Dev-D Review

Abhay Deol's latest release, 'Dev D' is a contemporary remake of the Indian classic novel Devdas. ‘Come, Fall in Lust’, says the punchline of this film that only borrows the basic plot from the classic novel but co temporizes it to a present-day setting where teenage girls are kicked out of their homes because of MMS sex scandals and jilted lovers find solace in drugs. The first germ of the idea for this film came from Abhay Deol who inspired Anurag Kashyap , the irrevocable maverick, to adapt Devdas to a modern milieu. The director, in his turn, incorporated the headline making news of Gen X into the plot to make the film more accessible to today’s youth. Kashyap also changed Devdas from a self-destructive to a self-discovering hero. Even as the scripting was going on, Anurag had finalized Abhay and Mahi Gill to play the roles of Devdas and his childhood crush, Paro. But he couldn’t find an actress willing to play Chandramukhi because Kashyap gave a sexual makeover to the character. When regular Bollywood heroines showed no interest, Kashyap auditioned a number of new girls before Kalki Koechlin was finalized. Interestingly, most of the girls who came for audition tried to act overtly sexual, but that only put Kashyap off. “All I wanted was to see a girl who was discovering her sexuality in a very simple way,” Kashyap is quoted as saying. Kashyap found that in Kalki, with whom he eventually fell in love while shooting the film. Hoping to reach as many viewers as possible this time around (he still hasn’t forgotten the fate of No Smoking ) Kashyap made the movie a musical with as many as 15 songs. And to further sex up the curiosity, the makers have been doing a unique publicity stunt in which free condoms are being given to people invited to the film’s premiere.

If I give the review of ‘Dev-D’ is then Above Avrage !! In a rather pleasant turn of events, ‘DEV D’ has been carrying good buzz around it. Not that it would take an earth-shattering opening but for Abhay Deol, the film should take the best opening of his career. The music by Amit Trivedi has caught on (Emotional Atyachaar is known by one and all) while the talkie promos have been interesting as well. Moreover, one can't ignore the fact that Abhay's last release ‘OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE’ took a decent start even as Mumbai was fighting a battle with terrorists (the film had released over the same weekend when terrorists were holding Taj (Mumbai) at ransom. The actor has managed to finally create a niche for himself and audiences have woken up to the fact that he can certainly deliver in each outing of his. The movie certainly looks different but a highly commercial fare, what with sex and music making exciting headlines during the last few weeks. Anurag Kashyap too promises that after the fate of NO SMOKING, he has become more conscious about audience taste and hence has made DEV D much more 'audience friendly'. Well, if that's true then "DEV D" could well be the dark horse at the box office this weekend.

Star Cast:
Abhay Deol - "Dev "
Kalki Koechlin - "Chanda "
Mahi Gill - "Paro "
Parakh Madan
Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Director:" Anurag Kashyap "
Producer: "Ronnie Screwvala"
Written by:" Anurag Kashyap , Vikramaditya Motwane"