Dev.D

Dev D
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anurag Kashyap
Screenplay by	Anurag Kashyap Vikramaditya Motwane
Story by	Anurag Kashyap Vikramaditya Motwane
Produced by	Ronnie Screwvala
Starring	Abhay Deol Kalki Koechlin Mahie Gill
Cinematography	Rajeev Ravi
Edited by	Aarti Bajaj
Music by	Amit Trivedi
Distributed by	UTV Spot Boy Bindass
Release date	February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)
Running time	138 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	$1,322,461
Box office	$4,247,969

Dev.D is a 2009 Indian romance film released on 6 February 2009. Written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film is a modern day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas., previously adapted for the screen by P.C. Barua and Bimal Roy and more recently by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Dev.D was embraced by the media, critics and public alike, and is considered to be amongst path breaking films in Hindi.

Plot

Dev (Abhay Deol) is the son of a rich Punjabi Businessman. He and Paro (Mahi Gill) are childhood sweethearts. But Dev, being an insecure narcissist, instead of acknowledging her affection and care, nudges Paro over frivolous things.

The movie is based in the contemporary Punjab and Delhi, where familial ties are negotiated by the traditions of patriarchy and marriages are reduced to a game of power and “honour“.

Dev is sent to London for higher studies when his father senses how spoilt his son is. But while separated by distance, Paro and Dev's youthful love only blossoms more. Dev arrives in Chandigarh to meet Paro. Their endeavor to make love makes for some dark comic moments. The seeds of suspicion are sown here, which the couple will never be able to weed out for a lifetime. When Dev hears rumours about Paro, he immediately believes them and ditches Paro. What makes them fall apart is mutual suspicion and an essentially male vision of how a woman should conduct herself sexually. Paro turns her back on him when she hears him insult her, and agrees to marry whoever her parents choose. On her wedding day, he realizes that the rumors were false. But his ego doesn't let him accept his mistake, and he lets her marry someone else.

Enter Chanda. This part has references to the notorious Delhi school sex MMS scandal. Her father commits suicide as he feels humiliated by his daughter's reputation. She is disowned by her family. The movie portrays how she transforms herself from an innocent traumatized schoolgirl into a prostitute. While Chanda isn’t a career prostitute, she is no different either. Instead of performing Mujras, she enacts scenes from popular American pornographic series. The only thing, that makes her different is the fact that she hasn’t given up on her studies for the profession and has also kept the exit gate open.

Dev, tormented by Paro’s wedding, seeks refuge in alcohol and drugs. His escape to Delhi from Chandigarh, is as much a pursuit of his lost love, as much it is an attempt to run away from his father. Months later, Dev calls Paro's husband in the middle of the night, after which Paro visits him. While Paro has grown to accept her fate, her heart still beats for her childhood love. Her love transforms into immense care. On the other hand, Dev demands much more than love - exclusivity over her body - and that’s where he runs out of luck. More than separation it’s the thought of Paro making love to somebody else that’s the cause of agony for him. She makes fun of his sexual power when she says that she does not need to be on top with her husband.

Ironically, his life always orbits around women. He is forced to cause self-destruction by one and rescued by another. In the end he realises that he was wrong and that maybe he never really loved Paro. He goes back to Chanda, who takes care of him thereafter.

Cast

• Abhay Deol as Devendra Singh Dhillon (Dev)
• Kalki Koechlin as Lenis/Chanda (Chandramukhi)
• Mahi Gill as Parminder (Paro)
• Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Chunnilal
• Asim Sharma as Bhuvan (Paro's Husband)
• Parakh Madan as Rasika

Production

The original idea of film was suggested by Abhay Deol to Anurag Kashyap, who then worked on the script along with Vikramaditya Motwane, using "news headlines about Generation X" to give the film its youth feel. It was produced by Ronnie Screwvala, and shot in various places including Paharganj in central Delhi. For the scenes where Dev is high, British director Danny Boyle suggested the use of a still camera as Kashyap did not have the budget for special effects.

Development

Anurag Kashyap did not want another remake of any the 9 previous films versions titled Devdas. His version was created as a modern take on the 1917 original classic novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Kashyap decided he wanted to make his own version of Devdas to reflect the original novel but through 2008 mores, with the lead character of Devdas as a debauching, hypocritical sensualist, who is self destructive without knowing he is destroying himself. Talking about the story and his role as Dev, Abhay Deol told Radio Sargam, "The story is very much from the book which I've read in English. I have played the character according to my interpretation of the book. His character was contemporary, he was quite urban in many ways, he's misplaced in the surrounding and has a spoilt, obsessive and addictive personality."

Initial delays

After the box office disaster of Kashyap's No Smoking, it was rumoured that United Television (UTV) had backed out of the director's next project, Dev.D, starring Abhay Deol. But according to sources, UTV had signed Abhay for three projects and the actor had blocked dates from November 2007 to March 2008 for Kashyap's film, as the idea was to wrap up the film in one schedule. When the film hit initial snags and was stalled, it was rumoured that UTV had backed out. At that time, the director denied that UTV had backed out. He explained the delay by saying that he would be able to work on the film once work on the earlier film Hanuman Returns had finished. He said that he was still looking out for his Chandramukhi, and so far had locked in Abhay and newcomer Mahi Gill., the film was further delayed as he took more time to find an actress suitable for the role of Chandramukhi, which he eventually found with Kalki Koechlin, who was one of the last girls to be auditioned.

Release

Box office

Dev D had an average opening day collection of Rs 15 million. However the movie picked up in box office soon and recovered its budget of Rs 60 million in a few weeks. The net collection in its first four weeks were nearly Rs 150 million.

Reception

Critical response

Reviews to the film were mostly positive. The widespread acclaim was chiefly due to the film's fearless visual style, its experimental soundtrack and the innovative narrative structure which included dividing the script into chapters as in the films of Quentin Tarantino. Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave the film 3.5/5, calling it a 'fantastic visual ride', and ranked it at No 2 in his list of the Best Movies Of 2009. Times of India reviewer Nikhat Kazmi termed the film as a "brilliant breakthrough for Bollywood" and rated it 5/5. Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express praised the performance of Abhay Deol and the movie overall. Hindustan Times, praised the film for its "slick style and adventurous interpretation that pushes the boundaries of Hindi cinema" and rating it as 3.5/5. Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India was "completely bowled out by the movie" and stated, "go and watch Dev D and be blown away by a sample of what Anurag Kashyap is capable of as a director. In response to Abhay Deol's brilliant idea about the film and equally brilliant performance, Shahrukh Khan praised his efforts and said that Abhay is contributing to the new era of indian film industry. The efforts of the sublime actor were recently praised by the Hollywood actor "Matt Damon" during Venice Film Festival."

Awards

National Film Awards 2009

• Won : National Film Award for Best Music Direction: Amit Trivedi

Filmfare Awards 2009

• Won : Best Supporting Actress: Kalki Koechlin
• Won : Critics Award for Best Performance (Female): Mahi Gill
• Won : Best Art Direction : Helen Jones, Sukanta Panigrahi
• Won : Best Cinematography : Rajeev Ravi
• Won : Best Background Score : Amit Trivedi
• Won : R D Burman Award for New Musical Talent: Amit Trivedi

Others

• Nominated at 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards at Queensland Australia
• Dev D will be premiered at 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival which will be held in Palm Springs,Palm Springs Regal 9

789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262 California, USA on 5-18 Jan 2010

Soundtrack

Untitled

Dev.D has 18 tracks by artist Amit Trivedi. Released on December 31 under T-Series, he specifically reports that there are two special Punjabi tracks, one which is raw Punjabi and the other with a street band baaja flavor to it. He also reports two romantic Haryanvi folk tracks, apart from a hard rock song, world music, an Awadhi number and a song with 1970’s-80’s pop touch to it. The soundtrack received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Critic Joginder Tuteja said, "Chuck the very thought around whether this album will do well commercially or not; it is an exemplary piece of work and that's what that matters most". Ekansh Aatre, critic of Hindustan Times fame. said "Each part of each song in this album is special & gives a great impact on audience." The soundtrack has been massively popular in the youth.The song "Emosanal Attyachaar" has become popular amongst the masses and the song's name has become a current catch phrase for many Indian youths.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Emosanal Attyachar (Brass Band Version)" (performed by BandMaster Rangeela and Rasila)	4:00
2.	"Duniya" (performed by Amit Trivedi)	3:52
3.	"Nayan Tarse" (performed by Amit Trivedi)	3:09
4.	"Pardesi" (performed by Tochi Raina)	4:00
5.	"Saali Khushi" (performed by Amit Trivedi)	3:13
6.	"Paayaliya" (performed by Shruti Pathak)	5:52
7.	"Mahi Mennu" (performed by Labh Janjua)	2:54
8.	"Aankh Micholi" (performed by Amit Trivedi)	4:00
9.	"Yahi Meri Zindagi" (performed by Aditi Singh Sharma)	3:43
10.	"Dhol Yaara Dhol" (performed by Shilpa Rao and Kshitij Tarey)	4:10
11.	"Ek Hulchul Si" (performed by Joi Barua)	4:29
12.	"Hikknaal" (performed by Labh Janjua)	3:47
13.	"Dil Mein Jaagi" (performed by Anusha Mani)	3:01
14.	"Emotional Attyachar (Rock Version)" (performed by Bonnie Chakraborty)	4:01
15.	"Ranjhana" (performed by Shilpa Rao and Kshitij Tarey)	1:47
16.	"Mahi Mennu (Sad Version)" (performed by Labh Janjua)	1:21
17.	"Dev-Chanda Theme 1" (performed by Neuman Pinto & Bianca Gomez)	2:23
18.	"Dev-Chanda Theme 2" (instrumental)	1:47

External links

• Dev.D at IMDb
• Dev.D at AllMovie