Dev D - The Emosanal Atyachar!!!

Dev D is not for hypocrites!!For people who love to do cover-ups and push things under the carpet, this movie is a serious NO!!! You want to face the reality and not crib whenever faced with it then you are welcome to Mr Anurag Kashyap's real world.

My original review, just after the movie, would have been very different but it is after one week that the movie seems to be growing upon me. I have used the terms - breezy, wild and explicit for the movie and that is exactly what I felt when I saw this movie. But love it or loathe it you can never ignore Dev D. It is in your face real world and very different from the hypocritical mushy love stories that Karan Johar is so adept at showing.

The film is set in colorful Punjab and would be disappointing for Sharat Chandra fans as there is no element of Bengal in this modern avatar of the eternal lover or loser (it is just a swap of a letter but with a drastic change in meaning or are they same......who cares!!). My friends said that Sharat Chandra must be turning in his grave on such an interpretation. But this piece is not credited to Sharat Chandra so why should he care, in fact even the story is different.

Abhay Deol is not Abhay Deol in this movie. He is Dev D, frustrated to hilt with no one to blame for his own mistakes. And finally knowing the difference between lust and love to choose the right one. Dare I say that Abhay Deol has surpassed most of the able actors in depicting the frustration, the pain that Dev D goes through. An outstanding performance.

All the characters are well developed. The three main characters have even tracks dedicated to them.
Chanda - Yehi meri zindagi hai!!
Paro - Payalia!!
Dev D - Duniya, Aankh micholi, Saali Khushi, Nayan Tarse!!

Yes Dev D is the protagonist, he needs more songs. The music is amazing, awesome and very "Dev D"ish. Each song is very different yet with the same soul. And with so many instruments used for the effect that you are taken to Dev D's world if you listen to them, lyrics just apt for the situations, words carefully chosen, even Patna ke Presley's "Emosanal Atyachar" sounds good and last heard was already a rage in colleges!!!

The most interesting characters are the "Twilight Players". They are in most of the scenes where Dev D is washing down his frustration with alcohol. Suited-booted as gentlemen, though they can be placed in the dark underbelly of any metro of India. Some artistic twist here which my brain could not decipher but surely interesting.

This is Anurag Kashyap's first movie which I have seen. And he has done great work to captain such a cast, which boasts of two new comers as main leads. If you carefully watch the movie you see a lot of reference being made to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. Was that intentional or Kashyap's way to make light of Bhansali's version is something which only Kashyap can answer.