It seems that Jr NTR is disheartened by the mixed reviews of Devara: Part 1. Devara: Part 1, starring Jr NTR, Saif Ali Khan, and Janhvi Kapoor in the lead roles released on the 27th of September 2024. Although it’s performing well at the box office, the movie hasn’t reached the commercial success of Jr NTR’s prior blockbuster RRR, which seemed to have upset Jr. NTR.
The expectations from Devara were pretty high considering it was a big screen comeback of Jr NTR after 2 years of break. Devara has successfully earned Rs 466 crore, but comparatively, it falls a little pale compared to the commercial success of other recent Indian Films like Stree 2 or Kalki 2898 Ad. Looking at the casting of the movie, people assumed there will be a lack of bad reviews but it seems as if there were some missing factors to make it a box office as well as a commercial hit. The name of Jr. NTR alone couldn’t make this movie reach the expected heights. The movie was criticized before it came to the floor for its casting. The movie featured Jr. NTR alongside Janhvi Kapoor with an age difference of 14 years which made the movie even more unrealistic with the two of them romancing on-screen.
Speaking on the analytical reactions from the audience Jr NTR expressed in an interview, “We as an audience have become very negative these days. We are not able to enjoy a film in an innocent manner anymore. When I watch my sons, Abhay and Bhargav, they don’t care about what actor or what movie they are watching, they just enjoy movies. I wonder why we are not able to be that innocent anymore?” He further added that, “Every film today, we are watching it to analyze. We are all constantly judging, analyzing, overthinking about films. Maybe our exposure to cinema has made us like this.”
Now after reading his statement, the first question that popped up in my mind was, are we the ones to be blamed if a movie doesn’t do well at the box office? The answer is No, it is not our responsibility to make a movie hit at the box office if we don’t find the content entertaining enough. He commented on how the audience has been less appreciative lately, but what the industry don’t get is there has been a gradual shift in what content the audience wants to consume. If they’re making some random high-budget movie with star-casting that doesn’t follow up a great storyline, it is obvious the movie won’t be a major success. We as an audience tend to see more realistic content rather than the same old concept of romance or action movies.
Comment down if you feel we’ve every right to choose what content we find interesting and what’s not likable enough.
