Dev D

Dev D Movie Cast & Credits Overview

Starring : Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahie Gill, Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Director : Anurag Kashyap

Producer : Ronnie Screwvala

Music Director : Amit Trivedi

Writer : Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane

Genre : Drama

Release Date : 6 Feb, 2009

After creating a buzz among audiences with its grunge soundtrack and promos, Anurag Kashyap's "Dev D", a modern take on "Devdas", struck gold at the box office by raking in Rs.95 million at the opening weekend.

The inclusion of real life cases like the MMS scandal at Delhi Public School and the BMW hit and run accident in the movie is luring the audiences, say film experts.

"'Dev D' has proven its mettle by pulling in audiences in hordes - especially youngsters. The film has selling material in terms of content. Incidents like the DPS MMS scandal, the BMW case and colloquial language has further led to its triumph at the box office," said Joginder Mahajan, a Delhi-based distributor.

Releasing after a dull week that saw "Luck By Chance" and "Victory", Kashyap's film opened to positive reviews and was houseful at the weekend. Produced by UTV Spotboy and Bindass, "Dev D" stars Abhay Deol with newcomers Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin.

Girish Johar, associate vice-president of UTV Motion Pictures, said: "'Dev D' is one of our premium products and it has managed to generate a very good hype among our target audience (youth). We are hoping it will have a long run at the box office."

Kashyap's contemporary take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel has sidelined simultaneous releases "Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye" and "Chal Chala Chal".

"The other two releases 'Mere Khwabon?' and 'Chal Chala Chal' have been total failures. They are only gap fillers," said Mahajan.

"Mere Khwabon?", which has Arbaaz Khan, Randeep Hooda and Raima Sen in the lead, was snubbed by the audiences and couldn't garner more than five percent collection. Helmed by debutante director Madhureeta Anand, the film has been co-produced by PVR Pictures and Madhureeta's company Ekaa Films Pvt Ltd.

The budget for "Dev D" and "Mere Khwabon?' was the same. The producers invested around Rs.60 million excluding the publicity costs. In terms of prints, "Dev D" was released on more than 300 screens globally, "Mere Khwabon?" hit around 200 screens.

"As for 'Mere Khwabon?', it was a non-starter since the beginning and had zero buzz about it. The movie opened to empty houses and the weak content only made it worse. Ditto for 'Chal Chala Chal' that was a fringe release," said a source from Mumbai.

Govinda starrer "Chal Chala Chal", which was directed by T.K. Rajeev Kumar, too failed to impress the movie buffs. The producers of "Chal Chala Chal" refused to divulge any details regarding the movie that released after a deferred delay of about two years since 2007.

"'Dev D' is all set to be the second big hit of 2009 after 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues'. It breaks the very stereotype of the legend of 'Devdas' and that is where it scores the winning goal," added the source.

On the whole, "Dev D" has fair business chances till Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Billu" and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi-6" hit the screens Feb 13 and Feb 20, respectively.

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 ingénue: 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.