Dev D:
I went to the movies after a long time (last one I can think of was Welcome to Sajjanpur) to watch Dev D. I had no idea what the movie was about. I did not know who the protagonists were. I did not even know that it had an 'A' rating!! I knew two things. It was directed by Anurag Kashyap and it was a modern take on the eternal anti-hero Devdas.
Sitting comfortably in the reclining chair of Inox cinemas, I was least expecting what was about to come. The first 30 minutes was like a shock for me. I had never seen this kind of Hindi film before. It definitely deserved the 'A' rating. As Bala once said it could have been given an 'A++' rating ;-) It was like watching one of those sleazy Malayalam movies, difference being that, it was mainstream cinema, with real actors! I would have probably classified this as soft-porn, but that's me.
Abhay Deol plays the role of modern day Devdas, spoilt, educated abroad, and always on the lookout for booze, dope, and s**. The online flirting with his childhood sweetheart - Paro played by the gorgeous Gill, is naughty to say the least. Back in India, things start to go wrong for our Devdas. Suspicion starts to creep into his mind, and ends up losing his Paro. Meanwhile there is a parallel story of Chanda, the modern day Chandramukhi, being developed. Being a realist Anurag has tried to portray lot of real life controversies in the film. The Delhi Public School MMS, the BMW hit and run case etc...
After the intermission, the movie lacks the charm and the pace of the first half. This is probably because the movie has very little to show in the second half and the lack of a convincing story is very evident. The second half is a continuous loop of our Devdas getting drunk (sorry sloshed) doped and his frequent sojourn at the red light areas. The ending is very abrupt and the film ends with absolutely no message to the viewer. Not even a suggestion for us to think on.
But one thing that it did do was strengthen my obsession with anti heroes- Abhay Deol, as the protagonist who plays the modern day Devdas is a typical loser that your parents do not want you to grow up to be. And that is precisely what makes his character so damn real and attractive: he is weak, he is confused, he is vulnerable, he is flawed and “conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities”, i.e. he is like us!! And he was not the first anti-hero that I liked. Tyler Durden (Fight Club) is probably my favourite character of all time. Tracey Whitney (If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon) is my favourite fictional character.
Delhi-6:
I first saw the trailer of this movie while watching Dev D. I was instantly impressed and was really looking forward to its release. I mean, who wouldn't be impressed with that kind of star power. After RDB, and a pretty long absence, we were expecting a super block buster from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. With Abhishek Bachan in the lead and the ravishing Sonam Kapoor (someone described her as a cross of Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman - I could not agree more) dancing to the amazing tunes of ARR, my expectations were sky high for this film. Well that probably turned out to be the downfall...
The biggest disappointment of the film is its story. There is absolutely no story to look forward to. At least not after all the hype of it being bigger than RDB. I will not go much into the story (for the lack of it ;-)), but in general the other aspects of the film are very good. Abhishek plays his role as an NRI to near perfection. Although he has very less dialogues, he communicates to the viewers through his eyes (aka Sarkar). Sonam Kapoor has very less screen presence. Most of the times I caught her on screen, I saw her moving her voluptuous body to the breathtaking numbers of the album (review on that soon). The direction, screenplay and cinematography are all top notch. But the film puts emphasis on the 'Kaala Bandar' thing too much for my liking. But the main character of the film is Delhi -6 itself. The Chandini Chowk area. For people who have lived there, probably they will really like the film. For people like me, who have not even visited that place end up having no emotional connection with the place or the local characters. The climax is too 'bollywoodish' for me and this is where even the people who had liked it till then start getting irritated with the film. And again, there is no message from the film. I would suggest everyone to buy a music CD of Delhi-6 instead of wasting it on the movie ticket.
I went to the movies after a long time (last one I can think of was Welcome to Sajjanpur) to watch Dev D. I had no idea what the movie was about. I did not know who the protagonists were. I did not even know that it had an 'A' rating!! I knew two things. It was directed by Anurag Kashyap and it was a modern take on the eternal anti-hero Devdas.
Sitting comfortably in the reclining chair of Inox cinemas, I was least expecting what was about to come. The first 30 minutes was like a shock for me. I had never seen this kind of Hindi film before. It definitely deserved the 'A' rating. As Bala once said it could have been given an 'A++' rating ;-) It was like watching one of those sleazy Malayalam movies, difference being that, it was mainstream cinema, with real actors! I would have probably classified this as soft-porn, but that's me.
Abhay Deol plays the role of modern day Devdas, spoilt, educated abroad, and always on the lookout for booze, dope, and s**. The online flirting with his childhood sweetheart - Paro played by the gorgeous Gill, is naughty to say the least. Back in India, things start to go wrong for our Devdas. Suspicion starts to creep into his mind, and ends up losing his Paro. Meanwhile there is a parallel story of Chanda, the modern day Chandramukhi, being developed. Being a realist Anurag has tried to portray lot of real life controversies in the film. The Delhi Public School MMS, the BMW hit and run case etc...
After the intermission, the movie lacks the charm and the pace of the first half. This is probably because the movie has very little to show in the second half and the lack of a convincing story is very evident. The second half is a continuous loop of our Devdas getting drunk (sorry sloshed) doped and his frequent sojourn at the red light areas. The ending is very abrupt and the film ends with absolutely no message to the viewer. Not even a suggestion for us to think on.
But one thing that it did do was strengthen my obsession with anti heroes- Abhay Deol, as the protagonist who plays the modern day Devdas is a typical loser that your parents do not want you to grow up to be. And that is precisely what makes his character so damn real and attractive: he is weak, he is confused, he is vulnerable, he is flawed and “conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities”, i.e. he is like us!! And he was not the first anti-hero that I liked. Tyler Durden (Fight Club) is probably my favourite character of all time. Tracey Whitney (If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon) is my favourite fictional character.
Delhi-6:
I first saw the trailer of this movie while watching Dev D. I was instantly impressed and was really looking forward to its release. I mean, who wouldn't be impressed with that kind of star power. After RDB, and a pretty long absence, we were expecting a super block buster from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. With Abhishek Bachan in the lead and the ravishing Sonam Kapoor (someone described her as a cross of Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman - I could not agree more) dancing to the amazing tunes of ARR, my expectations were sky high for this film. Well that probably turned out to be the downfall...
The biggest disappointment of the film is its story. There is absolutely no story to look forward to. At least not after all the hype of it being bigger than RDB. I will not go much into the story (for the lack of it ;-)), but in general the other aspects of the film are very good. Abhishek plays his role as an NRI to near perfection. Although he has very less dialogues, he communicates to the viewers through his eyes (aka Sarkar). Sonam Kapoor has very less screen presence. Most of the times I caught her on screen, I saw her moving her voluptuous body to the breathtaking numbers of the album (review on that soon). The direction, screenplay and cinematography are all top notch. But the film puts emphasis on the 'Kaala Bandar' thing too much for my liking. But the main character of the film is Delhi -6 itself. The Chandini Chowk area. For people who have lived there, probably they will really like the film. For people like me, who have not even visited that place end up having no emotional connection with the place or the local characters. The climax is too 'bollywoodish' for me and this is where even the people who had liked it till then start getting irritated with the film. And again, there is no message from the film. I would suggest everyone to buy a music CD of Delhi-6 instead of wasting it on the movie ticket.
1 comment:
Dev D:
Well, I agree with the A++ rating, but then, somehow, the movie has its own charm! Definitely not a movie one should go to with their parents (which unfortunately for me, I did, and my mom had the most hearty laugh when she saw me squirming in my seat). But then, the portrayal of today as-is was quite true. Though, most of us might not be so "adventurous", but it does happen, even though many would not admit it..
Delhi 6:
Yes, the movie could have been way better. It feels like every story in the movie wasn't complete, if you know what I mean. But the music, is its saving grace. Music which would appeal to all generations.. The use of fusion is really well done.. All in all, its a movie you could see once. Though, it did make me think about today's social situation. I guess, if you're going for pure entertainment, you'd rather be watching some other movie.. But if one can leave the incomplete stories and focus on the subject matter, it is a good watch! :)
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