Dev Tamil DVD

The word adventure gets bandied about a lot in Rajath Ravishankar’s Dev. The protagonist, Dev (Karthi), we are told, is an adventure seeker. In fact, he does nothing but that. Not even the things that a 28-year-old might worry about. Like mundane things like career, you know. But then, he can afford to be one, for his father Ramalingam (Prakash Raj) seems to be a wealthy man. At least from whatever little that we get to see of him in the film’s over two-and-a-half-hour run time.

So, is Dev an adventure film? Not really. There are a couple of trips and an Everest-climbing scene, though. Is it a romantic film? No. Even though much of it revolves around the romance between Dev and (Meghna), who he decides to fall in love with after seeing her pic on Facebook. A relationship drama? Nope, despite there being a family. Does that mean it is an action film? Well, not at all, even though the trailer had some stunts. If you want to describe the film somehow, you could very well go ahead and call it a misadventure. For that is what it is, from start to finish.

It is a film where nothing much happens even if the scenes give you an impression of something happening all the time. It is a film where there are a handful of characters, but doesn’t give them any purpose whatsoever. It is a film with actors like Prakash Raj and Ramya Krishnan, but it treats them like props. It is a film with quite a few songs (by Harris Jayaraj), but none that register. It is a film with picturesque locations, but with not one visually exciting shot. It’s a film that lets its characters sport trendy costumes and good makeup, but doesn’t give them any personality. It is a film with a lot of dialogues, but doesn’t give us one memorable line. It is a feel-good film, but it resorts to hurting – and killing – little girls just for the sake of some manufactured drama. It is a film that has Rakul Preet Singh as its heroine, but makes you want to not mention this fact at all. It is a film starring Karthi, but gives RJ Vignesh much more screen time. It is a film that wants you to come to the theatre, but makes you wish you could run towards the exit even before it is intermission.