Devmanus (Man Of God) is a Marathi remake of Vadh, a small and sincere Hindi film from 2022 by first-time directors Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal. Vadh’s producer Luv Films must have found value in its message – an ordinary man fights back after being trampled on – and the movie’s debate about the rightness of his actions.
Tejas Deoskar’s version is more or less faithful to the original, except for the element of the deus ex machina suggested by the title. Retired school teacher Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his wife Laxmi (Renuka Shahane) fund their son’s foreign education by mortgaging their home and land to the loan shark Dilip (Siddharth Bodke). Dilip is a truly evil man, who uses Keshav’s house for his romps.
The ungrateful son, for whom the couple endures humiliation, refuses to help repay the debt. Keshav ends up killing Dilip. Laxmi, who is initially repelled by Keshav's reckless act, later stands up to the investigation by the corrupt yet tenacious cop Ravi (Subodh Bhave).
Devmanus is not as simple and taut as Vadh. In the process of localising the story, Deoskar has added a lavani dance (by Sai Tamhankar), a Dashavatar performance that allows the juxtaposition of mythology with Keshav’s reality, and a pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Laxmi is an expert weaver of Paithani saris, which gives her an additional dimension though not one that is necessarily useful to the plot.
In both movies, the implausible bit is the calculating way in which the otherwise mild-mannered teacher behaves after the murder, the way he becomes fearless or taps into sudden reserves of quick cunning.
The appeal of the story, which is reminiscent of Mahesh Bhatt’s Saaransh and Manjrekar’s own Viruddh, lies in the way power is wrenched by a decent man who has had enough of being bullied – by his son, by Dilip and by the even nastier politician Jedhe (Abhijit Khandekar).
The loud Dilip, with his gold jewellery and malicious laugh, is the kind of villain Manjrekar has played in the past. In Devmanus, Manjrekar has to make an effort to look meek, which Sanjay Mishra in the original role managed without strain.
Renuka Shahane as the wife who judges but also loves her husband brings a likeable strength to Laxmi. The two are well matched, and Devmanus is richer for their maturity.
