Dev-D

I am not very familiar with Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's 'Devdas'. I know that it was about a rich bugger from Bengal who drank himself to death over a girl he loved. I also know that there have been several filmed versions of the novella though I'd failed to catch any of them, save a couple of scenes from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's version starring SRK. Anurag Kashyap's reputation for art-house genius aside, it was the standout publicity hoardings, wreaking of seduction and psychedelia that pulled me in -- first day, first show. Picture's up and I am greeted with the playful camaraderie between two kids, with the little boy Dev biting little Paro's hand, followed by a scene in which the same brat argues with his father as to why he cannot address him by his pet name -- Sattu. One resounding slap later and Dev is packed off to London, where he magically evolves into a horny, pot-smoking, i-pod-toting cad (Abhay Deol). The little girl whose arm he had nibbled on earlier has now grown into a gorgeous young Paro (or Parminder, played by Mahi Gill). The childhood fondness has evolved with puberty into a teasing romance bathed in sexual innuendo. And when Paro consents to sending Dev a snapshot of herself naked, he promptly decides to head homeward (Kashyap's naughty lines are priceless in this scene). However, destiny intervenes by way of a gross misunderstanding, shattering the 'happily-ever-after' and giving us a story. In the ensuing misunderstanding, Dev shuns Paro, leading to her taking the rather severe step of getting married to a rich widower. Fraught with guilt, Dev begins to sink to the depths of alcoholic depression, as the frustrated loser begins to take shape. After one particularly violent bout with the bottle, Dev passes out and wakes up to find himself in the squalid interiors of a hotel in Delhi's neon-lit Pahar Ganj area. The third vital character in the plot, Chanda / Chandramukhi (played by Indo- French actress Kalki Koelchin) is introduced here. A former victim of a horrible MMS scandal, she now wears the persona of an in-demand, college-going prostitute who, when she is not bringing men to orgasms over the phone in Tamil, dresses up in a variety of imaginative outfits (ironically, one of them happens to be that of an 'all-American school girl') and engages in kinky role play with mama's boys. Through a delightfully slimy pimp Chunni (a fine performance by Dibyendu Bhattacharya), Dev is introduced to Chanda. In Chanda, Dev finds an outlet for his love for Paro, a comforting listener. Just as things begin to warm, Kashyap's tale veers off in a different direction from the original and... I shan't tell you more. Technically, Kashyap's 'Dev D.' is a visually delectable film against the psychedelic backdrop of sex, drugs and some Desi wedding band fare. Cinematographer Rajeev Ravi does a fine job of capturing the grittiness of Pahargunj – whether it be the grimy squalor of Dev's hotel or Chanda's lair drenched in shocking pink. The play with film speeds works particularly well in the heady drinking scenes as do the 'Requiem for a Dream'-like floating shots of a well-hammered Dev wandering back to his room in a chemical daze. Amit Trivedi's music (a bulky, multi-genre score that moves from folk to jazz to hard rock) is a solid character in itself, as it meanders through scenes, hitting the spot every time.The screaming reception his 'Emosanal Atyachar' got in the cinema hall,is testament that brassy wedding band fare can indeed be made to sound hip. The acting department is damn tight. Mahi Gill's Paro is a thrill to watch – a character perfectly aware of her sexuality and surprisingly expressive for her small-town background. Although Kalki Koelchin may run into rough patches with the accent and diction, her emotional scenes make up for it, especially in the film's second-half, as the relationship between her and Dev begins to evolve. Dibyendu Bhattacharya almost steals the show as Chunni (Kashyap's re-incarnation of the original Chunnilal) but in the end, it is Abhay Deol who takes the cake, champagne and the butter chicken home, playing the coke-snorting loser lover, with measured confidence and understated cool. The gentleman's acting chops are firmly in place and I am not surprised as to why everyone is raving about him. It would be good to see more of Mahi Gill, Kalki Koelchin and Dibyendu in the future.

So where lie the pitfalls then? For one, the film's length (a heady three hours) is overwhelming and Kashyap might have just managed to overcome this, had it not been for its extended trajectory that runs into an abrupt wall. Some might even argue that Trivedi's score drenches almost all the scenes in the film. But the pros far outweigh the cons here. For the most past, the film's characters are unabashedly honest and real. Kashyap's script-writing chops give us gems like the 'haldi' scene, the 'ticket' scene where Dev gets reprimanded by an old female co-passenger on the bus, after a particularly nasty alcoholic binge as well as Paro's delightfully ingenious solution to finding a venue for her and Dev to consummate their relationship (and the aftermath). Those of you familiar with the medical sitcom 'Scrubs', will take great pleasure in Kashyap's use of the aforementioned dancing boy trio for moments of random delight. ' Dev D.' is an important film to consume as we sit on the cusp of a more progressive Indian cinema – a sign of good things to come. You may not exactly fall in lust, as the film urges one to, but you will certainly want to discuss it, perhaps even fight over it.