Devara: Part 1 is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva and produced by Yuvasudha Arts and N. T. R. Arts. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr in dual roles, alongside Saif Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Srikanth and Shine Tom Chacko. The film marks the Telugu cinema debut of Khan and Kapoor. The plot follows Devara (Rao), chieftain of a coastal village who is engaged in bloody feud with his counterpart Bhaira (Khan) over smuggling. The conflict, which starts as a personal vendetta, quickly escalates into a much larger power play that threatens to disrupt the entire region.

The film was officially announced in April 2021 under the tentative title NTR30, as it is Rama Rao's 30th film as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in May 2023. In late-2023, the film was split into two-parts. Principal photography for this part commenced in April 2023 and wrapped in August 2024. Filming took place in Hyderabad, Shamshabad, Visakhapatnam, Goa and Thailand. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography handled by R. Rathnavelu and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad respectively.

Devara: Part 1 released worldwide on 27 September 2024 in standard, IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, D-Box, MX4D and ICE formats to mixed reviews from critics and audience.

In 1996, in a high-level security meeting discusses the security threats to the 1996 Cricket World Cup in India from Daya and his brother, Yethi.

The police capture Yethi's henchman to interrogate him. They learn Yethi was going to see Muruga, a politician-cum-smuggler. Learning that Muruga is dead, they go undercover as smugglers. They approach DSP Tulasi who tells them to visit the Red Sea villages in the Ratnagiri mountains. They visit Bhaira, chief of one such village and threaten him to smuggle goods, only to be violently rejected by him. They find Singappa, who takes them offshore in a boat. The officer tries to make an offer to him by showing off a diamond ring which is abruptly thrown into the sea by Singappa. As the officer dives to retrieve the ring, he finds skeletons in the seabed. Singappa starts narrating the story which begins 12 years earlier.

Inhabitants of the villages were once warriors defending the seas, but after India got its Independence, they lose relevance, reduced to smugglers in the infamous Red Sea. Devara is a chieftain of one of the villages and part of the group which smuggles for Muruga from the merchant ships, along with Bhaira. Unbeknownst to them, they smuggle illegal arms which are used in robberies, and one such incident occurs near their villages. During a smuggling expedition, they are caught by the coast guard and the commander of the vessel, Irfan, reveals the items they were smuggling and how he expected honor amongst the descendants of warriors.

Devara has a change of heart and decides to stop their smuggling operations, which is not liked by the other chieftains, including Bhaira. They hatch plans to kill him but fail. Devara successfully stops the villagers from entering the seas for smuggling. He disappears after an attempt to kill him and writes a message on a rock near the shore that he would continue to kill those who venture out for smuggling. Years pass, and everyone adopts fishing as their livelihood as Devara killed those smuggling, while remaining invisible to the villagers. His son, Vara, grows up to be timid and soft-spoken, unlike his father, and believes Devara abandoned his family.

Vara's childhood friend Thangam is in love with him, but wishes he was more like Devara. On the other hand, Bhaira prepares a private army to kill Devara. Tulasi and Muruga again offer an opportunity to Bhaira to smuggle for them along with killing Devara, the biggest thorn for their operations. When Bhaira's men harass Devara's daughter and wife, Vara is furious and beats them up, showing his strength. He's accused of killing one of the men, but Vara pleads to Bhaira that he's not responsible. Bhaira tells him to prove it by joining their smuggling operation. Bhaira later reveals he killed his own man to get Vara to join them.

Vara joins them for a smuggling operation to kill Devara. When Devara's wife asks Singappa to stop Vara, Singappa reveals that Devara is long dead, and the person who's been killing smugglers is actually Vara. He wrote the note on the rock and pretends to be timid so that everyone would think that Devara is still alive. Meanwhile, Vara kills Bhaira's men and brings their bodies back to the shore. To instill even more fear in the villagers, Vara also marks himself, in front of Singappa and Devara's loyal aides, as he "went against his father".

When asked by the undercover police officer about Devara's killer, Singappa reveals that he was killed by Vara on the day he supposedly disappeared.

In February 2020, N. T. Rama Rao Jr and Trivikram Srinivas were reported to be collaborating on a second film, following Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018), tentatively titled NTR30. The film was to be produced by S. Radha Krishna and Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under the banners of Haarika & Hassine Creations and N. T. R. Arts. Later that July, Koratala Siva announced another project, AA21, with Allu Arjun in the lead, to be produced by former distributor Sudhakar Mikkilineni's newly launched production studio, Yuvasudha Arts. However, neither project materialised. In April 2021, it was reported that Rama Rao and Siva would collaborate on NTR30, marking their second collaboration after Janatha Garage (2016). The film was officially announced on Ugadi (13 April 2021) with Yuvasudha Arts producing the film in collaboration with N. T. R. Arts. However, production was delayed due to Siva's commitments to Acharya and Rama Rao's to RRR.

Siva described it as a "large-scale project that has more commercial appeal" in comparison to his debut film Mirchi (2013). Following the box-office failure of Acharya, Siva wanted to fine-tune the script making necessary changes before finalising it as a draft, which meant that the commencement of filming has been delayed throughout late 2022. By November, Siva started the pre-production works of the film with production set to begin in early 2023.

Initially set to begin production on 24 February, the commencement was delayed due to the death of Taraka Ratna as well as Rama Rao's participation in the Academy Awards campaign for RRR. The film was officially launched on 23 March with a puja ceremony held in Hyderabad with the presence of the cast and crew and S. S. Rajamouli preceding with the muhurtam shot. The film's title Devara was officially announced on 19 May 2023, the eve of Rama Rao's birthday. On 4 October, Siva announced that the film would be split into two parts.

The technical crew consist of musician Anirudh Ravichander, cinematographer R. Rathnavelu, editor A. Sreekar Prasad, production designer Sabu Cyril, stunt choreographer Kenny Bates and visual effects supervisors Brad Minnich and Yugandhar T. Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur and Rashmika Mandanna were considered to play the female lead, but turned down the offer. Janhvi Kapoor was confirmed to play the lead female role, in her first South Indian film. At the India Today Conclave, Janhvi described it as a "dream come true" moment on working with Rama Rao as she recalled on how she manifested her debut in South industry through Rama Rao's film in her past interviews. In April 2023, Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was signed as an antagonist, marking his debut in Telugu cinema. Khan stated that speaking a new language for the film was challenging for him, and he did feel like a “newcomer”.

Prakash Raj and Meera Jasmine participated at the launch ceremony, thereby being part of the film. In May 2023, further supporting cast members joined the film with Mani Chandana and Tarak Ponnappa being part of the sets. In June 2023, it was announced that Shine Tom Chacko was cast in the film. Kalaiyarasan, Narain, Murali Sharma and Abhimanyu Singh also joined the cast after filming few prelimnary sequences. In February 2024, reports surfaced stating that Shruti Marathe, a Marathi actress, had been chosen to star alongside Jr NTR. Shruti confirmed this during an interview with the Marathi Star Media portal.

Principal photography commenced on 1 April 2023 in Hyderabad, with Rama Rao in attendance, while Janhvi and Khan joined the sets in mid April. In mid-May, the team took a two-week break following Rama Rao's departure for a family vacation. Filming resumed on 7 June 2023 with few crucial sequences between Rama Rao, Khan and other cast members being shot there and was completed 14 days. Several action sequences had been shot in this schedule, including one which has been filmed in extreme low light. The team then took a brief month-long break, before resuming on 31 July 2023, to shoot an underwater action sequence. Rama Rao trained with expert swimmers from Mumbai for this particular schedule. In September, some of the sequences have been shot at a specially constructed beach set in Shamshabad.

On 4 October 2023, the makers filmed the underwater action sequence at Hyderabad which would conclude the schedule post-completion. Janhvi completed filming for her portions on 1 November. The team then took a break to celebrate Diwali (12 November 2023) and resumed filming two days later for another brief schedule. The Goa schedule was completed within 20 November and the team returned to Hyderabad for another brief schedule which was filmed during mid-December. Kalyan Ram revealed that 80% of the film's shooting had been completed by late-December 2023, and the filming would be wrapped by January 2024. However, at the end of the month, the production team revealed that 30 per cent of the film's shoot is to be completed.

In mid-March 2024, the team moved to Goa for filming a song sequence with Rama Rao and Janhvi. Following a brief break, the team filmed a concurrent schedule in May 2024 at Visakhapatnam where Khan's portions were filmed. Rama Rao was not present in that schedule as he was filming for War 2 (2025) in Mumbai. In mid-June, the team shot an action sequence set at a forest in Goa featuring Rama Rao and Khan. At the same month, the team moved to Krabi, Thailand for filming a romantic song featuring Rama Rao and Jhanvi ("Chuttamalle") which was choreographed by Bosco Martis. In July 2024, the team filmed another schedule at Shamshabad. Due to multiple leaks throughout the production, the portions were filmed inside closed sets with the crew members restricted not to use phones throughout the schedule. In mid-August 2024, a song titled "Aayudha Puja" was filmed in sets. On 14 August 2024, Rama Rao announced that he had completed filming his portions for the film.

In an interaction with Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Rama Rao added that he initially planned to shoot the underwater sequences at one of the biggest pools in Kapoli, but for reasons unknown they decided to set up a pool in the studio where they would predominantly shoot the action sequences. The team constructed a 20 feet water tank, dug five feet with 200 x 150 feet dimensions, in which they shot most of the action sequences for 30–35 days. He added, "We had these big diggers which came in and created artificial waves. We had wave machines. We have motorboats, motors fixed into the water to give small ripples in the pool. There was a pool and there was a water tank as well. So, it was very high on action."

The visual effects were handled by Kalyan Ram's visual effects company, Advaitha Creative Works, along with Annapurna Studios, Digital Domain, Stealthworks Taiwan, NXT VFX, NY VFXWaala, Alzahra VFX, Phantom FX, Knack Studios, Spectre Post, VFX Pirates, Thunder Studios, META VFX Creations, Hocus Pocus VFX, Oscar VFX, DNEG, and Redefine VFX; Yugandhar T. and Brad Minnich served as the visual effects supervisors. As the film relied heavily on visual effects, Kalyan Ram researched extensively on enhancing the computer graphics and effects for nearly eight months, detailing on specific sequences that need VFX and real elements, respectively. To achieve this, the VFX team storyboarded the particular shots which demanded VFX. Sequences that demanded visual effects were filmed very earlier so that the team could work on them within a four-month duration, and the process was supervised by international companies. Dubbing for the film began parallelly in July 2024. According to cinematographer Rathnavelu, the film featured 3000 CG shots.

The initial runtime of the film was considered to be 190 minutes long. It was sent to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on 12 September 2024, where it received U/A certificate. The censor board demanded four cuts for the film where a character kicking his wife, another character kicking his mother being modified, a five-second shot of a character hanging through a sword and then sliding down through it has been removed, and with Rama Rao's character riding a shark in the sea has been modified. With the exclusion of those sequences, the final runtime was revealed to be around 170 minutes.

The film's soundtrack album and background score are composed by Anirudh Ravichander in his fourth Telugu project after Agnyaathavaasi (2018), Jersey (2019), and Nani's Gang Leader (2019).

The first single, titled "Fear Song" was released on 19 May 2024. The second single titled "Chuttamalle" was released on 5 August 2024. The third single titled "Daavudi" was released on 4 September 2024. The fourth single, titled "Ayudha Pooja" was released on 26 September 2024 along with the full soundtrack album.

On 8 January 2024, the makers unveiled a glimpse into the film was released through social media platforms. Another glimpse that revealed Khan's character Bhaira was released on 16 August, coinciding the actor's birthday. The film's trailer was launched at an event held in Film City, Mumbai on 10 September. The trailer, however garnered mixed response from audiences; actor Vishwak Sen criticised on the social media users for prompting negative reactions, owing to the admiration to Rama Rao. Another trailer was released on 22 September 2024, five days ahead of the film's release.

The promotional campaign kickstarted with a press conference held at Chennai for the film's Tamil version on 17 September 2024, and also planned to conduct events in Kochi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The film's pre-release event was initially planned to be held at the H.I.C.C. Novotel in Hyderabad. However, it was cancelled due to the massive crowd of the actor's fans trying to enter the auditorium, exceeding its capacity; Rama Rao and Trivikram Srinivas, who was the event's chief guest, eventually asked to walk out of the auditorium citing audience overflow. He released a video message expressing his disappointment on the event's cancellation.

Karan Johar hosted an interview under the name Devara ka Jigra, with Rama Rao and Alia Bhatt, simultaneously handling the promotions for the latter's film Jigra. The interview was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Dharma Productions on 23 September. The interview featured the actors discussing their experiences on working in their respective films.

Devara: Part 1 was theatrically released on 27 September 2024 in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. The film was originally announced with a release date on 5 April 2024, coinciding with the weekend of Ugadi. However, it was pushed to 10 October 2024, coinciding with the eve of Dusshera, due to the extensive post-production and VFX works, before being preponed to its current date. Prior to the release, the makers trimmed seven minutes from the Hindi dubbed version featuring some solo scenes of Telugu actors in order to cater to a broader audience.

The film was released in standard, IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, D-Box, MX4D and ICE formats.

The film had its world premiere at the Beyond Fest film festival in Los Angeles on 26 September 2024, with Rama Rao and Siva participating the event.

Dharma Productions and AA Films acquired the theatrical distribution rights for the Hindi dubbed version. Sithara Entertainments acquired the distribution rights for the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. KVN Productions and SS Karthikeya's Showing Business acquired the Karnataka theatrical rights. The North America distribution rights were acquired by Prathyangira Cinemas and Hamsini Entertainment. Tamil Nadu theatrical rights were acquired by Sri Lakshmi Movies, whereas Kerala distribution rights was acquired by Wayfarer Films.

The price hikes were estimated to be around ₹250 in single screen theatres and ₹418 in multiplexes across Telangana, and ₹200 in single screen theatres and ₹325 in multiplexes across Andhra Pradesh.

Prior to its release, the film made a business of nearly ₹180 crore (US$22 million) from its theatrical rights. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights were sold to ₹113 crore (US$14 million). While earlier reports claimed that the film’s theatrical rights for the Hindi version had been sold to ₹45–60 crore (US$5.4–7.2 million, with Deccan Chronicle attributing the huge price in the Hindi version to Rama Rao's fan following among the audiences in North India, as well as his Bollywood debut with War 2, calling it as "one of the highest rates for a Telugu actor in recent times". However, later reports claimed that the rights are sold for ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million). The film made a combined deal of ₹16.5 crore (US$2.0 million) from distribution in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala theatres. The overseas distribution rights were sold to ₹26 crore (US$3.1 million). As per estimates, the film needed earn around ₹180 crore distributor share (₹350 crore gross) at the worldwide box office to break even. It further made ₹150 crore (US$18 million) from non-theatrical rights, including digital, satellite and music rights.

The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Netflix for ₹155 crore (US$19 million). The film would have its digital premiere in all languages only after 7–8 weeks of its theatrical run. The film will be premiered on 8 November 2024.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10.

Mahpara Kabir of ABP Live gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Devara: Part 1 is a gripping action drama that offers an entertaining cinematic experience. Jr NTR delivers a stellar performance in two distinct roles, while Saif Ali Khan shines as the vengeful antagonist. The film’s stunning visuals, epic action sequences, and compelling performances make it a must-watch, even if the storyline becomes predictable at times." Bollywood Hungama gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Devara: Part 1 suffers from a weak second half, but makes up for the minuses with a terrific first half, clapworthy action scenes and mass-appealing avatar of Jr NTR."

Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Devara: Part 1 is visually stunning but narratively underwhelming. Jr NTR’s solid performance, combined with high production values and Anirudh’s score, makes it worth watching." Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Saif Ali Khan and NTR Jr ’s performance are larger than life, but only if some justice was done to the role given to Janhvi Kapoor, the movie could have been a super-hit. But, alas! she just had an ornamental role."

Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Devara's self-appointed guardian of the sea unleashing violence as a means to end violence is purely Junior NTR fan-tasy." Sashidhar Adivi of Times Now gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Devara manages to dish up more action to drama to romance and even exotic locations in songs. However, a tighter writing in the second half could have made the film more engaging." Avad Mohammed of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Devara: Part 1 is a stylish action drama that has Jr NTR's terrific performance. While the visuals and action click, the drama is weak. The build-up for the second half looks half-baked and makes the film just a passable watch."

K. Janani of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Devara: Part 1 is an action drama with elaborate characterisations. The film is replete with great performances from Jr NTR and Saif Ali Khan, but the story remains predictable. Devara: Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger just like SS Rajamouli's Baahubali did, but it is also a film that makes you question if all ambitious films deserve two parts. Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "The Jr NTR film starts off really strong, only to suffer an extended downward slide that is finally salvaged by a bloody finale that is equal parts engaging and outlandish."

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Jr NTR, Janhvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan's film is a mixed bag. The parts that work, few and far between as they are, might serve to whet the appetite of fans of big-canvas action and melodrama." Jaya Dwivedi of India TV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "the writing and direction are weak and the film can come across as predictable. Moreover, audiences can feel like it's a repetition of several films that we have already watched in the past. Overall, the cinematography and acting are the only things that try to save the sinking boat. The film does not give you a new experience, overall there is a huge lack of originality."

BVS Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Director Koratala Siva should have selected a relatable script, than a fictional and weak plot for a big hero like NTR. He just banks on NTR’s heroism and anger image and elevates it, but the emotional core among characters is missing. His concept of invisible fear would have worked better, if he had a good script on hand which is real and familiar." Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint rated the film with 2/5 stars.

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Director Koratala Siva and Jr NTR mount an intense action drama, with huge help from Anirudh Ravichander, only for the later portions to lose steam in the over-zealousness to stretch the story for a sequel." Neeshita Nyayapati of Hindustan Times wrote "Koratala cannot help but write characters who want to save the world, and while that might not be a bad thing, it does feel repetitive. With a Baahubali-esque ending setting up the story for a sequel, here’s hoping there are better things ahead."

The film grossed ₹132 crore worldwide on its opening day, becoming Jr. NTR's second-biggest opener after RRR. The film grossed ₹200 crore worldwide in two day of its release. and also crossed the ₹100 crore (US$12 million) mark in India. In its opening weekend, the film collected ₹250 crore globally. Pinkvilla reported the worldwide gross of ₹303.5 crore in the first seven days, while The Indian Express reported the collection was ₹370 crore.

In 14 days, the film grossed ₹408 crore worldwide, with ₹208 crore from its home territory of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The film earned Distributor share of ₹233.97 crore, earning a profit of ₹49.97 crore in two weeks.

• Devara: Part 1 at IMDb
• Devara: Part 1 at Bollywood Hungama