A Tale of Two Women - My Thoughts on Dev D (2009)

Ek Radha, Ek Meera, Donon Ne Shyam Ko Chaaha...

Antar Kya Donon Ke Pyaar Mein Bolo...?

Ek Prem Deewani, Ek Daras Deewani!

Dev D is not as it was expected by all a movie about Devdas - in case one wants to see a movie about Devdas, one is advised to go ahead and watch the old masterpiece by Bimal Da which has the great Dilip Kumar performing the only Devdas that touches our soul. If the connoisseur thereafter wishes to go further, he's strongly advised to watch the great K L Saigal perform this role in the 1935 movie of the same name. Regional Cinema aficionados can also have a glimpse of N T Rama Rao appraising the same role in Telugu.

Dev D is different - granted it's  a movie that's about Dev D (the modern Devdas wannabe) but more than that, this movie is about the two women in his life who are more stronger and more mature than the protagonist of the movie can ever be....

This is not to say that these roles were not well-defined in the earlier versions - they were and have always been strong focal points of the story but Dev D adapts the movie to a different milieu and while doing so, brings a different kind of maturity and power to the two women in the story. Oddly, the love that is the depth of Devdas conviction in the 1956 movie, is somehow destroyed in the process and what we have here amongst us is not the lover Devdas, for whom Paro was life but a Devdas whose love is still a slave of his ego and his frustrations.....

Mahie Gill as Paro has what would be termed a dream debut..... Paro is unconventional, her love is a torch-bearer and so is her self-respect a matter of life and death for her... she is prepared to go the extra mile for the guy she loves but it not ready to negate herself for the man she loves.... she surely knows how to love but is unaware of what is love and thaqt true love transcends all boundaries of self and the other. She is vindicative and ruthless but at the same time one can not say that the depths of her love are illusionary. She loves like a true Jat and lives life like one too.....

Imagine a woman who loves so much that she can send over a naked snap of hers` to her beau despite knowing the odds of getting it developed and printed, a girl who's ready to go beyond all boundaries for the sake of requiting her love and still being arrogant enough to reject him at the slightest hint of prejudice.... this has to be one heck of a woman... it's only a woman that's so strong as this who can break into a jig at her own marriage, abandoning all notions of social and familial pride... This is Paro, born to win and born to lead... Strong, resilient and confident - a woman of substance, a woman of power, a woman of drive and a woman of character but a woman who has failed the test of love....

She is what would be signified by this famous couplet of the great Iqbal....

Jis Khet Se Mayassar Na Ho Dehkaan Ko Roti
Uss Khet Ke Har Zarra-O-Gandham Ko Jala Do

On the other spectrum of the story is Chanda.... a woman who was not allowed by society a second chance at life after a small error, early on in life... a girl who was forced to become a woman due to one small error made at one forgotten path in life.. a child who was forced to grow because her survival depended on her growth..... this is Chanda.... a woman who becomes a prostitute because she has to live in a society that has nothing but entertainment value for her....

Ek Qadam Galat Uttha Tha Shauq-E-Yaar Main
Zindagi Tamam Umr Humein Dhoondhti Phiri

She is strong too.... one has to be strong if one incident of publicised impropriety can lead to a person losing a father, a family and a life.... She is mature...... one has to be if she has to survive a life that's nothing but destruction written all over it.... She is practical.... one has to be when life takes away everything and all your actions are forced and not an option.... but more than all that.... she is forgiving.... one has to be if she to live and not survive......

 Kalki Koechlin as Chanda brings life to the pain and tears that could have easily become a major occasion for histrionics in other actresses.... in contrast, Kalki is patient, silent and lets her understatement do all the talking.... Chanda requires pain in the eyes, stony emotions in the face, ruthlessness in the heart and still silence in the soul.... this is not the Chandramukhi of Devdas, this is Chanda and it's very important for the audience to be able to differentiate between the two... Kalki does it and does it well.... I am not sure whether she will be able to take this further but in this one movie, she is the quintessential Chanda....

Chanda is what would be exemplified by that another great couplet by Iqbal:

Hazaaro Saal Nargis Apni Be-Noori Pe Roti Hai,

Badi Mushqil Se Hota Hai Chaman Mein Deedawar Paida.....

So where does Chanda differ from Paro..... in a simple way.... Chanda understands forgiveness, Paro knows vengeance.... Chanda find love in the middle of nothing, Paro loses love in middle of everything

And then there is Dev..... a wimp of a man, a man who can never love anyone but who still thinks of himself in love... This is a man who loves himself and is in love with the fact that he loves himself... although he gives it the name of pining for a lost love - a love that would have been always his, had he learned to control his ego and be a little more open regarding the freedom that's every woman's right and desire.... But Dev is a man in the old mould, he desperately seeks exclusivity where there should be freedom; his love tends to be on terms that he believes in, not knowing that love that has terms is not love but a trade-off and can never achieve the hieghts of a love that originates from the heart and trancends the soul....

Abhay Deol has done a brilliant job - one that makes one feel that even in an era such as ours when true art is at a premium and mimickry in the name of art at a discount, there are a few who do dare to go beyond the limits and perform beyond the pale of the ordinary..... Abhay is one of a breed that I personally feel is talented, meticulous and should be on the path to achieving greater successes and appreciation.... This is the first Devdas that I have seen in recent years that I can say has an original look to it.... It may not be as natural as Dilip Saab or as memorable as Saigal Saab but it definitely outshines most of the others who dared to do the same enactment.

Dibyendu Bhattacharya, the young man on the block again manages to come up with a triumphant performance.... one that sears you and makes you look at the world with new eyes..... Chunnilal in Devdas is not a pimp but a man who visits brothels and is given to the seamy side of pleasure... here he is one advocating that side and making a fortune out of it... what a performance man! Awesome... Just Awesome.

Parakh Madan as Rasika looks hot and I am sure many would have found her alluring as well.... she is also formidable in her role and her disgust in the scene where she breaks up with Dev says a lot for her acting capabilities....

The music track by Amit Trivedi is fantastic and speaks volumes for the man's talents.... Emotional Atyachar, composed to the beats of a Marriage Band is a brilliant piece of crativity and I am really impressed with the way that song has been both conceptualized and shot.

Saali Khushi is another song which touches a deep chord somewhere in the deepest recesses of my heart... paining me like hell and still bringing a smile on my face... someone said once...."Pain and Pleasure are complementary"... I agree..... Completely....

Anurag Kashyap is a great director.... I just love his work.... His 'Black Friday' tore me apart.. his Dev D tore my heart apart.... (Delhi looks so very different in this movie that I feel like re-visiting that city today....  it has been so, since I watched Delhi 6 and Dev D, two exceedingly brilliant movies on the same day... There can be no greater praise that this.... for no Bombay guy would ever appreciate Delhi even in his dreams!) Anurag is the kind of director that makes you feel for the characters first and makes you forget the actors who performed the role..... each and every frame in the movie speaks for his brilliance.... I am very impressed by this director and looking forward to Gulaal fervently...


Devdas is not an easy movie to make or remake. It carries with it the illustrious names of many top-ranking and honorary members of the Hindi Film fraternity - names that are etched in iron and steel on the sands of Hindi Cinema and hence a matter of great challenge when one dares to biuld it up in his / her own version. When SRK released his version of Devdas, I was among the first to see the movie.(it was released in 2002 - a particularly painful period in my life; wherein I struggled (in vain) to get a defunct personal life and non-existent professional life back on track) I had lots of expectations from the flick, it had the magical combination of SRK and SLB but needless, to say it disappointed me no end.

I was particularly displeased with SRK and SLB for trying to portray Devdas and his selfless love as a wimp's love and it helped no one that Shah Rukh was no Dilip and SLB no Bimal Roy! Over a point of time, though still rejecting their version of Devdas, I have quite managed to try and look at their side of the argument as well; though in all fairness I have not and could never accept it in entirety. Hence when Dev D was released, I had immense misgivings about how it would turn out .... However, today after watching this movie 7 times and still being unable to describe it in it's entirety; I am compelled to accept that this is the best tribute to Bimal Roy's moving saga of love and tragedy, which in itself is the best tribute to Saratchandra's book that created this franchisee.

Dev D is the best thing that could have happened to Devdas and his saga.... To make this movie stand out among such brilliant versions of this movie as the ones by Dilip and K L Saigal in Hindi and N T R Ramarao in Telugu requires a lot of guts and gumption, specifically when you are not basing it in the milieu for which this movie was intended and are making it more of a movie that has been adapted to a very different and difficult time.

Coming back to the two women... I can sum up my feelings in these words....

Ek Radha, Ek Meera, Donon Ne Shyam Ko Chaaha....

Antar Kya Donon Ke Preet Mein Bolo....?

Ek Jeet Naa Jaani, Ek Haar Na Maani