“I Am Mafia”
Warning – this will be full of spoilers. Avoid reading if you haven’t watched it yet. Dekh aao fir padhna. Aur agar sirf verdict chahiye toh you can skip directly to the last paragraph. Kyuki, ‘Deva Aaplya Marji Cha Maalik.’
Acting
Shahid Kapoor – What can I say that hasn’t already been said. Since the teaser itself, people were amazed by Shahid’s screen presence. His filmography has shown how good he is, and this one looked as intense as, Kaminey, Haider, Udta Punjab, and Kabir Singh. You can feel the same during the movie, he is fully in the zone as the crazy cop!
Pooja Hegde – Like it mostly happens, the female lead does not have much to do. I could count only 7 scenes of her in the entire movie apart from the Bhasad Macha song. She was decent enough in all her scenes, but did not have much to do.
Pavail Gulatie – Quite good. There is a speech of his which makes you feel bad for his death.
Pravessh Rana – Senior hai, par saala bhi hai aur dost bhi. Good work. Would like to seem him more in movies.
Kubbra Sait – Kuch khas diya hi nahi karne ko. Koi bhi kar sakta tha ye role. Needed more from her character.
Theatrical Experience
Deva is quite massy and people loved seeing Shahid Kapoor in this avatar. There were a lot of whistle worthy and funny moments. People were cheering and clapping on some massy dialogues, jokes, the attitude and style of Deva. The vibe was quite good. Second half was slower as the story turns to Dev B, but the engagement factor was there. There was a balance between the investigation and the muscle memory of Dev B, which made him erupt at few moments. You will love how Deva reloads the gun with his shoe.
I did not see people taking out there phones, which makes you realize they are invested. I also heard some whispering and ooohhh moments when the killer is finally revealed and the final speech of Rohan (Pavail Gulatie). so for the general audience, especially who have not watched the original Mumbai Police, the theatrical experience was nice. For example, my brother loved it.
How Good Deva Actually Is ?
While the film is good, it’s not great. It could have been, but it’s not. The major problem apart from being a remake is that it never really touches a peak. Not anywhere in the middle, not in the interval, nor at the end. There are subplots that do not lead anywhere and could have been avoided. The overall mystery and investigation is nice, but its not great.
VFX and Music
Vfx is not good. You can notice which shots have used vfx. At this point, if we are not doing anything like superhero stuff, a scale of Ramayan or MHCU level, vfx should be seamless. I understand we are a growing industry but the basics should not be jarring.
BGM was good. Not every film needs something like Pathaan, Jawan, Jailer, level. But its use could have been slightly better, as it was sold as a massy film, not a grounded investigative thriller.
Bhasad Macha felt a little out of place but a fun song nevertheless. Marji Cha Maalik and another one (can’t recall the name) come in the background and fit well.There is no forced song on the street or in a foreign location, which I liked.
Why Fool People?
First Shahid said on stage the film is not a remake. Today that clip is circulating everywhere. Credibility khatam hoti hai na? So first they denied as much as they could, and people were also relaxed as there was not much information about the film in media. But once the teaser came out, people noticed few shots that let them to believe it was a remake. Jaise hi trailer aya.. sabko pata chal gaya.
This was the time when the makers realised ki band baj gayi. So what did they do? They put out a report in media that they shot 3 climax in the film and nobody knows which climax will be in the film with different killers. Unhe laga ki janta toh bewakoof hai, sochegi ki same film nahi hai kuch alga kiya hai. But aisa kuch nahi tha. It was the same climax as the original. Circumstance and motivation changed the, but the cop is the killer, killed the same way, surrendered the same way.
Kya mil jhuth bol ke? Friday ko wo bhi samne aa gaya? Today they can deny it. Isi liye toh “source” ke through news print karwate hain ki jab ulta pade toh bol sakein ki humne toh aisa kuch nahi kaha tha. Same as they showed in the film, Sanju.
Writing and Direction
I liked the direction and cinematography. What I did not like was that they did not put much effort in writing.
They did what they always do, translated the script from Malayalam to Hindi, like they say in the media articles – “adapt to north Indian sensibilities.” Meaning changing the local jokes, jargons, language and cultural things from south India to north India. Then they change a few things here and there to call it a fresh film. Example, Vikram Vedha, Sarfira and Jersey.
Sometimes they go a step further and change a bit more, like one or more characters or their motivation. For example, Baby John and Deva. But overall you feel the movie is 80 percent the same as the original, and it would have been completely okay if you had watched the original in dubbed version (for those who don’t like to read subtitles).
What I Would Have Done
Well, if I had given the job by a producer to make this remake (coz they bought the rights), I would have taken care of a two things:
- Because it’s a remake, many people would have seen it so change atleast 70% of the story so that it feels new for every kind of audience.
- The film would already face the backlash and people would discredit it calling it a remake, the film needs to be so good that the word of mouth surpasses any kind of negativity.
To achieve this, my goal would be to make it the best investigative thriller, by focusing on the story with many layers and raising the stakes. Here is how it would have been –
First half would be more or less the same. I would have gotten rid of the useless subplot of Rohan (Pavail Gulatie)’s family and childhood of Deva to save time. For me, Rohan would have died as he would be secretly investigating a big syndicate that was led by Prabhat Jadhav (Manish Wadhwa), MLA Apte (Girish Kulkarni), and the mole in the system would be DCP Farhan (Pravessh Rana). This would have been more emotionally wrenching for Deva when he kills him in the end because he was also his best friend and brother-in-law. Imagine film ki opening mein jiski shaadi pe naacha tha usi ko goli marni pade end mein.
I would also have give more time and depth to Diya (Pooja Hegde) and Dipti (Kubbra Sait). Diya would actually be a real investigative journalist who would be actually giving details to Dipti and Deva. Kubbra Sait would be sidelined by Deva and seniors because of being a female, something they showed even in the movie but very slightly. Diya would be quite understanding and stand in support of Dipti. Deva would finally gain respect for Dipti after she would get injured fighting alone when Deva did not respond to one of her calls for backup.
Deva’s accident in the beginning too was an attempt by Farhan to kill him, showing how corrupt he had become that he was willing to kill not just one but both of his best friends. After I’ve written this much, I feel the memory loss angle may not fit in my story well. So I may leave it out completely, if I was writing the script or directing.
Or it may just be a partial memory loss where he forgot only a few people and few things. So in direction, I would have shown things in a way where if somebody says Hi Dev, Shahid keep looking at him/her. So even the audience is left guessing, does he remember or does he not? Do it a few times and the audience is invested and having fun.
Last Jail Scene
Zabardasti ka tha, fan moment type. Accha lagta hai jab shahid ake marta ai aur last mein sutta muh mein rakhta hai. So I can understand the mass moment, heard a few people cheering as well. I too smiled. But it was forced.
Verdict/Recommendation
If you have not watched the original Mumbai Police, then you can definitely watch it. You won’t get bored and you can go with family as well. Though its not exactly a family film but it not a fully adult film as well. If you have watched the original, then you may skip. If you are a Shahid fan, then please don’t miss a theatrical experience, and try to go in the weekend when there is more audience size.
Author – Ishan Jain
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