Review: Devudu Chesina Manushulu

Telugu superstar’s Ravi Teja’s Devudu Chesina Manushulu fails to impress at the box office. Apart from the actor’s characteristic comedy and Puri Jagannath’s punchy dialogues, one can watch the film only for Ileana D’Cruz’s glamour.

The plot revolves around Lord Vishnu (Brahmanandam) narrating the entertaining story of an orphaned settlement broker played by Ravi Teja to Lakshmi (Kovai Sarala). One day Subba Raju (Subbaraju) steps on the peel of a banana thrown by Papayya (MS Narayana) on the road, and kills Sandy a close associate of Bangkok Don Prakash Raj (Prakashraj).

Subba Raju asks the hero to forge a deal between him and Prakash Raj and sends him to Bangkok, where he meets Ileana – a Telugu-speaking taxi driver. In return for the favour, Prakash Raj wants Ileana for the night. The incident takes a bloody turn and a battle between Ravi Teja and Prakash Raj’s gang commences. In the second half Lord Vishnu re-writes the story with new twists.

Ravi Teja is at his best and Puri Jagannath’s dialogues help him to maintain good comic timing. The audience is kept laughing despite the fact that the film lacks a good script.

Ileana fills the glamour slot perfectly but has been given no scope for performing. Prakash Raj has done justice to his role as a villain. Brahmanandam and Kovai Sarala are adequate in their comedic roles. Junior Relangi is average as Narada and Gabriel Bartante sizzles in an item number.

Shyam K Naidu’s cinematography is excellent and captures both the beauty of Bangkok and the glamour of Ileana.

Vijay’s action is another good feature of the film while the editing is just average.

The movie’s background score is poor and fails to gel with the mood of the audience, though Raghu Kunche has composed good songs.

It is Puri Jagannath’s directing that disappoints the most, running out of steam and ideas by the interval. The screenplay too is sub-standard.

Watch the film only if you are a hardcore fan of Ravi Teja.