“Oh My God!” can be the first three words for many avid Bollywood fans, who are not much into intellectual stuff in movies and take pride in enjoying brainless movies like Singh is Kinng, Golmaal Returns, Welcome etc. There are lots of reasons why Dev.D would take you by surprise but we will talk about them later.
After the not so successful No Smoking, Anurag Kashyap returns with his new offering, Dev.D, starring Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin in the lead. It’s true that No Smoking was not a commercial success but it was a classic film in its own right. We should always remember that “Every good film is not a hit and every hit film is not good.” But, Anurag Kashyap is one man who has the balls to try something new while other directors are simply going for soft porn to make money by using eye candies like Katrina Kaif.
Synopsis
So, did Anurag Kashyap deliver a classic again? Well, to be honest, he almost did. Let’s get straight to the point and say that Dev.D is a very good film but could have been much more. The story of Dev.D is somewhat based on Devdas, Devandar Singh Dhillon (Abhay Deol), a rich spoilt brat, comes from London to meet the love of his life, Paro (Mahi Gill), but due to some misunderstanding, their relationship fall apart and it leads to downfall of Dev. On the other hand, there is Chanda, a sweet innocent girl who found herself in an mms scandal and her life becomes a total chaos just because of one small “mistake”.
Dev.D depicts the relationship of Dev with these 2 women and how they affect his life.
Strong points of Dev.D
One of the strongest points of Dev.D is its treatment and the way with which the relationships were portrayed. For example; when Dev returns from London and meet Paro, they don’t sing songs and run around trees dancing, instead they are all over each other, sexually, that is, which is far more mature and more realistic.
Another strong point of the movie would be its language; no filmi dialogues, just straight to the point talk like we do in everyday with friends, it doesn’t matter how cheap they sound, they are realistic. For example; a guy says to Dev “I’m very surprised ki aapne abhi tak Paro ki lee nahi”, which translates in English as “I’m very surprised to know that you haven’t fucked Paro till now.” Boys would pretty much understand most of the things.
Add to all that, the abuses, smoking, drinking, drugs, and other “non-social activities” which you won’t find in a typical Bollywood film, you’ll find it here, no wonder it got an “A” certificate from the censor board. And thank God they didn’t censor out anything.
Superb Performances
Abhay Deol shines again, after giving a powerful performance in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! He is, undoubtedly, one of the most under-rated actors of our generation with Jimmy Shergill. He comes out to be totally natural as a drug addict, drunker, a smoker, and a heartbroken lover. Expressions come out naturally, and his performance can really teach some actors a lesson or two in acting.
Now let’s talk about the new girl, Mahi Gill. Honestly, it was a really tough and daring role for a debutant, with all the abuses, and ahem… sexual scenes. One note to readers, those scenes are a work of art and never appear to be as a cheap B-grade flick. Credit should go to both Anurag and Mahi for making it believable. Maahie has a lot of potential as an actress and is certainly better than many actresses in Bollywood, Katrina Kaif anyone?
A character which was not explored fully
For me, character of Chanda was the most interesting one, but sadly, due to poor acting of Kalki Koechlin, it was not exploited to its full potential. She was not able to make the character convincing, partly due to poor dialogue delivery and poor dubbing. To Anurag, you should have gone for a better actress, seriously.
I would have loved to see more of Chanda, like the psychological impact of the whole incident on her which includes the suicide of her dad after the scandal. As it was clearly inspired from the famous DPS scandal, it was a perfect opportunity to tell the world about the feelings of the girl, and all the hardship she had to go through because of one mms. But sadly, a perfect opportunity was lost.
Music
Music of Dev.D is pure genius. Amit Trivedi is the future of Bollywood’s music industry. His tunes are not your usual disco numbers or club bangers. Emosanal Attyachar is one of the best tracks of all time, without a doubt. It’s already a big hit in the whole country, and all the credit goes to Amit for the unique tune and to Amitabh Bhatt, for his witty lyrics. A classic in every field, kudos to both of you.
My other favorites are Nayan Tarse, Paayaliya, and Emotional Attyachar (Rock Version).
Why film didn’t work
One of the main reasons why film fail to capture your attention for the whole time is its slow speed and unwanted scenes which serve no purpose in the development of the story, especially the last 20 minutes. Dev could have realized his faults in a better and fast way than all that travelling to various places. Dubbing, as I pointed out, in Chanda’s case was bad.
Verdict
Dev.D, in a nutshell, is a very honest effort from the director, Anurag Kashyap. From acting to dialogues to music, everything is perfect. The realistic situations especially that of the villages, and their authentic Punjabi accent, adds for more value to the film. Cinematography is top notch, and so is the directing. But the movie lacks in the editing and screenplay department, which could have made the film a lot shorter and to the point.
One more point I would like to mention here is that Anurag tried to over-do dramatic and imaginary stuff, especially in the last 20 minutes. I hope you’ll read this so I want you to tell you that I’ve a lot of respect for your work. You’re one of the finest directors of our generation and people like you are a ray of hope for our industry, but sometimes you should control your style and stick to the point instead of creating various situations and scenes to prove one point. I know it’s your choice but as they say “too much of anything is bad.” I’m really looking forward to your next project, Gulaal. Trailer was really promising and I hope both Dev.D and Gulaal become successful at the box office. Best of Luck.
6 things you can learn from Dev.D
1. A very little communication gap is enough to kill a relationship
2. Never let your ego come in between your relationship.
3. Don’t drink, smoke and never do drugs.
4. Learn to move on and never let go the new girl because of a previous girl who is someone with else now.
5. Learn to manage your money.
6. And the most important, never call your dad with his name, say “Papa” or “Dad”.
Rating – 
Cast – Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin
Music Director – Amit Trivedi
Movie Director – Anurag Kashyap
Post your comments, reviews and suggestions in the comment box below and I’ll reply to them and vote in the poll.
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When you’re a director of a masterpiece of Indian Cinema then the expectations automatically become high from your next outing, and living up to those expectations is not an easy task but director Dibakar Banerjee, the man behind Khosla Ka Ghosla, makes it a cakewalk with his new movie Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
