KD The Devil movie story: Kaali (Dhruva Sarja), a simpleton running a local kerosene dealership, falls in love with the spunky Machch Lakshmi (Reeshma Nanaiah). He is also quite close to the much-feared local gangster Dhak Deva (Sanjay Dutt), but their relationship falls apart when Lakshmi is assaulted by the latter’s henchmen. With Deva set on wiping Kali’s entire family off the face of the earth, the latter has no other choice but to fight back.
KD The Devil movie review: If you are impatiently counting down to the end credits of a film only 15 minutes into its 2-hour-21-minute run-time, that is, most definitely not a good sign. Showman Prem and Dhruva Sarja’s KD The Devil is an insufferable mess of a ‘commercial’ movie that would have, perhaps, worked in the 80s or 90s. Insisting that your audience also remains stuck in a bygone era and being unwilling to move with the times is bad enough, but what is truly unpardonable is to give viewers sub-par content, parade it around like a masterpiece and expect everyone to buy into this. For an industry that routinely complains about audiences preferring Malayalam movies over Kannada cinema, KD The Devil is a prime example for why.
Dhruva in the poster of KD
For a change, I decided to skip the early morning fan shows and watched KD The Devil at the earliest available multiplex screening. A more peaceful viewing, I reckoned, but didn’t expect the eerie stillness of the hall. Attendance was minimal, which I’d highlighted and was promptly asked to take down my tweet “in the spirit of supporting cinema”. This is, interestingly, not the first time I have spoken about near-empty movie halls, but the first time that there’s been a reaction.
Anyway, back to KD. Going by the teaser and trailer of KD, the assumption was that Dhruva was continuing in the Pogaru-Martin style of hamming. For the most part, his portrayal of Kali Dasa is still over the top, but there are minute flickers ever so rarely that all hope is not lost yet. Perhaps, in the hands of a different director, the actor may just surprise us all. The Kiranraj collaboration sounds promising.
Sanjay Dutt is everyone’s favourite villain these days; although the value add that he is supposed to be bringing to these films escapes me. The Nayak nahi Khalnayak hu main line ran its course a few decades ago, but Prem’s still enamoured. Shilpa Shetty is another wasted addition and if you are hoping to get your money’s worth with the Nora Fatehi’s special number, well, sorry to burst that bubble, but it hasn’t made it to the final cut. What you do get are two instances of ‘displaced davanis’ to provide a glimpse of cleavage and midriff.
The love story in KD is, without a doubt, the weakest link in the film. The Prem’s school of drama does not work for the leading lady, Reeshma Nanaiah. Yes, she gets a lot of screentime, and causes the film’s major conflict, so to say, but this kind of acting may not be welcome even in theatre these days. Ravichandran’s role is passable, as is Ramesh Aravind’s although his wig isn’t. As for Kiccha Sudeep’s cameo, that looks like a scene cut from Mark.
Dhruva Sarja in KD
For what it is worth, KD is a film that must have made the extras very happy – action and dance sequences have several hundreds in attendance – even if those numbers don’t really have any impact. When almost all of Dhak Deva’s henchmen congregate outside Kali’s house, each still waits patiently for his turn to get chopped in pieces, even allowing him to bust a step or two while unleashing this violence. Mind you, this is a film for family audiences, even children, according to Dhruva.
KD The Devil movie verdict: Director Prem’s Dhruva Sarja led film is jaded and, quite honestly, insufferable.
