Film Review: Dev D (2009)
Anurag Kashyap’s modern remake of Bimal Roy’s Indian classic Devdas
Feb 26, 2009
The Dev.D story is true to Bimal Roy’s original Devdas (1955) and even Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s remake (2002), but director Anurag Kashyap’s execution is refreshingly unconventional and daring. Apart from transporting the action and characters from Bengal to Punjab, he weaves in real-life events like an MMS-scandal and a tragic car accident that shook New Delhi a few years back.
Earlier Devdas versions are honored slyly: Dev passing a poster of Shah Rukh Khan in the title role in 2002 or Lenny, one of the main characters, being mesmerized by Chandramukhi’s dance in the 1955 version and renaming herself after her.
The Main Characters in Dev. D
Devendra Singh Dillon, known as Dev (Abhay Deol), and Parminder a.k.a Paro (Mahi Gill) grow up together in Chandigarh, Punjab and become friends despite class differences: Dev is the spoiled son of a rich factory owner and Paro a servant in his house. After finishing school, Dev is sent to London to study. Apart from trendy t-shirts, he also brings back an attitude that makes him loose Paro.
Like the hit song, Dev then becomes emotional and tries to forget his break-up with Paro by drowning himself in self pity, alcohol and other kinds of vices. Enter Lenny a.k.a. Chanda (Kalki Koechlin), multilingual and lovable teenage prostitute who unmasks his pain as fake and tells him to get over it and move on. A performance also worth mentioning is Dibyendu Bhattacharya as over-the-top pimp Chunni.
Dev D’s plot
Though Dev D’s plot has the simplicity of a Bollywood and even Hollywood blockbuster – boy meets girl, they fall in love, then their love is lost – it is far from being one. Dev D’s tragic hero is a spoiled young man whose trials and temptations the audience has to witness, despite a strong urge to shake him throughout.
Dev D has not one plot, but three, told as three different stories:
- Paro and Dev growing up together, falling in love and breaking up;
- Lenny’s life falling apart and her becoming the prostitute Chanda;
- how Chanda and Dev meet and fall in love.
Cinematographic Surprises and Highlights of Dev.D
Remaking a classic is never easy and Kashyap’s new take and courage certainly make Dev.D work, especially for reinventing the classic Hindi movie heroine. A few innovative moments are especially worth mentioning:
- Paro and the mattress on the bike: portraying an Indian woman, maybe for the first time in Indian cinema, as a strong and sexual being;
- Paro at the water pump – never before has a Hindi film heroine been shown in this fashion;
- an angry Paro beating up her brother-in-law and chasing him through mustard fields;
- Dev’s world spinning, usually after alcohol excesses: shot believably in short takes;
- the Twilight Players: three performers who provide a wonderful take on the observed becoming observers;
- Chanda lecturing Dev on how to call someone in her profession: commercial sex worker, because prostitute is so passé.
Dev D’s Appeal for Western and Indian Audiences
Dev D is – unlike recent Hollywood/Bollywood cooperations – a movie that will work for Indian and western audiences. For Indian viewers, it is refreshingly non-commercial and forward, a remake of the old Dev Das plus sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll – unthinkable for any Bollywood blockbuster.
Western audiences will appreciate Dev D’s fast pace that lets the two-and-a-half hours of playing time go by quite fast. It also retains enough of Indian traditions and life in India to be attractive from an “exotic” point of view. In fact, the first part of Paro and Dev’s growing up together and the various wedding settings do remind one strongly of movies like Monsoon Wedding.
All in all, Dev.D manages to incorporate humor, reality, wisdom and a killer soundtrack and is a must-see for fans of contemporary Indian cinema that goes beyond Bollywood.
More on the film’s official dev d website, including songs. Information about top Indian wedding songs, the Bollywood phenomenon Shahrukh Khan and a review of Chetan Bhagat’s 3 Mistakes of My Life might also be of interest.
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