The other post-accident Dev is quieter, less cocky and more willing to listen. Kapoor is robust as both. 

But because he is a star, the screenplay must include an unnecessary love angle — Pooja Hegde makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance as Diya, a journalist. There are several action sequences which underline his leading man status. And the swag is in overdrive, especially in the song “Bhasad Macha” (the title translates to “create a ruckus”). Kapoor is an excellent dancer, but the song has little connection to the plot. 

Cigarettes also play a starring role. Dev smokes near constantly and cigarettes are part of his toxic hero act. While Sukumaran’s character in Mumbai Police, ACP Antony Moses, was also hyper-masculine, there was a reason for his posturing.

In short, Andrrews plays it safe. The original film featured a scene in which a female officer, who is Antony’s junior, harshly criticizes him for being abusive to a woman. This isn’t repeated in the remake. Although Dev crosses several lines, his hooliganism is seen as a slightly skewed version of heroism — in one scene, Diya says about Dev that his methods might be wrong, but he isn’t. Those methods include Dev shoving his elbow into a bullet hole in the arm of a man to get him to talk. 

But the unkindest cut is that the ending has been changed, lessening its impact considerably. The climax in Deva is suitably grim, but the writers give Dev a convenient but not very convincing backstory to justify all that we have seen. An attempt is made to address class and generational abuse, but it feels halfhearted.

On a more positive note, Pavail Gulatie and Pravessh Rana provide competent support to Kapoor’s blistering act. Other striking aspects include the background score by Jakes Bejoy and the way in which Andrrews and cinematographer Amit Roy use Mumbai, especially in the action sequences. 

Some scenes include bad digital renderings of the city’s landmarks, but Andrrews also places his story on roads and narrow lanes teeming with people and traffic. He and Roy take advantage of the Mumbai rains to create slick streets and a sense of gloom. Some of their overhead shots, like one of two local trains moving in opposite directions, are stunning.

Vijay from Deewaar, one of Amitabh Bachchan’s most iconic roles, looms large as a life-sized mural near Deva’s home. A key scene takes place in a tunnel similar to the one where Vijay and Ravi have the conversation that includes the immortal line, “Mere paas maa hai” (“I have my mother”).

Like Vijay, Dev is very much the “Angry Young Man.” However, as good as Kapoor is, he can’t give the character the layers that Sukumaran could Vijay, because the writing for Deva is so much more generic.

If you haven’t seen Mumbai Police, Deva might work as a whodunit. But for admirers of the original, this rendition is far from satisfying.