Dev movie review: Karthi, Rakul Preet-starrer is an extremely predictable, unengaging drama

Language: Tamil Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars) Dev had everything going for it — a saleable hero, a popular music director and a budget to shoot in some exotic locations. But this romantic film about a guy who loves adventure sports, is heartbreakingly disappointing. Debutant director Rajath Ravishankar sadly lacks a story and has tried to make it look like a Karan Johar film, on the super rich and their life. It lacks a proper logical screenplay and its weak characterisation and romance make it look so artificial. [caption id=“attachment_6085371” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Rakul Preet Singh and Karthi in Dev. Image via Twitter[/caption] As far as adventure is concerned, there are some hero introduction scenes showing him ride some souped up bikes, jumping into a lake from the top of a canyon and rash driving in a Bentley to impress the heroine, and in the climax, some rescue acts atop the snow-clad Mount Everest! Most of the film is about Dev (Karthi), a guy who loves road trips (garage full of high end bikes and cars) and has as constant companions his childhood friends (Amrita and RJ Vignesh). His policy is that life is not all about making more money but to travel and be adventurous. His friends push him into another sort of adventure “Love". After seeing Meghana Padmavathy’s (Rakul Preet Singh) profile on Facebook , he decides that she is the right girl for him. The US-based Meghna is in total contrast to him and at one time she herself blurts out that he is “stalking” her. Dev’s dad (Prakash Raj), a business tycoon, wants him to concentrate on his business and brings him up lovingly as he lost his mother. Meghna is the daughter of a single mom (Ramya Krishnan) who fought against odds and built up her business empire and flies in her own private jet. On the face of it, both the families welcome their coming together but due to ego and a misunderstanding, Megha goes her way. Will the lovers reunite forms the rest of the story, which is predictable. The characterisation of the lead actors sticks out like a sore thumb. In any romantic film, the crisis in the life of the lovers which separates them should be believable to the audiences, but here the conflict is missing. The film has too many dialogues but nothing memorable. Fight scenes are thrust into the narration and have absolutely no relevance to the story other than projecting Karthi as an action hero. And sentiments are thrown in like the little girl in a car accident, which also has nothing to do with the plot. [caption id=“attachment_6085391” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Another still from Dev. Image via Twitter[/caption] The entire thrust of the film seems to be giving a rich look to the film. Cameraman Velraj has come out with some stunning visuals, especially in the lovely lush Ukraine. Harris Jayaraj’s music is peppy but repetitive and there are far too many songs thrust into the narration making the film bloated with a run time of 2 hours 38 minutes. Karthi is the only saving grace in this film. He performs his role with elan and style. Rakul’s role has been poorly written while Prakash Raj and Ramya Krishnan have mere walk-in roles. Dev is extremely predictable and has no twists or turns and is not an engaging watch.