Devmanus

Director Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar’s Marathi movie Devmanus is the official remake of directors Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal’s Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta starrer 2022 Hindi movie Vadh (which this reviewer hasn’t seen). The movie is a fine emotional crime drama. The story takes place in Kopargaon in Maharashtra. Senior citizen couple Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his wife Laxmi (Renuka Shahane) are staying alone after their son Madhav (Ruturaj Shinde) migrates to the US and gets married over there without their consent. Keshav is a tuition teacher cum farmer, who somehow managed to gather loan to get Madhav educated in the US. Along with the bank, he also had to take money from the local contractor and an evil goon Dilip (Siddharth Bodke) while mortgaging their ancestral house.

What happens when a simple, calm, composed man commits a crime out of helplessness? Is the crime justified? Does the man repent? Does he get caught? Devmanus answers all these questions and does it while keeping you hooked. An adaptation of Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal’s Hindi film Vadh, Devmanus sees Mahesh Manjrekar and Renuka Shahane stepping into Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta’s roles. The film is a thrilling drama that packs all the right punches – stellar performances, a gripping story, beautiful shots, taut editing and a fitting background score. Owing money to a loan shark, Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Laxmi (Renuka Shahane) are struggling to make ends meet. The impending tension of losing their mortgaged house makes the couple helpless as Dilip (Siddharth Bodke), the goon who they’ve taken the money from, shows up drunk at their doorstep anytime he wishes to. Things take a drastic turn one day and the lives of Keshav and Laxmi change forever.