Dev D

Its been described as a "contemporary deviant version" of the eternal story Devdas. Well, as deviant versions go, its one heck of a snazzy, stylish, electric, on-the-edge movie made on the life of a brat. A brat played by Abhay Deol, who's a languid Punjab da munda instead of the genteel, slightly intellectual-effeminate bangla-babu Devdas in the original.

I guess, its this one major spin off which has allowed Anurag Kashyap to build in some other powerful characters in this fabulous storyline. Paro for starters. A fiesty desi kudi who knows what she wants and how to get it. All without a trace of guilt, of course. If Mr. Dev D has humiliated me, i have every right to give it back to him with interest. So what if he is already down in the dumps when i decide to hit him? He brought it on himself didnt he? And P.S., i really love him as well.

Chandramukhi is the more forgiving types. But then thats only a minor detail in her characterization. She's otherwise an eclectic, half-firang, multi-lingual(tamil and french included), college going CSW whose pimp lets her live her life on her own terms. Oh! and did i mention, she also has an obscene MMS and a flourishing "phone friend"service running. All along with with a smile on her face to die for.

Then there's her pimp. A typical New-Delhi pahargunj jugaad complete with a garish suit and risque, witty quotes coming out of a head covered with slick cocunut oil. He makes sure that our contemporary hero is not limited to the usual bottle of whiskey but also has a wide variety of narcotics to choose from. With him, Dev D turns into the coke snorting, bar hopping loser who forgets where he spends the night at in the alleys of Pahargunj. Without him, the movie might as well have been set in the original Sonagachi. Amongst other very honorable mentions in the movie are the Patna Ke Presley's- for their rustic to-die for expressions during the song. These guys got the loudest cheers inside the hall.

Alongwith the characters, the backdrop of Delhi and its people played a major part. One scene which stood out for me was when Dev D returns from his safe haven in Pahargunj in a drunken state and get's inside a DTC bus to sit next to a nagging old lady who starts threatening him about how she would have dealt if drunks like him were her sons. At the backdrop, a ticket checker approaches their seat and right at the moment when he asks the lady for her ticket, Dev D, given the mentle state he is in, plucks the ticket off her hands and eats it. The lady, in shock, hyperventilates and screams- "Kha gaya-Kha gaya, yeh mera ticket nigal gaya."

The nuances of each location of the city is as it is. For example, when Dev D desperately needs coke, Anurag Kashyap shows him knocking on the doors of a shanty near majnu-ka-tilla (a place where you do get the stuff). Pahargunj is very much the same old Pahargunj where you still get aalu-ke-paranthe and aachar at Rs.5 per plate. Or when Chanda goes to college, the scene actually shows her standing inside a college (Ramjas?) in Delhi University. Very unlike Rang De Basanti where the whole of India Habitat Center was fibbed off as being Delhi University.