That is Dev D for you. The question on everyone's mind prior to Dev D's release was, Is it going to be another "No Smoking"? Will Anurag Kashyap alienate the audiences yet again? Is it going to be self indulgent? Well, lets get the obvious stuff out of the way. This is not a typical commercial film that is tailor made for Indian audiences as the director and rest have touted it to be. Yes, it is more mainstream, yes it has more linear or conventional narrative as suppose to his previous effort, yes it is based on the novel "Devdas",cheap work of literature (almost pulp fiction) by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee which has been a source of inspiration for 9 previous efforts. But here is the kicker, this is not a remake of Devdas, but an interpretation of the original work in the context of Gen x.
Rooted in the real and the contemporary, Kashyap's film stars Abhay Deol as Dev, an aimless drifter who returns home to Punjab after a graduation abroad, but has little in terms of future plans, except for getting into the sack with his childhood friend Paro, with whom he's spent many a long night talking dirty on the phone. On learning that she might have had a promiscuous past, Dev rejects Paro and her advances, driving her to marry a man she doesn't love, and landing himself in a downward spiral of booze and drugs and whores.
Kashyap takes the basic structure of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's original story, but in setting it in the now, updates much of the film's narrative, and makes the characters' actions and motivations more understandable. So you get a back-story to the Chanda character, the hooker Dev hooks up with in his desperate, despondent phase; and sex itself becomes the invisible but omnipresent motivation that drives many an important plot-point.
Where most of the other versions of Devdas have failed, Dev D succeeds. The movie is not driven by caricatures or some puritanical, monogamous idea of love. It is a movie about lust, sex, loyalty and love in all its imperfections and complexities. This makes what is redundant story more relevant and poignant for the current audiences. The cinematography and the editing is top notch (however it could have been shorter by at least 20 minutes). The use of colors is some of the best I have seen in Hindi cinema since Bhansali's Saawariya. However, one major player is the narrative is the brilliant music by Trivedi. In many senses, Dev D is a musical in the way it uses songs and music to drive the narrative.
From the performances, it is Abhay Deol who comes out with flying colors with one the best performances in recent times. Abhay has carved a niche for himself with his choices of films but the jury was out on him in terms of his acting abilities. Well, he has laid a lot of them to rest with his arrogant, existential, flawed portrayal of Dev. His performance is more driven by his body language than spoken, subtle yet poignant. Mahie Gill is excellent in her debut effort bringing the external brazenness and internal vulnerability to Paro. Take that scene in which Paro(played by newcomer Mahie Gill) sends for Dev to join her in a dense field so they can get down to doing what they've been unsuccessfully trying to do for some days. Watch the manner in which she virtually attacks a reluctant Dev into submission; and then the following scene in which she heads back home, mattress folded and tied on her cycle,after Dev spurns her overtures. Kalki, in my opinion, was the weak link of the film and her back story was an hindrance to the narrative.
And finally Anurag Kashyap. What started out as a cult following for him as an accomplished non-mainstream filmmaker is slowly growing in stature, popularity and recognition. One of the finest filmmakers and a compulsive "contrarian" by nature, he is slowly starting to find some common ground. This movie is driven by his take on the subject and also his need to break all supposed norms associated with it. I hope he is less angry from hereon.
Rooted in the real and the contemporary, Kashyap's film stars Abhay Deol as Dev, an aimless drifter who returns home to Punjab after a graduation abroad, but has little in terms of future plans, except for getting into the sack with his childhood friend Paro, with whom he's spent many a long night talking dirty on the phone. On learning that she might have had a promiscuous past, Dev rejects Paro and her advances, driving her to marry a man she doesn't love, and landing himself in a downward spiral of booze and drugs and whores.
Kashyap takes the basic structure of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's original story, but in setting it in the now, updates much of the film's narrative, and makes the characters' actions and motivations more understandable. So you get a back-story to the Chanda character, the hooker Dev hooks up with in his desperate, despondent phase; and sex itself becomes the invisible but omnipresent motivation that drives many an important plot-point.
Where most of the other versions of Devdas have failed, Dev D succeeds. The movie is not driven by caricatures or some puritanical, monogamous idea of love. It is a movie about lust, sex, loyalty and love in all its imperfections and complexities. This makes what is redundant story more relevant and poignant for the current audiences. The cinematography and the editing is top notch (however it could have been shorter by at least 20 minutes). The use of colors is some of the best I have seen in Hindi cinema since Bhansali's Saawariya. However, one major player is the narrative is the brilliant music by Trivedi. In many senses, Dev D is a musical in the way it uses songs and music to drive the narrative.
From the performances, it is Abhay Deol who comes out with flying colors with one the best performances in recent times. Abhay has carved a niche for himself with his choices of films but the jury was out on him in terms of his acting abilities. Well, he has laid a lot of them to rest with his arrogant, existential, flawed portrayal of Dev. His performance is more driven by his body language than spoken, subtle yet poignant. Mahie Gill is excellent in her debut effort bringing the external brazenness and internal vulnerability to Paro. Take that scene in which Paro(played by newcomer Mahie Gill) sends for Dev to join her in a dense field so they can get down to doing what they've been unsuccessfully trying to do for some days. Watch the manner in which she virtually attacks a reluctant Dev into submission; and then the following scene in which she heads back home, mattress folded and tied on her cycle,after Dev spurns her overtures. Kalki, in my opinion, was the weak link of the film and her back story was an hindrance to the narrative.
And finally Anurag Kashyap. What started out as a cult following for him as an accomplished non-mainstream filmmaker is slowly growing in stature, popularity and recognition. One of the finest filmmakers and a compulsive "contrarian" by nature, he is slowly starting to find some common ground. This movie is driven by his take on the subject and also his need to break all supposed norms associated with it. I hope he is less angry from hereon.