Cast: Karthi, Rakul Preet, Karthik, Prakash Raj, Ramya Krishnan, RJ Vignesh & others
Cinematography: Velraj ; Music: Harris Jayaraj ; Editing: Ruben
Stunts: Anbarivu ; Art Director: Rajeevan Nambiar ; Costumes: Neeraja Kona
Written & Directed by: Rajath Ravishankar
Produced by: Lakshman Kumar for Prince Pictures and Reliance Entertainment
Release Date: 14-02-2018 ; Run Time: 02:35:00
Karthi’s latest outing in Dev is a decent romantic drama that works mainly because of its vibrant lead and the great visuals. Talking about motivation, self discovery and love in equal portions, the upmarket film has a glossy cover overall, and that’s what makes it watchable despite a handful of dreary portions.
The film follows Dev, an adventure junkie who crosses paths with Meghna (Rakul Preet) on Facebook. The film moves on to their love track in full, while simultaneously concentrating on other aspects such as family, friendship and so on. Travel has been maintained as the main motive of the film, as the story moves across different cities round the world ranging from Chennai to Kiev to Mumbai to Hosur and finally goes all the way to the Himalayas. While the first half is pretty good with a lot of moments that put a smile on your face, the second half is flawed but somehow gains back some momentum with some neat work at the end.
Karthi is easily the best part of Dev, fitting the role of the stylish boy very well. Though he is off the mark in dance sequences, his energetic vibe helps the film travel throughout. On the other hand, it’s tough to connect with Rakul Preet’s character, which leaves you wondering where it’s going. While Amrutha Srinivasan and RJ Vigneshkanth have good amounts of screen time, their roles don’t stand too tall and the same goes with Prakash Raj and Ramya Krishnan too.
Velraj’s cinematography helps the film big time in gathering terrific visuals right from the first frame, with Ruben’s editing being neat despite the long runtime. Harris Jayaraj’s music is apt to the film, the songs being one of the biggest advantages.
Debutant Rajath Ravishankar shows great skill in projecting a big budget film, but Dev could have used some more maturity and work on the writing table. Overall, it’s a cool and chilled out film that may not be a wrong pick for a Valentine’s Day watch.
Verdict: A fair romantic travelogue!