All Movie Reviews: Dev D - Page 3

REVIEW: Abhay Deol's Dev.D

Watch this film for the three actors and their performances

By Abhishek Mande . Buzz18 Feb 06, 2009

Director Anurag Kashyap's last outing was called No Smoking, a film that was butchered by the critics and the audiences alike. It was written off as being nothing more than an ego trip.

In his latest film Dev.D, Anurag seems to have gone almost to the other extreme playing at times far too much to the gallery.

This isn't so much of a complaint as much as just a passive observation because there is little you can tell a guy whose last film fared so poorly at the box office.

So Anurag's Dev.D is a take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel Devdas. It is set in modern-day Chandigarh/Delhi and for large part follows the traditional plot.

The story

Dev Singh Dhillon (Abhay Deol) is the son of a millionaire who has been packed off to London for being a nuisance in his father's life. While there, he is in touch with his childhood sweetheart Paro, daughter of his father's manager.

How deep the relationship may have been is never exactly known. However it is made evident that Dev is someone who goes for the skin. So when he receives a nude picture of Paro, he drops everything and returns to Chandigarh.

Paro (Mahi Gill) is a fiery and intelligent girl – she has topped all the examinations we are told. So she doesn't mind going up to a local bloke and asking him the keys to his room 'because my Dev is in town'.

On not getting the room, she carries a huge mattress to the middle of a sugarcane field and pinning her man onto it.

It's probably this sexual liberation that takes Dev by some amount of surprise and fuelled by small talk of her escapades in bed by a jealous suitor he lets go of her.

Dev is no saint either. He's cheated on her already but is quite an egotist to accept his mistake.

Fuelled by Dev's ego and a series of miscommunications, he and Paro grow apart till finally she accepts a marriage proposal from a much older man with two kids.

While she seems to have come to terms with her new life, Dev refuses to let go and hits the bottle and takes to every single form of drug overdose.

It is during one of these nocturnal escapades that he meets Chunni (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) a local pimp who introduces him to Chanda (Kalki Koechlin)

Just out of her teens, Chanda has been a victim of an MMS scandal after which her family disowns her. Not left with much choice, the girl decides to sell her body to make a living.

During the day though, Chanda is a regular college student who – interestingly quite like Paro – is a topper in college.

But even as she successfully flits between her two disparate lives, she craves for a man who could tell her that whatever had happened in her life was okay and it was fine to move on.

Whether Dev manages to become the man of her dreams and actually manages to sustain his somewhat confused feelings for Chanda forms the climax of this film.

Characterisation

Perhaps the strongest point of Dev.D is its characterisation. The film is as much a story of Chanda and Paro as it is of Dev Singh Dhillon.

All the characters are almost equally strong. In fact chances are you might feel more for the women in the story than the self-consummated Dev.

The tragic flaw of this protagonist is his ego and an inability to communicate his thoughts and feelings. What makes him extraordinary is the way he burns the candle from both ends and merrily basks in its glow.

Paro on the other hand is so headstrong she refuses to cower down. She hits back at Dev and burns all the clothes of the spurned lover who ruins her relationship. She also boldly and blatantly tells her father to sod off when she is told of a marriage proposal. In a way she is as strong as Dev, though not a foil.

It is Chanda who proves to be just that – because she is not just strong and fiery but rather because she can relate to the lonely Dev. Probably because of their shared sorrow, the two get together.

Screenplay undoes performances

Filmed adaptations usually depend hugely on the performances. Because for most part you know the story already, so the focus invariably shifts to the actors and the treatment.

Performances of the three actors – Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin who play the protagonists hold the film together.

Watching the close shots of Abhay Deol is indeed a treat. His defined jawline only adds to his ever expressive face. With his body language Abhay conveys so much of Dev's inner struggle, you begin to understand just why Chanda falls in love with him.

And of course there is the cheeky side to Dev too, which Abhay portrays with his trademark straight face. Watch out for specifically for the bus ticket scene and the other ones with Paro's father.

Actually, it's amazing how each of them manage to evoke myriad emotions so effortlessly. So even as you find yourself wanting to slap Dev, your heart goes out to Chanda and you secretly applaud Paro. (We're waiting to see more of Mahi Gill)

But the screenplay flags and the second half proves to be the undoing of the movie. Here the edge-of-the-seat pace of the film slows down so drastically it becomes difficult to sustain one's interest.
And why for instance there are so many references to Bhansali's Devdas is a mystery. Subtlety is not something masses are known to appreciate, so why try when you claim this film to be for them.

Then there are the songs. Very brilliantly engineered and filmed, most of them are entertaining and edgy videos by themselves. But put them in a narrative and quite a few of them – and god help me for saying this – including Emosanal atyachaar- tend to slacken the pace of the film.

In the second half especially they tend to slacken the pace of the movie.

Camerawork, though good, tends to get repetitive. But the final straw on the camel's back comes as the film turns didactic when a single moment proves to be a turning point in Dev's life.

The life-altering experience is restricted to just one shot and you never really feel the impact as Dev must have felt it. And this is probably the tragedy of Dev.D.

Verdict: Dev.D is all about performances. Go watch it.
Rating: 3.5/5

http://buzz18.in.com/reviews/movies/review-abhay-deols-devd/114342/0

Cast: Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahie Gill, Dibyendu Mukherjee
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Rating: ***1/2

Erase every expectation that you may have from this film. Also erase every bad memory you may have from No Smoking and any of this director's previous movies. Now go and watch Dev D and be blown away by a sample of what Anurag Kashyap as a director is capable of. At least the first half of movie will leave you spellbound.

Let's correct something right away. Dev D is not Devdas. Agreed that it is built on the same premise, but it's not Devdas. Anurag Kashyap takes the concept of one of the most desired lovers and turns him into a guy with sex on his mind more than anything else. Someone who asks his Paro to email him a naked photograph of hers! And Paro does it!

Dev D is not as much about Dev. It is also about Chanda and Paro. All the three characters have been provided solid backup. Chanda is not just a pretty thing who entertains. She has her own story. Anurag Kashyap takes instances from real life like a Delhi school MMS scandal to create a Chanda out of a girl who is the daughter of a reputed government official. The trauma that a family may go through is shown superbly. In the meantime, Paro is ready to give everything to Dev, but our hero is misled by some local Romeo to believe she is a @#$%&. He rejects her only to figure out he was the loser. A sloshed Dev reaches Chunni who gets him to Chanda. And there unveils a beautiful chemistry.

The screenplay of Dev D is a winner. The dialogues are extremely adult. This is definitely not a film for kids. In fact, it won't be digestible even to too many adults. Just because of the dialogues which are scandalous. But then you would not expect anything better from similar characters in similar situations in real life. While the first half of Dev D leaves you wanting for more. The second half does fall slower and short of expectations. It does let you down towards the end, but it's surely different.

Technically, this film looks extremely chic. It has been edited really well, right from transitions to keeping it short. Camerawork is top class. Music, for a change, is a highlight in this Anurag Kashyap film.

While dialogues are outrageous, the actors have done a fantastic job. Abhay Deol continues with his form. Both the debutants, Kalki and Mahie, put in great performances. While Kalki is fresh, Mahie provides glimpses of Tabu. Dibyendu Mukherjee, as Chunni, is good too.

Overall, you got to watch Dev D. But there is a condition. This supremely is adult content. And it's too modern for anyone who adheres to regular Bollywood movies. That restricts the audience outright and it might find it hard to get going at the box office. For the rest, give in to the seduction. Slutty stuff!

http://www.aol.in/bollywood/story/dev-d-review/2009020607129019000001

First things first. I hate 'rating' films. And though I don't know if this really matters, but I do feel terribly obliged to explain exactly how I have arrived at my rating for this film- for it was certainly something that posed a great dilemma to me. It feels cruel to reduce this bravura attempt by Anurag Kashyap to calculating a silly score, but ultimately, I decided I had to go with simple good ol' arithmetic- simply put, four stars for the first chapter of the film and minus one for the rest.

Needless to say, Dev D-rails terribly in the second half, and excuse me for wanting to get it out of my system before I talk about what I loved. So here goes:

CHAPTER 1: Why, Anurag, Why

Emotional Atyachaar. Nothing but the cracker of a song (composed by the awesome Amit Trivedi who creates an exceptional soundscape for the film) can describe the pain you feel as you see a potential cult film wreck itself right before your eyes. In a surreal turn of events, you see film become the man, as Dev D turns self-destructive, directionless and seemingly senseless. You look for a spark somewhere, a small shard that you can hold close and perhaps connect to, but it all gets lost in a purple-blue haze of smoke.

Speaking of which, even No Smoking, for all its indulgence and magnificently bizarre twists and turns, never completely lost the plot this way. It held together, because there was some innate method to the madness, which is hard to find here. What could have been a poetically tragic, bittersweet tale of two wounded, lost souls finding momentary happiness together becomes an exercise in futility and for the viewer, often sheer frustration. Kalki Koechlin, who plays Chanda, has an endearing fragility and waif-like presence, but she falls woefully short, and her labored accent and patchy characterization (even after Kashyap painstakingly sets up a sad and unnecessarily long back-story for her) makes it impossible to relate to her.

There's some of Kashyap's trademark witty dialogue here too, and a few scenes that sparkle in between- my personal favorite (and especially topical in a way, with the recent incidents of moral policing) is one where an old lady launches into a lecture for the protagonist whose side-splitting reaction nearly made me fall off my chair. But with the absence of any propulsive narrative force, Dev D almost begins to torture, and the repetitive onslaught of montages (all of which are brilliantly shot by Rajeev Ravi) takes this part beyond redemption. In the end, it's another of Trivedi's mind-blowing tracks that perhaps echoed my sentiments:

Nayan Tarse,
Nayan Tarse,
Daras Na Mile,
Nayan Tarse...

CHAPTER 2: Wow, Anurag Wow!

The sarson ke khet are in place, and her dupatta does flutter, but trust me, this Paro is hardly one to melt like ghee and butter. The sacred Yash Raj idiom is turned on its head, with Kashyap's heady and cleverly concocted cocktail. The esoteric filmmaker springs a surprise and even a few pleasant shocks onto us, and discovering each moment of this wonderfully quirky take on the classic novel is a delight.

Frankness and candor like this has perhaps never been seen in mainstream Hindi cinema. Even as the director cheekily and sincerely references the novel and its adaptation by Sanjay Bhansali, he contemporarises it like perhaps only he could have- and turns romantic icons into flesh and blood people. Set against an impeccably detailed and colorful Punjab, Dev and Paro's love story comes alive like never before, because Kashyap has the balls to acknowledge them as sexual creatures without making a fuss over it.

A landmark film in the way it portrays youth and young love, and superbly etched with irony and humor, Dev D marries Kashyap's typical stylistic flourish with multi-layered substance, and this is truly a match made in heaven.

Deol is perfectly cast here, and the actor (who conceptualized the film) drips coolth and 'typical Indian' male chauvinism in equal measure. The attitude and arrogance of the spoilt Punjabi lad is brought out with astounding realism, and once again the courageous young actor packs a solid punch.

But the real knockout here, without doubt- is Mahi Gill, whose fiery, spunky presence commands your attention in each frame she is in; her raw earthy charm wins you over and the sheer poignancy that she brings to Parminder is truly heartbreaking. Gill, who has earlier acted in Punjabi films, is a far cry from our delicate, virginal heroines, and I am compelled to say that I haven't fallen in love with an actress this way since Vidya Balan made her debut. Whatever she stars in next, my tickets are already booked. Needless to say, Mainu Mahi Naal Ho Gaya Pyaar.

Rating: 3 Stars

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/6046/bollywood.hindi/dev-d/review.htm

Dev D Movie Review

February 6, 2009 5:56:58 PM IST
By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network Send to Friend

The severe spanking Anurag Kashyap received from critics and audience alike for NO SMOKING, propelled the director to delve deep into his creative reserves to come up with a rabbit out of his hat. He gives us Dev D, a movie, whose main protagonist, is loosely inspired by the novel Devdas written by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. Herein ends the 'inspiration'. This DEVDAS hits the bottle, snorts coke, visits brothels and then finds the rainbow. In short, he is virtually the prodigal son, who returns to find his bearings.

Take a bow, Kashyap, for this wonderfully directed movie scripted with finesse. Every character stands out; every scene is a dream. Kashyap takes ordinary moments and peppers it with rappers to skillfully drive home the point with lyrics to match the mood. You know this movie is a winner when the scene opens to a young Dev and Paro and his parents. You see the immediate bonding between Dev and Paro, and between Dev his dad. On the surface, his dad appears to be his greatest enemy. But scratch it, and you see a wonderful bonding between the two, especially in the latter half when he indulges his son with whatever he asks for.

Dev (Abhay Deol) is packed off to UK for studies and he never loses touch with his Paro (Mahi Gill). On chat, they do what normal teenagers do. Once he asks her to email him her photographs. She replies that she already has. ''Not those,'' Dev types on his keyboard. ''One without clothes.'' Paro obliges. Back from the UK after years, Paro, who is now even more in love with Dev than she ever was, cannot take her eyes off him. They try to meet in odd places with her Dad always showing up at the wrong time. Being a good looker, and always chirpy, there's loose talk about Paro; of her being the conquest of someone else. Dev believes what he hears and snubs her. In fact, he insults her telling her she can't even dream of coming into his family.

Paro moves on and marries. Dev is shattered. He does not know what has hit him. He hits the bottle. However much he may try, Paro is always on his mind. Here, Kashyap makes a smart detour in introducing the other character that will take the film to another level. Chanda (Kalki Koechlin) is introduced with a back-story about how she lands in a brothel where Dev is a frequent visitor. There is a poignant moment, which Kashyap catches to show the bonding between Leni (who later becomes Chanda) and her father. She is woken up from bed by her mother and she goes to her father in his room where he is still asleep to snuggle up to him. Cut to the scene when she calls him a 'Sicko' because of her MMS scandal. He cannot take it. He shoots himself.

Then begins Dev and Chanda's romance. Both are hurting, both need healing. Both turn out to be the other's emotional anchor. And after constantly telling Chanda he loves only Paro, he finally falls in loves with Chanda. ''I never looked at Paro in the right way,'' he tells Chanda. A bitter truth if you put all the earlier scenes between Paro and Dev into perspective.

The films constantly connects you with Dev's hopelessness, Paro's perplexity and Chanda's circumstances.

Abhay Deol is turning out to be a class act. One can sense him submitting himself completely to the director. Not one wrong step. Deol is completely in sync with the character and his surroundings. Not once does he try and go over the top. He downplays some moments with subtle body language and pain in his eyes.

Mahi Gill is a revelation. As the bubbly Paro who will do anything for her Dev, she is simply irresistible. Smart, sexy and wanting to make the first move on Dev, she is first rate. Kalki, as the young schoolgirl who wants to have her share of fun fits the bill. As someone who is shunned by her family and friends, she finds her feet back in a brothel, where love finally comes knocking on her door in the form of a stoned Dev.

The music and background score are just perfect. DEV D is awesome. It's big bang for your bucks.

Rating - 4/5

Dev.D Movie Preview
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Dev.D is the modern day adaption of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's classic Devdas. The film stars Abhay Deol as Dev, Kalki Koechlin as Chanda, and Mahi Gill as Paro. The film is directed by Anurag Kashyap.

"Classically Sarat Chandra's Devdas has been hailed as the ultimate lover who drowns himself when he loses his love and goes onto the path of self-destruction. Kashyap's 'Dev.D', on the other hand, unabashedly proclaims Dev as the hypocrite who drowns in self pity and as a man who could not stand up for himself."

Taking the basic plot from Sarat Chandra's 'Devdas', Kashyap gives the story a new spin.Dev, Paro and Chanda of 'Dev D' reflect the sensibilities, conflicts, aggression, independence, free thought, exuberance and recklessness of the youth of today. A generation that is jammed between Eastern roots and Western fads.

Dev. D releases today. Go check it out!

Dev D launches the 'Lustline

Strange way to promote a flick, producers of Dev D starring Abhay Deol have launched something called 'Lustline' where the caller gets to hear the lead heroine Chanda getting horny and naughty after they declare that they are 18+.

The caller has the option to listen to the husky voice of actress Kalki Koechlin in various languages on the number 022-61424800.

A source says, "We want to give audience a hint of what to expect in the film. Of course, the film is based on a piece of literature but with current milieu in which Dev D is set, Chanda is shown to be a girl belonging to upper class who operates in the dingy lanes of Paharganj in Delhi. An exotic femme fatale who seduces men, she is required to get into lusty chats, something that has been projected on the 'Lustline'."

"The makers want the audience to be prepared about what to expect from the film. Of course Dev D is a musical with as many as 18 songs and while this very fact also forms an integral part of the film's narrative and hence the marketing, the sexuality angle that Chanda brings in can't be ignored either. She is young, naughty and sexy and this is what callers would get to know when they dial the number."

Currently the service is also available on the flicks official website. Not only this, the movie bosses are also planning to launch Dev D condoms.

Yeh to heights hai!!!

Movie Review: Dev D

Shubra Gupta - Posted: Feb 06, 2009 at 1001 hrs IST
New Delhi Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin, Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Back when love was a compendium of silences and sighs, Devdas was an icon. These days, when it's more a matter of working off those pesky hormones as quickly as possible, the legendary lover is regarded as a champion loser.

In 'Dev D', Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Deol dust him off and resurrect him, making of him just another guy who goes at romance with all the arrogance and prickliness and insecurities of a young man. Recognise yourself in him? Dev's (Abhay) childhood sweetheart Paro (Mahi Gill) has all of these qualities, tempered by the essential female-ness of her. When, in a fit of jealous pique, he throws her off, she doesn't beg or grovel: she turns her back on him, too. Recognise yourself in her?

The film invites you to come along on a stunning multi-layered journey---the psychedelic contours of the overloaded-on-substance, on-the-verge-of-losing-it mind, the physical degradation of the body, the slow dissolution of the spirit. With Anurag and Abhay, (whose idea it was in the first place), 'Dev D' becomes one of those rare films which is all of a piece: every single frame is where it should be. As Dev and Paro part ways, Chanda aka Chandramukhi (Kalki) enters the equation, and the film steadies into its triangular groove, rocking to an inverted, just-right climax.

In this virtuoso re-working of the Devdas story, there's none of the obfuscatory self-indulgence that marred Kashyap's last outing, 'No Smoking'. The cast is perfect for their parts. Debutante Mahi Gill is no Bollywoodized phoolkari-dupatta-wearing ingnue: she dresses, moves and behaves like a feisty girl who's been born and brought up in sugarcane country in rural Punjab. The other first-timer, Kalki, is astonishingly apt too: her journey from a traumatized schoolgirl (based on the MMS scandal emanating from one of Delhi's top schools a few years ago) to a role-playing, phone sex-worker Chanda, is riveting. The first is raw and sensuous, the other raises the lust-meter as high as any red-blooded male can handle, but both are heart-stoppingly, blatantly alive, needy, looking-for-love-with-sex-as-a-by-product real girl-women.

But it is Abhay who makes this thing sing. His Devdas is both eerily similar to the others who've played the part (Kashyap cheekily references posters and scenes from SRK's 'Devdas' in a couple of scenes), as well as completely his own. Spoilt rich brat, king-of-the-castle, center-of-the-universe, the kind of male who is always so sorry for himself, that he can't see anyone else as clearly. Right from the attire—jeans, Tees, strap-across-the-chest-bag--- to the attitude—love me, love me, love me-- this joint-rolling, alcohol-swilling ( Coke, vodka 'ke saath', is his line in seedy bars) Devdas wears his victimhood with panache, blaming others for the 'emosional atyachaar' (one of the eighteen sparkling songs Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya have created for the film: sometimes the film seems too stuffed with the background music, but that's a very minor quibble) being wrecked upon him, but reserving the right to a chuckle in the middle of it all.

Dissolution, despair, and redemption—the film unerringly hits all the right notes of a life sliding down the precipice, teetering on the edge, and drawing back from the brink, at the very last moment. 'Dev D' is a contemporary classic. Watch it, whatever else you do.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Movie-Review-Dev-D/419996/