Dev D: Are we mature enough to handle, what we call as Love?

    We wish to hold our obsessions and egos all together and when loose it then loose it all of sudden to destroy everything to an extent, from where even we don’t leave any place for other to come back. Were we ever wished that? If not, then why? Some questions can’t be answered, if you didn’t went with all your selfless thoughts. I know it’s never been fully possible and so is love. No one is mature enough to handle, what we call Love. This is all what Dev D is.    

    After No Smoking, Anurag Kashyap’s another venture, which was already raising many speculations even much before its release. No Smoking was a different concept and a different approach for cinema and I appreciated whole heartedly the same, but I was not expecting that I will come up with all praises again for the same talented director in his next movie as well. Thumbs up for Anurag Kashyap. A good time for Ronnie Screwwala as well, because he is getting his name associated with ventures like Fashion and Dev D.

Title: Dev D
Release Date: 6^th February 2009
Banner: UTV Spot Boy.
Producer: Ronnie Screwwala
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Assistant Director: Vasan Bala, Anand Vijayraj Singh Tomar

Cast: Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahie Gill, Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
Story Writer: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Mani , Amitabh Bhattacharya
Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi
Screen Play: Madhur Bhandarkar, Anuradha Tiwari, Ajay Monga
Playback: Amit Trivedi, Aditi Singh Sharma, Bony Chakravarthy, Joi Barua, Kshitij, Labh Jajua, Mani, Shruti Pathak, Shilpa Rao, Toshi

    As I given the title, that’s what one exactly felt after watching the same. Either it was Dev or Paro or Romita or Chanda, all were been somewhat confused with what, they call as love. Obsession-misunderstanding, practical-impractical things, devotion-mischief; love moves along with lots of shades. We hears so many times, but never get to feel without enough maturity with emotions that love is not something to be won, but to lose yourself. We know that we are wrong, but still we want ….

    As we all heard about movie, it’s a modern presentation of Sharatchandra’s Devdas, which already been attempted in its original version by Indian Cinema twice. Such a presentation is expected to get words of many kinds; some may say too much experimentations, some may say very intense, some call it as ‘Emotional Atyachar‘, some might come up to say that its ruining the spirit of novel, but I stand by the Director’s view, who taken the subject very originally and brilliantly. He reminded me the structure of the novel “Gunaho Ka Devta”
by
Dharamveer Bharati, which I come to read in my graduation times. He reminded of many things, I might have passed through or had seen. I was really really thrilled and that’s why this time, it was due that I should come up with a long review over this movie, as I already seen misunderstood views over this movie. Anurag has taken it as a gas chamber of confined meanings, where one fought long and hard to survive.

The movie always had two sides and the storyline gives reasons for both. It gives fully segregates views and elevates one or the other at places. Dev is ashamed of what he did, but not ready to accept at the first place and Paro, why will she move more, when she already given herself as much she could have? Dev was not able to give grace to what he has once, as he got it as granted and never got time to think over it what he has and why? Most of us never do and when regret, its too late. We know that we are at wrong place, from where there is no place to go either back or forth without loosing and we don’t wish to loose. Each sacristy leaves us more and more away.

Is there any solution, when we closed all the ways ourselves? The movie doesn’t come up with solutions as one can’t change the basic nature even if he/ she try for best. But one really can learn, if wish to learn.

I know, it would make the review looking much bore, but let me come up with the analysis of characters and situations. Don’t know that I would be able to write proper lines to express myself, but I really felt myself at every place either it be Dev or it be Paro or it be Chanda.

 

Dev: The central character of the movie; the Devdas, who never learnt to be patient, who never was able to move forward to hold, who never was able to loose the strings to make things right. An abused child, who never found himself normal with family relations and kept on destroying his innocence. An anger, who doesn’t know the limits and directions. He is rude, he is hard and he kept on getting all spoiled.

Just one thing, which he wants is Paro. Does he really want? Why he want? He could name, but can’t feel it, as he always been in so much negativities that never found himself thinking anything. He can’t bear even one comment back, he can’t bear anyone hurting him. He will answer back for sure. He never wished that it might be Paro on the other end to face his anger, but when we love, then get hurt in same way and when we hate, we hit as harder as we can.

He is rude enough to chew hands of Paro as he know, she won’t leave him, he is innocent enough to express his desire to see her nude pics as he might have seen things like that in culture of abroad, he is immature enough not to feel what she goes through, when have to get snaps washed from outside the city and then to scan them to send, he is immature enough not to feel that she has parents and her life been different than him. He could leave Paro lonely in field hurt from inside and still wont give second thought against his hate. He might have came back if in marriage haven’t seen Sunil saying the same words to Paro’s father, which he thought himself be saying. He was not able to think after it… just not able to …. Neither he was ever able to answer himself that why Paro loves in this way? Popular reasons are what always come to hit your mind first and the popular ends.

The problem is all he feels that he never got anything and now not even wishes for anything. Whatever he gets is easy for him and so he never thankful for the same. He move into weak moments with Romita and on hearing words about Paro in same way, thinks that why can’t she as he has been always away. When he himself like this everyone around him like this, then why can’t Paro be? His thoughts always been immature and he never came to feel anything. Neither family nor career nor anything else been important for him than his immediate self. When Paro comes to him last time, then what he thought was presentation of how much immature, he always been.

He never taken Romita more than a slut and kept on insulting Chanda till he came to know that what she gone through in her life. Chanda’s maturity in such a younger age made him realizing thing slowly and he came to feel that what he did, what he wished, what can’t be undone. He tried to move on with Chanda, but again similar misunderstanding made him back on the same. Although at the end, original theme of novel is altered to show him coming back… but …

But I really don’t know that will he ever get a life like others? Could he ever be happy? Yeah! Everyone will blame him only, but when he got the normal life? His only crime, no one told him to attempt in proper ways for making his life better and he knows it can’t be ….

 

Paro: The pain given to Paro’s character in this movie was much more enough than given to Paro in original version. Are girls always so mad in love that could go for snapping herself nude and giving the reels to a public photographer even if it’s of a distant place? Yes! They are sometimes. Can’t even see something against the same, faith hurts most of the times. Paro knows that Dev is not here to feel anything, even if she tries from words. But she knows that he has no one except her. Why we get into hurry of naming emotions in early ages? She believes that once she would be having all rights over his life, then she will make everything fine for them, but …

After getting alleged of having relations with Sunil, Paro was just not able to keep her reaction patient enough. Was that her fault? What you expect from her? How many certificates, she needs to give? She really was nothing more left in her hands, when she given herself completely. I really don’t know that what she could have done to save the relations? Was holding herself from bursting at that moment going to be enough? Really no one wishes to be in place of this Paro. But the same is with Dev and Chanda, who wishes to be at place of them? I really went into tears, when watched Paro dancing in full swing at her own marriage.

Really few of you people will able to understand that waiting in love ask for how much maturity otherwise without that you will end up hurting yourself more and hating everyone around you including the one you love.

Even then, she comes back to meet him as she really wished to see him happy, whatever he might have done to her. She figures out the exact words to ask only at the end, ‘Dev!! What’s this “I want to love you” in place of “I love you“? Do you still know anything Dev? Was not my wait going to be forever?’

I again call the character of Paro not mature enough. Yes! It has its grace and patience but still.

We often see boys proposing girls and girls accepting the same due to momentary thrills or due touching moments or just because she can’t deny it, without realizing that what they really want. Both the sides, either girls or boys don’t really know.

Everyone blames that most of the affairs fail, but just tell me, how much of them been standing on well thought reasons? She is beautiful, he is cute, she is hot, he is rich enough, girls follow him, boys will envy, if she is with me…… just this??? Paro says to Sunil that “have you seen that what you are before wishing for me?” Paro!! Tell me… you are comparing for what??? Answers are right there.

Do people really know what love means? We don’t’ realize till we have life around us and when will we (may be never), then it’s too late to realize; what we always ignored and what was right for us. Unfortunately, most of us can’t be special enough to see the world from real glasses and everything would be termed in limits of popular words only and so the fate will be limited as well.

I really think only age and time makes us able to …. Love will be blamed like this always. Sorry Paro… your all efforts gonna to be in vein only. It’s not like that choice of person has to be blamed, but the compromises you made were high enough as you can’t make more … Not everyone able to make the right choice and also not everyone able to come back in time, before getting hurt or loosing something which can’t be undone. Paro will never be able to love or to be loved without any crime from her side except ….

 

Chanda: The character was realized on screen with sensational (?) DPS girl scandal. The girl got in news overnight after that sensational MMS and no one really cared that what she will go through. It was not her mistake, but was immaturity of decisions… not only of having faith but of having wrong choice as well. We take steps in tempo of what people might be saying around us, in tempo of praises we see in eyes of people, when we are with someone special. But everything seems to be so hollow, when we really will need in our loneliness. She finds herself open to be a sex worker only after suicide of her father as she never earned someone to hold her, when she was able to come back to life.

She meets Dev and come to see him and found him in deep pain, which he can’t show to anyone as he finds only himself guilty. She come to see her image in Dev upto somewhat extent, as even he is moving on a path, he won’t be able to come back ever.

She for the first time in Dev’s life, clearly says that what Paro did was right as you never loved her. Even when you realized that it was your entire fault, there was time to come back, but it was your ego in between even after mistaking. How could you claim that it was love, if you were not able to come back?

Chanda leaves her chosen life as sex worker, which was forced over her in a way; not for Dev, but for herself. She becomes another Paro of Dev’s life…. the same selfless girl, who is ready to do everything for him, without wishing anything back in return.

I should warn everyone, it’s not just a piece of entertainment, but it would be hard to go through in both the way, either you feel it from inside or you not. Think twice before watching, but if watch, then don’t dare to rant anything wrong about it outside, because it means that you didn’t learned anything like Dev in most part of his life. For me, it’s something, you need to watch again and again over times to feel, to find…

Abhay Deol: Really he given full justice to the role, he was given. Although I feel that John of No Smoking was also able to do justice (sorry for being blunt), but that doesn’t take any credit back from the talented Deol. He is really on a roll with offbeat films again and again. I rate him higher than Shahrukh or Dilip Kumar in other versions.

Mahie Gill: What a superb role as debut!!! She was as brilliant as a Paro might be. Beautiful, graceful, expressive….. she is a born actress for sure. She shows all shades as much the director might have desired. I will be really looking for her next movies.

Kalki Koechlin: Her English looks might keep her away from mainstream cinema, but she was brilliant for her role. She was as tender as the role might have dreamed and at the same time as mature in acting that may make you feel that she is somewhere of between us.

At the end, all praises for the talented director Anurag Kashyap. Full Marks to you for the kind of cinema, you are giving to Bollywood.