Posted:
Face-off
Litterateurs and film personalities argue over the film adaptations of Saratchandra's classic, Devdas
Making clear her displeasure against Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D was noted writer Mamta Kalia, director of Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad. She said, "Thank God Saratchandra is not alive otherwise he would've cried after seeing what has been done to his novel." Kalia also didn't spare Bhansali's Devdas. She especially disapproved of Shah Rukh Khan's death scene in Devdas where flies are shown swarming all around the actor. Incidentally, she felt that filmmaker Bimal Roy had depicted the death scene superbly in the Dilip Kumar starrer Devdas. Kalia went on to say that Bimal Roy and Dilip Kumar would surely have been saddened after watching the death scene in Bhansali's Devdas. Writer and historian Priyamvad was angry with Kashyap and Bhansali for changing the period of Saratchandra's book. He said, "No filmmaker or film writer has the right to change the period or location of a story from what is in the (original) novel. I don't allow anyone to do it and it should not be allowed. Anurag certainly did not have the right to change the period of the story." While authors were against the latest versions of Devdas, filmmakers were all praise for Anurag Kashyap. Mahesh Elkunchwar, who has written films like Holi and Party, was in favour of Anurag. He said, "Anurag has very nicely portrayed the decadence of the character Devdas in Dev.D but in Bhansali's Devdas it is director's decadence that comes across." Seconding Elkuchnwar's opinion was director Mani Kaul who said, "Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D is an honest film. Anurag has very nicely shown the decadence of the character Devdas and I agree with what was just said about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas.'' It maybe noted here that Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anurag Kashyap have been at loggerheads after the latter criticised Bhansali's film, Black. But when Kashyap decided to make his version of Devdas, he asked Sanjay Leela Bhansali's assistant Vikram Motwani to write Dev.D. Kashyap had earlier said in an interview: "I am happy with what Bhansali did to Chandramukhi's character in his Devdas. He fleshed her out and she comes across as a much stronger character than what she was in the novel. That's why I asked Bhansali's assistant Vikram Motwani to write Dev.D. Vikram loves Devdas. I connected newspaper stories to the character of Devdas to explore the motivations of today's youth." As for the argument between authors and filmmakers, while the former do not like the film adaptations of Devdas, Kashyap too had clearly said that he never liked Saratchandra's Devdas. And the argument continues… |
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