I almost gave up on Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D after the first half hour, when it threatened to be just another retread of the classic Devdas story - a story of a pathetic, unredeemable narcissist, a story that never resonated with me. I was well rewarded for sticking with it. This new adaptation makes some adjustments that, while small, nevertheless yield a far more satifying film Sanjay Leela Bhansali's execrable 2002 version.
The story of Dev.D is familiar, as Devdas is a Bengali tale that has been told many times both in Hindi film and in other Indian cinemas. Dev and Paro are childhood friends, separated when Dev's family sends him to school abroad. They remain in touch through his long exile, and upon his return, the young adult Dev (Abhay Deol) and Paro (Mahie Gill) find that their friendship has developed into strong romantic attraction. They intend to marry, but social forces intervene. In this version, Paro is led to doubt that Dev will want her because her family is of lower status than his, while Dev overhears an angry servant telling salacious tales about Paro and, electing to believe them, rejects her. Paro marries a widower selected by her family, and Dev falls into a deep drug- and alcohol-fueled despair, in the company of a prostitute called Chanda (Kalki Koechlin), who cares for him despite his narcissism and his rage.
It is in the treatment of Dev's relationship with Chanda (Chandramukhi in more traditional versions of the story) that Kashyap's Dev.D improves over earlier renderings of the tale. Chanda is given a heartbreaking backstory that offers her some substance and helps motivate her warmth for Dev. And Dev, for a change, is permitted an arc; in contrast to the simpering, unchanging pile of misery in Bhansali's film, here he grows in Chanda's care. Chanda analyzes Dev, seeing that he loved the idea of possessing Paro more than he loved Paro herself. The film's best moments come when Chanda confronts Dev with his narcissism; he accepts her insight and evolves in response to it.
In addressing, rather than indulging, the flaws of Dev's character, Dev.D is elevated. It is not merely a gritty retelling of the old tale, dressed up with frank sexuality, coarse language, and a rock soundtrack. Instead, it's a touching and mostly believable story of two damaged people finding each other in the darkness of their anguished lives. Paro is sidelined, compared to other tellings of the tale, but she isn't missed; the story is Dev's and Chanda's. And when Paro does reappear in the film's second half, she too has grown; instead of wasting herself pining for Dev, she takes a maternal pity on him. The result of giving these young characters a chance to develop is that Dev.D advances the Devdas legacy. Like its characters, Dev.D learns from history, rather than wallowing in it.
Recent Comments