Saturday, February 21, 2009

Dev D: An Atyachaar Of Sorts

I never liked the whole idea of Devdas to begin with. I mean, what a loser. Why can't you stand by the woman you love, dude? And if you can't, and you do lose her, why can't you move on with your life?

But you know what? Much as I dislike Shah Rukh Khan, at least his portrayal of the character makes you feel the loser's loss.

Dev D, on the other hand, is cluttered with performances devoid of emotion and expression, lovemaking scenes devoid of chemistry, and modifications to the original story that do not add anything to it. I think this was the first time in the last six or seven years that I went out for a movie and did not feel like sitting through the closing credits. I always sit through the closing credits of a movie, because I like the feel that comes from the music that plays alongside. With Dev D, I felt like walking out around the intermission, but I remembered what happened with Luck By Chance and decided to stay till the end. This time round, I regretted having made that decision. It moved from being boring to being mildly irritating to being torturous.

The promos never made me feel like watching this movie. All the stuff that people had said about this movie had generated quite some curiosity in me. But it was totally not worth the time and money. A lot of people have praised the director due credit for being a lot bolder than a lot of Indian directors. I think It's all pretty distasteful. I've seen much bolder films that are way more tastefully made than this one.

I wish I'd watched Delhi 6 a second time instead, like I wanted to after having seen it once!

3 comments:

Kavita said...

My Thoughts...

Dev D definitely wasnt worth the stars that the newspaper reviews showered on it! But I would still give it a 3.5 on 5.

And here is why... I thought Lenny was well characterised, and that there was stuff abiut the MMS scandal that the movie brought out (of course, the scandal had nothing to do with the original Devdas script!!!) that I was relieved to hear... like 2 scenes that come to my mind - one where Lenny is painting Abhay's face and saying how the entire world downloaded and came off the tape, and then had the audacity to turn back and call her a slut... and her bewilderment on how his dad could watch it... and then rather than saying to her in such difficult times ki it will get ok, he shot himself and she had to live with the burden of killing her father all her life... I think there were some very poignant scenes...

And Paro's uninhibited dance in her wedding (she just cant keep a check on her wilderness :P) makes me smile too...

Abhay's character is very loose, you dont feel any of his pain, and the editing is bad... you feel the drugs and drinks scenes would never end!!

And yes, I think the director has cluttered the movie with sexual scenes, thinking these things will automatically sell the movie... I hope the audience is discerning enough to not buy whats not worth anything :)

Phew... that was another review to your review... your comments :P

PS: Do you think I am ready to have a blog of my own ;)

Bhavya said...

I don't know... I thought the scenes that you describe as poignant could have been a lot better. The performance could have been a lot better, it could have actually brought Lenny's character to life in a better way. Paro's dance that you talk of was actually the only time that I smiled in the movie... the only part that I liked.

and yes, would love to see you start your own blog :)

Akash said...

Achcha hua, kui maine nahi dekhi... mera bhai bhi same feedback de raha tha...