Abstract. Strikingly odd. Eccentric. From the first shot till the last, Devendra Singh Dhillion, aka Dev D thrills you. He rules the screen. He smokes his first cigarette (of the 10 million) while in school, shows no remorse when getting a beating from his father. He is a rich spoilt brat, who loves to love himself than he loves Paro. However, from the time he was in London, he has one wish that makes him crazy; to make love with Paro, even more so after watching her topless ! In order to fulfil his fantasy, he comes to his hometown Punjab and that’s how the story unfolds. It’s a path breaking bollywood movie, with breathtaking unconventional music, amidst a clutter of bollywood movies which are stuck in stereo type love stories with a predictable ending.
It’s but natural to compare Dev D with the previous versions, wherein Paro & Dev were eternal lovers & were almost inseparable. But our new Dev begs to differ. The whisky makes way for Vodka, the white Kurta makes way for print Tees, jeans & a jacket. On come branded glares and a trendy bag and our hero is ready to drink, snort coke & hump. He starts his day by picking up a cigarette instead of a toothbrush. He drinks, smokes, drinks, smokes, drinks & snorts and snorts in between. From one bar to another, from one drinking adda to another, from one patiyala peg to another & then one bottle to another. Like an Olympic champion, he gulps it all with ease, his body almost immune to all kinds of poison. In tune with the MMS Generation, he wants to hook up (desperately) with Paro. He lusts for Paro; though he thinks its love, it isn’t so.
Dev D the character depicts some of the dark desires of human life; to go all out in committing the sins of life; to drink like a fish, to smoke like a chimney, to fuck like Ghengis Khan!
His attitude aptly sums up todays self sympathising generation, who are more often than not self respecting, self caring, selfish, self loving, careless & egoistic. So what does the Dev D generation do when he hears that his Paro has slept with someone else? He finds a Rasika to go to bed with, just to show that if you can, I can too.
Abhay Deol (who has conceptualised the story too) doesn’t just act, he machofully portrays his version of the Gen-Y Devdas. For him, words are just an additional medium to express emotions. And when he doesn’t speak for long periods, we want him to speak out, open up his feelings; which keep us gripped.
He is well supported by the talented Kalki Koechlin, who speaks Hindi as if it’s her mother tongue. She portrays MMS victim Chandra, her struggle to get over that life ruining incident which lands her into a brothel.
A Special pat on the back for Mr. Anurag Kashyap. His creation is like a painting, like modern art, (yes the same shit on canvass which sells for millions). So even though you cannot understand what a shot/scene means, it still fascinates you. He has inculcated so many colours in his art, more so the colours of life. I loved the way he has portrayed the dark side of human life; depression, betrayal, anger, frustration, loneliness. Though Dev D is grey; he is more dark than bright. He drinks because he doesn’t know what else he can do.
Some scenes in the movie really are special, like Dev gulping down the whole bottle of Vodka in one shot at Paro’s wedding, Chandra watching the Bhansali version of Devdas and deciding to keep her Madhuri’s name, the three dancers of the song ‘Pardesi’, Dev sitting in the bar & imagining how Paro would look when he is humping her.
I love movies which are unpredictable, which require you to use your brain, which you can connect to, which emote the harsh reality of this cruel (aka Zaalim) world. Just like the MMS which ruins Kalki’s life, just like a freak car accident which our affluent Dev D gets away with.
The movie ended, but it managed to stayed on my mind, for a long time. It inspired me to write this. That’s the power of movies. They can affect our lives in more ways than one. They can change the way we look it life. They can inspire you. They make you realise how difficult life can be for some. They can make you realise how differently each person looks at life.
Felt proud that we have filmmakers in India who can make such wonderful movies. Just that we need more people who can believe in them.
It’s but natural to compare Dev D with the previous versions, wherein Paro & Dev were eternal lovers & were almost inseparable. But our new Dev begs to differ. The whisky makes way for Vodka, the white Kurta makes way for print Tees, jeans & a jacket. On come branded glares and a trendy bag and our hero is ready to drink, snort coke & hump. He starts his day by picking up a cigarette instead of a toothbrush. He drinks, smokes, drinks, smokes, drinks & snorts and snorts in between. From one bar to another, from one drinking adda to another, from one patiyala peg to another & then one bottle to another. Like an Olympic champion, he gulps it all with ease, his body almost immune to all kinds of poison. In tune with the MMS Generation, he wants to hook up (desperately) with Paro. He lusts for Paro; though he thinks its love, it isn’t so.
Dev D the character depicts some of the dark desires of human life; to go all out in committing the sins of life; to drink like a fish, to smoke like a chimney, to fuck like Ghengis Khan!
His attitude aptly sums up todays self sympathising generation, who are more often than not self respecting, self caring, selfish, self loving, careless & egoistic. So what does the Dev D generation do when he hears that his Paro has slept with someone else? He finds a Rasika to go to bed with, just to show that if you can, I can too.
Abhay Deol (who has conceptualised the story too) doesn’t just act, he machofully portrays his version of the Gen-Y Devdas. For him, words are just an additional medium to express emotions. And when he doesn’t speak for long periods, we want him to speak out, open up his feelings; which keep us gripped.
He is well supported by the talented Kalki Koechlin, who speaks Hindi as if it’s her mother tongue. She portrays MMS victim Chandra, her struggle to get over that life ruining incident which lands her into a brothel.
A Special pat on the back for Mr. Anurag Kashyap. His creation is like a painting, like modern art, (yes the same shit on canvass which sells for millions). So even though you cannot understand what a shot/scene means, it still fascinates you. He has inculcated so many colours in his art, more so the colours of life. I loved the way he has portrayed the dark side of human life; depression, betrayal, anger, frustration, loneliness. Though Dev D is grey; he is more dark than bright. He drinks because he doesn’t know what else he can do.
Some scenes in the movie really are special, like Dev gulping down the whole bottle of Vodka in one shot at Paro’s wedding, Chandra watching the Bhansali version of Devdas and deciding to keep her Madhuri’s name, the three dancers of the song ‘Pardesi’, Dev sitting in the bar & imagining how Paro would look when he is humping her.
I love movies which are unpredictable, which require you to use your brain, which you can connect to, which emote the harsh reality of this cruel (aka Zaalim) world. Just like the MMS which ruins Kalki’s life, just like a freak car accident which our affluent Dev D gets away with.
The movie ended, but it managed to stayed on my mind, for a long time. It inspired me to write this. That’s the power of movies. They can affect our lives in more ways than one. They can change the way we look it life. They can inspire you. They make you realise how difficult life can be for some. They can make you realise how differently each person looks at life.
Felt proud that we have filmmakers in India who can make such wonderful movies. Just that we need more people who can believe in them.
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