Dev D : Reader Reactions
iView Author: Kishalay Saha (Kolkata, India)
Email: kishalaysaha [at] gmail.com
Dev.D a Complete Evaluation
Before starting let me say few things
Similarity between Slumdog Millionaire and Dev.D both have Danny Boyle’s name in its opening/closing credits but differences many… one to mention the former got 10 oscar nomination but the later deserves at least one (compared to the former of course!)
What I am going to write is not a mere film review which are available in various websites it’s an honest take on the movie why does it make us think…where it excels, loopholes and where it could have been much better.
And this evaluation is for everybody those who liked the movie and also for those who goes to cinema hall to see khans dancing and romancing and rated this movie as a feast of sex and drug……my message for those people is if you don’t understand what cinema is then waste your money on this
First Who is Devdas?……in one phrase “man who lost his first and childhood love and then tried to find love in another had a drinking habit more than normal people, frustrated with life, thinks himself as a loser and dies while his search for love remains incomplete” after Saratchandra penned down this classic character so many great actors tried to bring it live..they succeeded of course but the question that remained unanswered is why Devdas is so famous and what was in Saratchandra’s mind when he portrayed Devdas(thanks there was nobody to question him in 1917) is it sheer sympathy that brings tears in our eyes when we see a alcoholic man, completely lost searching for his love in the streets may be yes….Tragedy also sells like poverty on screen…. unlike other love stories Devdas movies end with a death instead of a high budget marriage song(Some people only go to theater to see multiple stars dancing in those marriage songs) but the saddest part is nobody tried to change Devdas ….in india or in this whole universe 2-3 heartbreak occurs in every second(night calls are free these days so maximum heartbreak occurs in the night!) and if we assume half of them tasted alcohol once then they will go to the nearby bar to reduce his pain…..what happens next….his friends will call him up and will say “you have become a successful Devdas” and will make fun of him and also about the character ……and next.. may be he will be more into drinking even if he forgets everything after few months he have already neglected his studies or his job and his personal life thinking himself as a loser …..this is where the new Dev.D excels and it ends with few dramatic sequences which made us think of the next…n number of possibilities that can happen to Dev…….this is where it succeeds ………as there is a common saying about short stories that a good short story should always end with one or many questions. This Dev learned to move on and realizes that saying I love you is too easy but it’s never easy to prove it!
Now lets come to the main movie…..frankly speaking if we cut few moments ,few dialogues, few songs from the movie then so many people would also rate the movie as bad or average saying that this Dev is complete maniac and find the only difference with the previous one saying that this Devdas prefers Vodka(Smirnoff only)over Rum(SRK had rum I think)
The first thing that strikes is the obsession with sex that today’s youth(the age group is 12 to 40 nowadays!) has …..this is very much shockingly true in today’s India with Internet being the main source.In our childhood it was really forbidden to discuss about the three letter or the four letter F word but the scenario has changed and it is seriously having a detrimental effect over the budding and talented minds of our country…….Dev here doesn’t hesitate to ask for a nude photo of her girlfriend….and he succeeds and his immediate reaction “Paro main aa raha hoon” tells everything…..then it happened exactly what should happen after two grown up bodies meet after a long time …….they wanted to be together to quench their thrust and after few unsuccessful attempts Parminder took the initiative…….with mattress in hand he reaches in the dense field ,the set was ready Dev also ,but then he took it all wrong and denies paro and the conflict started…..Paro didn’t do anything wrong after all it was Dev first who wanted to ‘SEE’ her…….and then comes the first beautiful cinematic moment furious and frustrated paro starts pumping the tube well as if she is completing the unfinished romping session that she wanted to do with his lover…….Mahi gill delivers it effortlessly …….the frustration we all can relate…..the metaphor is superb!
Then Comes Dev’s ego and it happened too quickly….Sarika and Sunil(the guy claimed he have done it with paro)…they play the role of third and fourth person and came into Dev-Paro discussion..But every relation see the first light of break up with the arrival or news of third person..Something unconventional could have been done here to start the Dev-Paro conflict…(assuming its not Devdas or modern remake of it) and here Dev also questions about Paro’s beauty?…wasn’t it a true love? Was Dev only sexually attracted to her?…is only the nude picture brought him back?…… So many question arises here but as we move on we see that Paro is getting married and before we got any time to think answers of the above questions (Dev was hurt and seen finishing a complete bottle of Vodka….I expected some inventive ways to depict the pain…..one thing to mention here….There was no scene involving rain…..Rain is so much related to pain….No one can see you cry while its raining …..it could have been used in later parts of the movie also….it really makes an strong effect on viewer’s mind) Comes the deadly Emossional Atyachar track…..which is an exotic experience for the viewers….so many words have been written about the song ….yes the guys danced very well atleast better than our super heroes!
Now comes Chanda……or Lenny…..The track Yeh meri zindegi played a very important role here…..How to make a character live and create a deep impression in viewer’s mind in 20 odd minutes….a true and great example for all moviemakers. Right from the naughty expression of her eyes while going to school ,the mms scandal, telling her father a hypocrite, her father’s suicide, her becoming a professional Sex Worker( Under Graduated!….So real as it happens nowadays as we see or know that maximum girls in this profession are college girls) everything makes us spellbound and astounded.(one thing to mention here though Lenny was seen as a sex worker to fit in Chandramukhi’s shoes but we should protest and keep in mind that in reality it should never happen..People can do mistakes but that doesn’t mean she will sell herself to the world!)
The guy who played Chunni or the famous Chunilal have portrayed his character amazingly…..he is not like the old Chunilal….he knows his duty and performs it as and when required.
Dev meets Chanda and Chanda seems to understand his pain and also seems to be fallen in love with Dev or just started liking Dev….at least he was different from her other customers…….though many people thought that Chanda’s dialogue delivery is one of the weakest links of the movie but to me it just suited with the type of character she was playing(Don’t expect every Chandramukhi a Madhri Dikhshit!) his scattered and uneasy hindi made her more real and one cannot be a perfect (or act perfect rather) if she goes through the mental trauma that Lenny has gone through so it just worked fine!
Now we are being transformed into a dark world which comprised of mainly Chanda’s room ,the underground fictitious bar and Dev’s room in the hotel …..Goddess Kali with money in one hand in the graphiti in the wall of Dev’s room was really a treat to watch…….
As we go more in the second half we are gifted and surprised too with use of different type of color to set the mood of the scene…Chanda’s room was made forcefully colorful as she always try to bring happiness in her life too…Dev’s room was so dark and filthy as he became too..every second was a great cinematic experience in some parts it seemed that influence from Hollywood is there but we are very proud to see various kind of executions…..Paro’s Come back is a very important link in the movie….and Mahi Gill performed it with ease…….she shows that she still cares for him and makes the point clear that Dev is basically a big loser….Abhay deol seems bit feeble in some moments here and his continuous saying that he loves her or “main tumhe pyar kartya hoon” was a little mismatch with the mood created…He tried to make lovw with Paro but how can Paro forgive him? and finally when he heard the deadly words from the person who he loves most he lost control over his emotions and goes back to the world of darkness again…….truth is always bitter and it was impossible for egoist like Dev to digest that he comes back to Chanda to tried find solace,comfort at least by then he started to believe that he loved Chanda may be! …… he drowned his face in the water…….it was symbolic he knew he is guilty as if he tried to remove all his vice with the Brownian motion of the water he tried to get rid of all those perfectly executed!
Chanda’s story told again with payalia playing in the background was another work of art … Dev hugging Chanda and repeating Chanda’s words “ab kuch nehi hoga beta mai hoon na”(cant remember the exact one which she wanted to here from her dad) was so pure and touching by saying this Dev also had a kind of thinking that he can also love someone he is not that failure…….the ray of light coming into the room was so perfectly pictured and portrayed hope…..
Suddenly he discovers another man in Chanda’s life too…..we don’t who he is and where from he comes but it took all the happiness that left in Dev’s life and that completely ruined his life followed by the car accident…….innocent people were killed and finally his ever charming father also passed away……..the worst array of incidents that can happen to someone…….he goes to his village cries for a moment may be unsure of what to do while coming back he again starts drinking and this time probably with Dev we all start counting days for Dev…..he gets beaten up by a man and spends night with a street dog……..but he didn’t bite him……nothing was there with Dev…..Paro, Chanda, his father and above all any damn reason to live in this world but here we see something different……..
Someone throwed a coin thinking himself as a beggar but he cant believe that and then suddenly a car with lost control more like the drunk Dev came and hit hard in the wall ..Dev was escaped by an inch and so was the Car’s driver………”abhi bhi tere pas time hai”……….Dev uttered the immortal words that every man who think themselves as loser or failure wants to say…….there is always time to come back and live life……….We ourselves are the only responsible person for our failure…………….and then Dev finds Chanda again and then……………..we don’t know what happened then but Anurag gave us immense opportunity to think what can happen next…………..and this is where the success of the movie lies…….
One or two songs could have been less few parts could have been mastered in other alternative ways with less use of vodka of course……..one striking difference with all other Devdas here Paro and Chanda didn’t meet except their eyes meet once in the train but despite meeting they were both right in analyzing Dev and Dev the confused tragic hero got a new life……..may be we can expect a Dev.D 2!!
I am not an professional reviewer but I find an exceptional link (which is really astonishing) with all filmmaker when I see a good movie which makes a mark in my mind…I clap like a child when I see something extraordinary and start thinking alternatives when I don’t like any scene of how it could have been made better……One day I dream also to be successful film maker and I have a long list of movies of all languages all over the world which influenced me or inspired me……Dev.D just got added in my list that all I can say!
Dev-astating Dude
iView Author: Avinash Singh (India)
Email: avinash.s21 [at] gmail.com
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Kalki Kochlien, Dibendu
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Music : Amit Trivedi
Rating: 4.5/5
I must admit that I should have taken the advice of my friend who told me “Do Peg maar ke jaa, phir movie mein aur mazaa aayegaa”.
In the beginning let me clarify that DEV D is not related to any of the Old Devdas versions, there is no Superstar playing the protagonist, No big sets, No luscious havelis with chandeliers, No family drama, No mujras, No big families, No Bengali SONDESH & mishtis, No melodrama and above all not much rona dhona. Instead what the movie offers is a superb actor underplaying the emotions, Real location of Punjab & bylanes of Delhi, a very contemporary movie with lots of current issues thrown in for good measures and most importantly an ordinary DEV D in an extraordinary film.
I am not sure how many times am I going to use the word brilliant for this movie because there is no other word which comes to my mind after watching this movie.
Now just before I proceed any further, let me warn you that this movie is not recommended for the masala-film audience. This movie is class apart from any other movie of its times in terms of treatment and making. DEV D defies all the rules (for good) and leaves you with a question in your mind. Now, I am not going to reveal that question!!
As we all know the story of DEVDAS written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengali and its termed by people as a classic. DEVDAS was a looser who has earned lot of sympathy by its viewers and readers and is celebrated as one of the icons of Romance who gave up his life for his childhood love Paro and had a brief encounter with a courtesan Chandramukhi who supports him and he even leaves her and then dies in the end at the footstep of Paro’s haveli.
Anurag Kashyap has written a story, conceptualised by Abhay Deol and gives us a refreshing look at things and though the story is almost the same but is thankfully not loud and takes a look into each of its characters so intensely and connects all of them at various junctures in the narration and makes it an exciting watch. The movie has its narrative woven cleverly aided with 18 songs in its narrative and yet you do not regret the songs, infact I call this sheer brilliance of the director who gave us Black Friday without songs making use of 18 songs in 1 story and in the process not even hurting the proceedings. But here I would also like to appreciate Amit Trivedi the music director of the movie for making the songs and the background score apt for this movie. Post – Aamir this is Amit Trivedi’s second work and lets put our hands together and cheer for this young talent discovered by Anurag Kashyap whose music fits in the movie as hand to glove. I have only seen this talent in one music director before Amit and that was Vishal Bharadwaj. Mark my words people, Amit Trivedi has the potential of a Director and I won’t be surprised if he directs a movie very soon.
Let me not discuss any further, as this movie has a very tight screenplay and hence even disclosing a single scene of the movie might be a spoiler.
Coming straight to the performances, Mahie Gill as Paro has done an excellent job for a first timer. She is a delight to watch, I am sure the Punjabi girl comes naturally to her and this makes her job more easy. Kalki as Chanda or Lennie according to me is the highlight of this movie, I am really not sure what the critics did not like about her. She according to me is the one who may win all the accolades. Kalki has done a fantastic job and this could also be because she has an author backed role. But whatever, I found her brilliant. Dibendu as Chunni is first rate, I simply wish that he had some more screen time. The actress playing Rasika did create the oomph in her miniscule role. The rest of the cast have done their job well. Must mention Anurag you have got your casting decisions right for this one.
Camerawork from Rajeev Ravi deserves brownie points, it ably supports the directors vision. Editing is crisp. Special effects need a mention here as well. Anurag at the helm of things this is always expected that the movie can never go wrong in terms of technique. He always brings in something new. I personally enjoyed the Art Direction, Sound Editing and the dialogues of the movie. Many may not second my thought hence I have mentioned this as personally.
Now to share the top Honours:
I am really not able to make up my mind for this one. The film completly belongs to the 3 A’s or should I call you 3 Aces. Abhay, Anurag and Amit.
Abhay Deol, take a bow you have arrived and I must use this word as I am sure that this could well be your first commercial hit. Unbelievably Abhay carries off this role with so ease that he even betters his predecessors who have played the same character. His version of DEVDAS is much cooler. He rocks the movie and rocks big time. Abhay Deol seems to be getting his due now.
What can possibly describe the music of this movie… all adjectives may well fall short to describe what the music does to the movie. Emoshnal Attyachar- both versions, Paayalia, Saali Khushi, Nayan Tarse, Aankh Mincholi, Duniya and Pardesi…. not even a single song feels out of place. This definetly is to credit as well but the music gels so well with the mood of film that the effect just leaves you numb.
Now this brings us to the Director Anurag Kashyap. I always feel that he is a very angry person and his anger shows in all of his movies. Anurag said in an interview that he has mellowed down and is not angry anymore but still I felt that he is angry and the angst is visible in many of the scenes. His direction could be very well called as Masterstroke by a genius. I cannot reveal the scenes but all I can say is that at many places you just feel stunned when you get to relate one scene to another. Simply a Genius!! I just want to tell you Anurag, you are the best our Indian Cinema has and you are a shining star. If we felt that Anurag only knew Mumbai well, watch DEV D and you would realise that this man has really studied Geography well and even got distinction in it.
So the final words,
Yes, go for this movie with 2 pegs down and you will enjoy it more, and guys please do not miss the trailer of ‘GULAL’ the chances are you would mark your calendar to have a date with Anurag’s next on 13th March 2009.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Just read Taran Adarsh’s review giving the movie one star.
TaRan AdarSH – May be that is the reason his name adds up to TRASH
Son of a bitch, will suck up all mullah films as masterpieces.
Just check out Taran Adarsh’s frustration while the film is a BO success:
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/business_talk/index.html
Just read Rajeev Masand in IBN18 site.
Gave just 2 stars for this movie.This leaves me perplexed as the reviews here have been overwhelmingly positive and I must say that Rajeev Masand’s reviews are quite honest.
the way he denied paro(the doubt–the complete eipisode) was a typical masala movie style.. how many of you agree with me..?
The maker of the movie is a sick person…who the hell has given him right to portray the Famous Character in such derogatory manners.
People like me who has grown up reading all the famous stories (like Ramer Sumati, Mahesh and many more) of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhaya, identifying with famous character s like “Indranath”, “Srikanta” etc, I think the movie is a slap on Author and as a fan of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhaya, I strongly protest.
I can’t imagine the ideas like Paro is doing Masturbating or sending Nude Pic to Devdas or Their relationship breaks because of suspicion over sex. Such bullshit.
May be there is no copyright or anything, but as a human being you should have some respect to the author who had created such a master piece and bloody Anurag Kashyap has no right to degrade or do “Atyachar” whatever he wants. If you can’t create anything, you don’t have any right to destroy.
And no wonder, the Movie has failed so miserably. I am happy for this.
I think, Masand loves his heroes to be goody-two-shoes sorta personalities.
He and few others(not TaRan AdarSH!) can’t swallow that persons who are fixed to be evil are elevated to hero status or at least when limelight is shone upon them.
This is evident in his review of Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye! too.
TaRan AdarSH!! I hate making personal attacks but I absolutely love this improvement to his name!
Soumik,
Sir, What’s your address?
Are you living in Trishanku’s heaven?
@ Soumik… suck it up princess!
Most art and literature is open to interpretation.
There is no set way to admire the Mona Lisa even. When I look at the painting, I think its a transgender pervert pouting for a quickie. So?
Kishalay Saha dada,
Baap re… kya english likha hai… i started getting confused after a point. and you have mentioned abt tht “kali with money in hands” just too casually for me to doubt whether u just lifted the concept from another post on PFC a few days back. coz, tht author had tried to explain the concept, unlike you, who has just given a fleeting reference to it…
@Soumik,
Grow up!
@Soumik
U r right, the maker is a sick person. Society is “Sick”. Life is sick. alot of things around us r sick. cinema is a medium to express imagination or reality, the interpretation has to limitations. Dev D is loosely based on Devdas., its not an adaptation. Sarat C wrote the book in 1917….times have changed. Anurag Kashyap did not set out to make a “period” film. and besides, ur interpretation might be just as wrong as AKs allegedly is. Did you speak to Sarat C to know what he was thinking when he wrote the novella?
Did you really think that Chandramukhi was a virgin dancing in a ‘Kota’? Grow up man, sex, addiction, desire, greed are realities of life.
@Soumik dude,
There is something called adaptation. You pick out an object put it an alien environment and portray how things would have been. Thats DevD for you. Don’t think of DevD as a movie based on the novel instead think of it as as Devdas in 21st century. The movie failed? LOL thats new info. I went for the movie last Sunday, in Bangalore, and I had to buy tickets in black – now that says something doesn’t it! =D
What do I think about the movie? Loved it especially the scenes in which he takes drugs (the pimp takes him to a pub) shot really well. Story, controversial (above comment) but well thought of. Music blended with the story line, lyrics well thought of.
Expecting more great movies from Anurag Kashyap
This one of the best hindi movie I’ve seen of late!!Movie deserves all the accolades it getting. Kashyap has tried something different and many have appreciated his effort, if not all.
@Soumik : where did u come up with “And no wonder, the Movie has failed so miserably”??
Check out the IMDB rating for this movie (its 9.2!!) and also the popularity meter.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1327035/
Btw I’m sure you know IMDB is the MOST popular and TRUSTED movie rating site ever.
And finally if you cannot accept the portrayal of sexually liberated women then I’d suggest you to come out of your cocoon and see the world outside. I’m not sure what makes you think women shouldn’t masturbate!!! Weird!!:o
@Vikas – “Btw I’m sure you know IMDB is the MOST popular and TRUSTED movie rating site ever.”
That statement is hilarious. There goes your credibility. It negates everything else you said.
Does any one know if Dev.D is being played in any of the theaters in New jersey?? Please let me know.
I am ardent fan of DEVDAS by ANR made in Telugu and I grew watching it number of times in about 15 years now…but when it comes to Dev D I guess the fuss started cos’ of the name of the film/characters being similar to the devdas…if we watch this is an independent of the old Devdas there isn’t a complaint…but when a normal viewer comes to this movie searching for the soul of the earlier versions, yes, this may not cater their expectations…again complaint is not towards the adult content or anything mentioned above…I am sure that we have had films that are made with such adult content and would have few more following…but people would have felt discomfortable comparing with the earlier one…
But to compare none of the remade films from Don to Sholay hadnt had got the success as thier earlier ones probably because they carry more emotions of that generation. and this may be challenging for any movie maker while balancing the same with commercial elements prevailing now.
Not sure how this works but everyone should welcome the guts of movie maker while remaking any of those kind.
@Lee: No clue why you find it so hilarious.
what have you been smoking ?? :-D
Mr. Soumik
Is dev das a real person that he will be offended how is he portrayed? He is just a figment of Sarat C imagination. don’t get too emotional. Chill
wats d name of d actress playin rasika
the girl playing rasika is parakh madan, found on the rajshri website