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Thursday, April 24, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD DEV D
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating ***1/2
Whatever you do, do not fall in love.
Love will consume you, embitter you, devastate you. Love will lead you to
destruction.
The past three generations have seen Devdas, adapted from Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyay`s novel, in some form or the other, the most recent being Sanjay
Leela Bhansali`s successful attempt in 2002. We already know the story inside
out - or do we?
Meet Anurag Kashyap`s Dev (Abhay Doel)- he`s brash, arrogant, ill-mannnered,
demanding, lusty, impulsive and yes, self destructive.
Meet Dev`s Paro (Mahi Gill) - she`s beautiful, doesn`t mind sending snaps in the
buff to her lover and breaks into a jig at her own wedding.
Meet fate`s abandoned Chanda (Kalki Koechlin) or Lenny as we are intially
introduced to her as. She loves her parents, goes to school, and well...on the
way meets her boyfriend who ends up doing a lewd MMS on her. Life is cruel and
Lenny becomes Chanda or Chandramukhi as we know her. Please note - the girl
still continues her education.
It`s not only that Kashyap has successfully stirred clear of drawing caricatures
of the characters we already know, he`s reinvented the wheel in other ways too.
Sample this - it`s not caste or class differences that separates the two young
lovers, it`s libido and a momentary lapse of reason.
Dev never was in control and Paro`s marriage gives him the trigger to go full
throttle towards destruction. He comes to Delhi and walks into Paharganj.
With the name of Paro on his lips, Dev crashes to sleep on Chanda`s bed as she
smokes a cigarette and watches him curiously. Love or `emosanal atyachar`?
While Punjab was the setting for the first half of the film, it`s the bylanes
and the bars of Paharganj where the action takes place in the second half. The
editing is dizzy and effective, the music good in parts, the performances by all
three lead actors are spot on - extra marks to Kalki.
As you watch the film and see Dev steadily guzzle vodka and obsess about his
lost love you wonder when he will hit rock bottom.
But love is also known to set you free, uplift you, rescue you.
So, go fall in love.
Actress Kalki Koechlin says she is least bothered about whether she "fits in" Bollywood as she is highly passionate about the creative process of a film. Read More
I live in a noisy neighbourhood: Kalki KoechlinActress Kalki Koechlin has turned lyricist with a new video, titled "Noise", in which she recites a poem written by her to "highlight the value of silence" in our lives. She says she lives in a noisy neighbourhood and sometimes feels like going to the mountains.Read More
Dev D is a modern take on Devdas the novel written by Sarat Chandra. Though
Devdas has been adapted on screen many times and by some illustrious filmmakers
like P.C.Barua and Bimal Roy Dev.D will still appear as fresh and riveting a
tale of love lost and self-destruction.
Classically Devdas has been hailed as the ultimate lover who drowns himself when
he looses his love and goes into the path of self-destruction. Dev.D on the
other hand unabashedly proclaims Dev as the hypocrite who drowns in self pity
and as a man who could not stand up for himself.
Dev.D breaks all the typecasts of the original novel including it‘s principal
characters. Dev.D in essence is the tale of a man who goes into self destruction
but the circumstances and the characters he meets are the people we meet and
know and are of this generation.
Unlike prior endeavours by filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Dev D is set
in modern world where plastic money like ATM debit and Credit cards play more
important role than hard cash, there is advance mode of communication like
mobile, internet chatting instead of traditional means like telegrams.
Globalization has expanded the horizon of technological availability.
Dev.D will be shot in the winters of Punjab and Delhi. The backdrop to this saga
oscillates between the rustic and colorful Punjab to the Foggy and Dingy lanes
of Pahadganj, connaought place and Old Delhi.
Dev.D has been scripted by Anurag Kashyap the writer of contemporary classics of
cinema like Satya, Kaun, Shool,Yuva,Water. He has also directed the critically
acclaimed Black Friday and the soon to release No-Smoking with John Abraham.
Anurag Kashyap also has Paanch his hard-hitting directorial debut and Gulal
ready for release.
Dev.D is being produced by UTV and Line produced by Flying Unicorn
Entertainments.
Abhay Deol and other cast members of 'Dev D' at Al's Tattoo Parlour 