‘Ori Devuda’ movie review: An earnest, but unnecessary ‘Oh My Kadavule’ remake

Rewinding time is a captivating concept to consider. Not like the common idea of time journey, you received’t get to fulfill your previous self and implode the universe. This ‘time-rewind’ operates on a wierd pop-culture perception that if we have been to bodily transfer again in time, our bodily state would change accordingly… however not our consciousness. That’s to say, you’ll carry all of the expertise you had gained in life.

It looks as if Ashwath Marimuthu was so fascinated with the ‘time-rewind’ idea, he selected to inform it twice, as Oh My Kadavule in Tamil and as Ori Devuda in Telugu. After all, it’s a really potent concept. Simply final month, Shree Karthick explored one thing related with Oke Oka Jeevitham, a science-fiction movie concerning the inevitability of future, however the characters have been caught inside the guidelines of time journey. However Ashwath has a trump card for his time-rewind: God!

Ori Devuda follows Arjun (Vishwak Sen), a younger man who’s caught in what he calls a ‘loveless love marriage’ along with his greatest pal Anu Paulraj (Mithila Palkar). Arjun is as an alternative in love with Meera (Asha Bhat), and he cannot wait to break up from Anu. On the day at courtroom, Arjun will get a divine intervention from two mysterious males (Venkatesh and Rahul Ramakrishna), and he will get a second likelihood at life; he’s transported again in time to the second he agreed to marry Anu, and this time, he refuses. However issues cannot be really easy for our protagonist, proper? Arjun has to maintain a magic ticket with him always and he cannot ever talk about this second likelihood… or else, he’ll die.

There are fairly a number of methods to have a look at this story. On the coronary heart of it, it’s a story a few man who realises his love for his spouse. It’s a philosophical one which tells us that we will solely management a number of issues in life, that we solely get to know little concerning the individuals in our lives, and therefore it’s of utmost significance that we’re empathetic to how our actions change them. A superb scene that includes Arjun and Paulraj (Anu’s father, performed by Murali Sharma) tells us the identical. Then comes the fantasy story that includes the celestial puppeteer (God) with themes of future and luck.

For many who have watched Oh My Kadavule, watching Ori Devuda may not add an excessive amount of. It is a scene-by-scene remake that gives nothing new, is not altered a lot to go well with the Telugu milieu, and it is disappointing that there aren’t any makes an attempt to proper the wrongs of the unique film. As an example, after the discharge of the primary film, there have been issues concerning the lack of company for Anu. She by no means will get to know what occurred to Arjun, and this reduces her to a mere puppet. In spite of everything, Arjun is specific about an equal partnership, so is not it unfair that she by no means will get a birds-eye view of all her choices? For a movie that personifies God and offers with magic, Ashwath might have pushed the envelope a bit extra with the remake. Equally, as an alternative of simply hinting at it, the movie might have taken time to point out how Anu felt concerning the marriage. Why does she begin detesting that Thaman track? The place does her possessiveness over Arjun come from? and so forth. And, why is Meera’s arc as soon as once more left unfinished within the authentic timeline? We by no means get to know.

Vishwak Sen takes his time to settle into his position. Although the nonchalance with which Ashok Selvan carried out within the authentic goes amiss in a number of cases, he is an efficient substitute for Ashok. Maybe, that is why, like Ashok, he too seems foolish and unconvincing when he will get right into a laughing match after Venkatesh (Vijay Sethupathi, within the authentic) reveals his identification. Relating to the emotionally hefty scenes, he does make a commendable mark. Mithila’s model of Anu, however, is rather more memorable than that of Ritika Singh. Regardless of the shallow characterisation, Mithila manages to specific quite a bit together with her expressions. Venkatesh Kakumanu performs Mani, Arjun and Anu’s greatest pal, and his humour works means higher than it did within the authentic, the place Sha Ra performed the position.

For many who are but to observe Oh My Kadavule, Ori Devuda is perhaps a fantasy romance drama not like some other. There’s earnestness in its writing, and fairly a number of surprises to maintain you entertained. It additionally has a star like Venkatesh whose allure and wit will enchantment to the regional viewers. However ought to a remake make you marvel if a easy dubbed model would have achieved the job? Wasn’t this imagined to be the priceless second likelihood that Ashwath talks about within the movie?

Ori Devuda is at the moment working in theatres