Dev D

Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Being screened at theatres

near you

Kathmandu:

Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D is Devdas in the 21st century. The treatment of the movie has been done in such a way that though

it totally portrays lifestyle based on today’s context, it connects

to the Devdas that was written decades ago.

Dev (Abhay Deol) and Paro (Mahi Gill) are childhood sweethearts. One day Dev is sent to London but both of them are in touch through chats and calls. Finally, Dev returns and the lovey-dovey couple are happy together. But a misunderstanding happens and Dev blames the innocent Paro. At the same time there is a marriage proposal for Paro and she decides to marry this older guy. Then Dev goes into depression and drugs as he still loves Paro. Enter Leni (Kalki Koechlin) who due to an MMS scandal and its repercussions decides to leave her family and earn a living working as an escort. She changes her name to Chandramukhi, famous as Chanda. And on one of the days when Dev is wandering from one place to another, he lands up at Chanda’s place and another story begins.

Abhay Deol as Dev is brilliant. He has carried off his cool and stylish look well. It’s not just alcohol — he’s more into drugs, taking almost anything that’s available. Unlike the demure Paro of the past, this time around Paro is quite bold, sending nude pictures to Dev and even telling her friend that she needs his room to be with Dev. Newcomer Mahi Gill is okay. Leni is a very realistic character in the movie showcasing the life of a young schoolgirl and the situations she goes through. Kalki playing the young girl and later the escort is quite good. The music by Amit Trivedi is really good, be it the soft numbers or the stirring re-mixed versions, it blends in well with the scenes and its Emotional Atyachaar that stays with you.

As the story is based on Devdas, one can predict what is going to happen next, but the treatment it has been given is very fresh and new. The cinematography by Rajeev Rai is good — the way some scenes have a very Hindi filmi touch to it, while some don’t make you feel like it’s a Hindi movie, or even actually that you are watching a movie. The way it moves from one scene to another especially in the second half has been conceptualised in an interesting manner.

But it’s the ending that completely wastes the movie. In the last Devdas movie, it’s the ending that most people remember, and since the entire story is based on the movie one expects a similar dramatical ending, unfortunately this one doesn’t have one. It’s a very abrupt ending, one just cannot make sense of or accept as a justifiable ending for Devdas.