The 1953 ANR film Devadasu set a massive benchmark for tragedy and acting. Superstar Krishna needed a lot of guts to remake the exact same story in 1974. Padmalaya Pictures spent heavily and shot this film grandly in a colour version.
The first half runs very smoothly with village romance, fun moments, and childhood memories. The story shifts towards separation, alcohol, and deep pain in the second half. Krishna carefully avoided his usual mass hero body language and showed pure agony through his dialogue delivery. However, audiences who compare it with the ANR version will definitely feel a different vibe.
How did the actors perform?
Krishna usually entertains fans in mass, action, cowboy, and James Bond roles. He surprised everyone by sinking perfectly into a tragic lover’s role that demands intense emotions. He completely erased the Akkineni benchmark from his mind and showed Devadasu’s pain and alcoholic depression in his own unique style. His acting in the climax scenes simply breaks your heart.
Vijaya Nirmala brilliantly showcased innocence, pure love, loyalty, and helplessness as Parvathi. She proved her talent by expressing deep emotions just with her eyes. Jayanthi delivered a top-notch performance as Chandramukhi. She stands out as a major highlight, playing the dancer who showers pure love on Devadasu. S.V. Ranga Rao gave a majestic performance as the zamindar, while Gummadi, Suryakantham, and Sridhar did complete justice to their respective roles.