Devaraaya is going to be about the life and times of the Vijayanagara emperor Sri Krishna Devaraya, who lived in the 15th Century. Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeepa will be playing the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. People Media Factory, whose The Raja Saab was an epic failure earlier this year, is producing this multi-lingual release that will most likely land a decent release in Telugu.
To be released in December 2027, Devaraaya is not a safe project. Playing royalty on the big screen is no mean feat. Expectations from Sudeepa will be sky-high. He is stepping into the shoes of a legend like Dr. Rajkumar. So, the Kannada audience are going to compare his performance with that of Rajkumar. Krishna Devaraya "reshaped" history. Unless the narrative feels contemporary on a level, Devaraaya won't resonate with today's generation.
Knowing our society's tradition of filmmaking, it is hard to hope that Devaraaya will be anything other than a hagiographic account. At this point, all we can really hope for is that Sudeepa's performance is terrific and that the film's craft and period detailing are genuinely authentic.
The Kannada film industry has been grappling with getting its ambition right, as the failure of Yash's Toxic shows. Will Devaraaya make the cut?
