One of the landmark films in modern Indian cinema , Dev D. (finally) goes out of the box to capture a cinema lover’s attention.Dev D is Anurag Kashyap’s modern interpretation of Sarat Chandra’s 1917 classic ‘Devdas’.One thing is for sure that in this creation the film maker does not try and reach out to the viewer for an emotional connect with its character rather detaches them and portrays shades and conflicts and hubris that could be best understood by a thinking audience. Anurag’s version of devdas is perhaps the most honest version made and he surely does deserve a thumbs up for this piece of art.
The character of Dev is played by Abhay deol who does fairly well in portraying the character of the modern Indian devdas who is a rich spoilt brat whose love for his childhood friend Paro is thwarted not by patriarchal pressures rather due to some misunderstandings. Paro’s character has been marvelously portrayed by Mahi Gill. However Mahi astonishes the viewer with a superb performance portraying different shades in her character- the anger, the sexuality, the ego. Finally, Dev finds solace in drugs, booze, paharganj lanes and chanda, a prostitute who is a DU student by the day. French born Kalki Koechlin give another stunning performance as chanda whose past was doomed by an MMS scandal.The character of Chunnilal alias chunni is played by Dibyendu Bhattacharya whose character is that of a pimp.
With amazing cinematography Rajiv Ravi captures the viewers mind as well as he captures paharganj’s frosty blue neon lit lanes with the Twilight players dancing away to Dev’d doomsday. The marvelous efforts put into the music for the film by Amit Trivedi is also worth a mention. His other work, Aamir was a stunner and the emotional attyachar has just begun as the film industry finds one of the most talented music directors.
It will be unfair to compare anurag kashyap’s creation to any previously picturised version of the novel. This film operates in a psychedelic space He dares and achieves in portraying human sexuality, inner conflict, hubris and creates a space in the Indian cinema which at instances forces its viewers to use which they are not used to using in ‘bollywood’ movies- their brain. Perhaps this is the reason why the film invokes mixed reactions, some touting the movie as a marvelous creation while some say that “drugs and sex is still not accepted in Indian cinema”.Well those who say that take a dig!
Not recommended for Yash Raj , SRK lovers.Kindly go with an open mind and try using some brain.
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