Dev review :
'AMITABH BACHCHAN IS DEV' screamed the posters of Govind Nihalani's first film with Bachchan. They were to do Ardh Satya (1983) earlier but things didn't work out then.
Amitabh played a honest and sincere joint police commissioner (JCP) for whom law and justice is above everything else...politics and religion included!! Om Puri was his friend cum senior colleague who doesn't subscribe to this secular ideology and is particularly biased against Muslims. Fardeen Khan was cast as the educated Muslim who is misguided to become a terrorist but soon realises he is being merely used as a political pawn...Nihalani utilised his innocent face perfectly here.
Dev brings back the nostalgia of Amitabh's Zanjeer (1973) and Om Puri's Ardh Satya (1983) where both the actors played the central character of an angry young cop. It is as if the film is a continuation of these two cops after they aged...
Govind Nihalani's execution was hard hitting as ever and Dev lay bare the dirty politics behind the Hindu Muslim divide. The riot scenes were effectively choreographed and the performances were expectedly first rate. Fardeen-Kareena shared a crackling chemistry and their passionate smooches were much talked about in those days. I always loved this jodi and they invariably created a certain sparkle together in all their films including the twisty zany Fida (2004) and the over the top hammy (!!) Khushi (2003).
Surprisingly, Dev didn't achieve the success it deserved and was declared a box office flop. The audience found it overlong and those serious conversations between Amitabh and Puri over a couple of drinks made the aam aadmi bored. A pity indeed as those scenes capture the essence of communal disharmony and offers its solutions so very effectively. Unfortunately, the audience wasn't interested!!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.
'AMITABH BACHCHAN IS DEV' screamed the posters of Govind Nihalani's first film with Bachchan. They were to do Ardh Satya (1983) earlier but things didn't work out then.
Amitabh played a honest and sincere joint police commissioner (JCP) for whom law and justice is above everything else...politics and religion included!! Om Puri was his friend cum senior colleague who doesn't subscribe to this secular ideology and is particularly biased against Muslims. Fardeen Khan was cast as the educated Muslim who is misguided to become a terrorist but soon realises he is being merely used as a political pawn...Nihalani utilised his innocent face perfectly here.
Dev brings back the nostalgia of Amitabh's Zanjeer (1973) and Om Puri's Ardh Satya (1983) where both the actors played the central character of an angry young cop. It is as if the film is a continuation of these two cops after they aged...
Govind Nihalani's execution was hard hitting as ever and Dev lay bare the dirty politics behind the Hindu Muslim divide. The riot scenes were effectively choreographed and the performances were expectedly first rate. Fardeen-Kareena shared a crackling chemistry and their passionate smooches were much talked about in those days. I always loved this jodi and they invariably created a certain sparkle together in all their films including the twisty zany Fida (2004) and the over the top hammy (!!) Khushi (2003).
Surprisingly, Dev didn't achieve the success it deserved and was declared a box office flop. The audience found it overlong and those serious conversations between Amitabh and Puri over a couple of drinks made the aam aadmi bored. A pity indeed as those scenes capture the essence of communal disharmony and offers its solutions so very effectively. Unfortunately, the audience wasn't interested!!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.