MovieChat Forums > Dev.D (2009) Discussion > Answer my questions, people, seriously.

Answer my questions, people, seriously.


State at least one reason why you liked this film, which, to me, was nothing but a turgid, slow, boring and an uninspiring tale of an absolute loser...

Unfortunately, I went to watch this film on the first day of its release with my mum and dad as there was no better film on the offering that day. And what would have been their reaction you can very well imagine. On top of that, one of my friends said she liked it a lot to the point that she was able to "relate" herself to the character of Mahi Gill, which brings me to another question especially for those who are Jatt girls:

Are Jatt girls, inherently, that extrovert and open-minded with their sexuality?

And what's with everyone saying that Dev.D is an original Bollywood film or something like that? It's far from it. There have been many Bollywood films that were made in the past that have both entertained and made you feel good at the end of it. This film does neither. On the contrary it does everything NOT to make you feel happy. No?

There are more points that I'd like to make, but the aforementioned text will fetch me with replies -- some filled with ad hominem, some with fawning and ga-ga over this film. If not, I'd post something more constructive.

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No takers?

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had enough or want more? where you hiding now punter?

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"And what's with everyone saying that Dev.D is an original Bollywood film or something like that? It's far from it. There have been many Bollywood films that were made in the past that have both entertained and made you feel good at the end of it. This film does neither. On the contrary it does everything NOT to make you feel happy. No?"

I think u went with completely wrong set of expectations... Dev.D was NOT supposed to make you happy...

As for being entertained, I got entertained throughout the movie.. the authenticity with which all the situations, characters are shown... I can't think of any contemporary movie which can even come close to it.. And plus it had mind-blowing songs, which blended beautifully with the story...

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what is so good about Slumdog that it won an oscar...leave that wats good about the great Shawshank redemption,does that enetrtain u??

this movie is by means just a good movie...its truly a classic,a brilliant piece of cinema...I just feel giving reasons for it would be stating plan obvious

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As for being entertained, I got entertained throughout the movie.. the authenticity with which all the situations, characters are shown... I can't think of any contemporary movie which can even come close to it.. And plus it had mind-blowing songs, which blended beautifully with the story...


Have you seen "A Wednesday"? It was far more entertaining and far more thought-provoking film than Dev.D. Infact, to compare the former with the latter is an insult to the former. Moreover, the relationship between Dev and Paro, as many have said, was made to look contrived and hence looked unauthentic and unrealistic.

"Dil Se" had better songs, though not as eclectic than Dev.D, but they were still better. Does that make "Dil Se" to be a better film?

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Yes I have seen 'A Wednesday'.. and in my opinion it was a very mediocre movie.. it was only in the last 15-20 mins where it was different from a normal commercial movie.. and that too because of performances of Naseer and Anupam Kher... before that it was too loud and over the top.. some scenes which were supposed to be quite serious, I was laughing at the melodratic way they were shown .. and techically it was very amatuerish...

And yes, I think Dil Se was also a brilliant movie...

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@Punter18....

well where should I begin?....
first of all you make yourself look ridiculous by revealing that you went to THIS film with your parents (but I appreciate your honesty)...best advice I can give you is that you collect some info about your films and then decide who do you go with....this is obviously not your Hum Aapke Hain Kaun type movie for family consumption...

Coming back to the film...this films works for me (& many more) for the following reasons....

1. Firstly it tears apart the hypocritical iron curtain of conventional bollywood...I always hated those virginal leads who loved but never made love...
Thanks to Ak for saving us from Chopras, Johars & Barjatyas...

2. Technically it is top notch...cinematography & sound effects are one of the best...

3. It boasts of some excellent acting performances by the leads...

4. It doesn't spoonfeed...there are subtle humor and non linear flow at times that it leaves open for people to understand...

5. Music is one of the finest in recent times...

6. Finally it provides a different ending thus changing the century old stereotype...

Coming to your specific queries...

1. "Are Jatt girls, inherently, that extrovert and open-minded with their sexuality?"..

Did anybody say so?...it could've been set in any other region...what's the big deal?

2. "And what's with everyone saying that Dev.D is an original Bollywood film or something like that? It's far from it. There have been many Bollywood films that were made in the past that have both entertained and made you feel good at the end of it."...

What the does it mean?...at least complaints should be logical...a film is not original because some other movie has made you feel good before?...So Li'l Miss Sunshine is not original because you felt good with Casablanca?...

Also you should know that there are films which are made to make people disturbed or make them think...not every movie is made to make you feel good...But as far concerned it did make me feel good...

Finally I'm sure your parents hated it...it is just not for their generation...But I can't see why you hated it...

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Exactly. This movie is not supposed to make you feel happy. There are certain movies made so that a particular story can be told in a particular way/approach. Dev.D is one of them. It surpassed my expectations. It connected and stayed. And way better than all the Devdas renditions.

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I'm not a hypocrite. If I criticize, I criticize the idea and not the person.

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I dont quite agree with your points:
1.Firstly it tears apart the hypocritical iron curtain of conventional bollywood...I always hated those virginal leads who loved but never made love...

So u mean a movie is good if it depicts that lovers should make love.. and can that be a criterion for a movie being good or bad.

Also remember it is implied that he was not interested in making love with the girl he actually loved (Chanda)... so iron curtain of bollywood stays here as well.

2. Technically it is top notch...cinematography & sound effects are one of the best...

If u wacth it clearly you will find there is nothing great about cinematography, It is intelligent usage of songs that gives an effect of brilliant cinematography.. watch it with sounds turn off an u wont get that effect.

4. It doesn't spoonfeed...there are subtle humor and non linear flow at times that it leaves open for people to understand...

Are u referring to dialogues like: "Sahab aapne abhi tak uski li nahi kya?". If this is humor, than God save Indian cinema.

5. Music is one of the finest in recent times...

Agreed.

6. Finally it provides a different ending thus changing the century old stereotype...

Boy gets girl and they live happily ever after.. is it a different ending?
The ending of actual Devdas (which came centuries ago as per ur comment) was really different

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[deleted]

1. "So u mean a movie is good if it depicts that lovers should make love.. and can that be a criterion for a movie being good or bad. "

You are again taking the narrower perspective...what it means is that Bollywood has over these years have been giving an underaged Amar Citra Katha version of love where it never meets with lust & true lovers only sing songs & dance (often with the entire joint family)....which is something real life couples of present day will never do...

2."Also remember it is implied that he was not interested in making love with the girl he actually loved (Chanda)... so iron curtain of bollywood stays here as well. "

Don't know if you felt so...I din't get that implication that they din't do it...
Also the question remains ...who did he actually love?

3."If u wacth it clearly you will find there is nothing great about cinematography, It is intelligent usage of songs that gives an effect"...

So...it is the use of songs & sound...sound mixing & editing....some way or the other it is technical brilliance...you may give it different names...

4. "Are u referring to dialogues like: "Sahab aapne abhi tak uski li nahi kya?". If this is humor, than God save Indian cinema. "

Is that the only dialogue u picked from the movie?

5. "Boy gets girl and they live happily ever after.. is it a different ending? "

I was referring to earlier Devdas's & the novel itself...modern day specimen is supposed to be more practical...

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The film is technically top notch but the script is so much flawed.

People are going gaga over the trueness of character from DevD which I find a bit funny.


Where do you find a young boy calling his father and mother by their first names? I wonder if any family in India allows such a behavior?

Dev and Paro chat using IM but when Dev D asks Paro for her naked photo all she can get is an old camera. And I thought that getting those old cameras would be tough these days.


The way Paro's father is caricatured reminds of 90' hindi potboilers

Paro, carrying a mattress on a bicycle to the farm, so that she can get intimate with her lover. I guess this is the most favorite scene of many people. Did I miss something? Does this scene have layers to it? So much for Hindi cinema's coming of age.

Why does Chanda/Leni has to be half Indian? Why not get real and choose an Indian to play this character.

Leni's father shooting himself because of the humiliation looks so much contrived. If this is what the family members of those who feature in these mms do then I am sure that our news channels are definitely underperforming in getting the news out. I guess even the most infamous scandal (The DPS) has not resulted in such a tragic conclusion.

Chanda turns to prostitution as an aftermath of mms scandal; it's shown as her own decision to get into that line .Is it not possible for such a girl to live a normal life? Is it just because AK wanted to show the degenerated society/youth in DevD that Leni happenes to choose it?


I was so exicted about Emosional Attyachar brass band version when I heard it.
But watching it on screen was such a letdown. I mean who in his right mind will allow such a song in a wedding.

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"Where do you find a young boy calling his father and mother by their first names?"
That was the initial part to begin on a funny note...there might be such people.. might be not...how do you know? its not a big deal...

"Dev and Paro chat using IM but when Dev D asks Paro for her naked photo all she can get is an old camera. "....

As it is shown, she uses a cyber cafe...her rustic parents definitely never bought a digicam...many families still have old cameras...even I have one back home...& also in the cafe she can't undress & use a webcam...

"The way Paro's father is caricatured reminds of 90' hindi potboilers "...
I agree this character was totally clueless & foolish...

"Paro, carrying a mattress on a bicycle to the farm....... Did I miss something? Does this scene have layers to it? So much for Hindi cinema's coming of age. "

Although it is not a formula bollywood movie....u need not look for layers everywhere...people liked because here is finally a heroine who doesn't apologetically yearn for her man to come &......she tries to fix the matter herself...

"Why does Chanda/Leni has to be half Indian?"...

What if it's not?....I dunno...probably because the actress herself was french....& probably no Indian actress agreed to play the role...

"Leni's father shooting himself because of the humiliation looks so much contrived. "

Yes but doesn't honor killing & suicide etc happen in many parts of the country?
I once heard a story where one veteran IAS officer who visited an escort & found out to be his own daughter & shot her...

"Is it not possible for such a girl to live a normal life?"...

c'mon after all it is a Devdas adaptation...they had to get their Chandramukhi...how would it work is she leads a normal life?...

" I mean who in his right mind will allow such a song in a wedding. "
I agree...but somehow its the bizarrity that attracted people...

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@jitadityaec


You put it down yourself in the last line of ur previous post

but somehow its the bizarrity that attracted people...

Much of DevD's craze is of this type.

For me its same as ppl admiring Amitabh Bacchan's angry young man in that Era.

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But that doesn't take away the credit from the film...anyway bizarre is a welcome break from banal...
I have replied to most of ur queries regarding various aspects...

As far as AB's angry young man is concerned...that was a mass hysteria of a society fed up with corruption and underdevelopment...
this one is a niche hysteria by urban youth who are fed up with sexual oppression as well as banality of formula bollywood...

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What DevD does is it replaces the so called "Bollywood Formula" with another one.

It takes equal liberties as any other "Bollywood Formula" flick.
And no way the film is representative of the actuality as it is being made out to be.

There is a clear distinction between bizarre and reality.


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SPOILERS


Who said the ending was happy. if anything, it was just that dev went with chanda. he has no money.she has left her profession. she will run out of money. he has a hit and run case. he could go to jail for a lot of years. so the ending was seemingly happy but was infact pretty ambiguous. and yeah the movie did not claim to be a docu drama on the lives of young epeople. its based on a novel. so there are flights of fantasy. another thing if you wanna watch reality watch BLACK FRIDAY by the same director.

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Exactly

The film is not a docu drama and hence I am confused by people going gaga over it bcoz of its so called autheticity and realness of characters.


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@PradipPatil

Seems you are trying too hard to find faults...yes characters are pretty much real...they don't take interludes to Switzerland to sing songs (even though the guy is rich)...

And as the other guy pointed out Balck Friday...I'll say a few things...now you are complaining about one formula replacing another & what not...But what happens when someone makes a really artistic & thought provoking films in India?...Nobody watched Black Friday or Hazaro Khwahishe Aisi when they were released...Shyam Benegal had his first hit last year after more than 30 years of filmmaking...

Only if the right people were appreciated we would have seen much better movies...

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My intention is not to find faults.

This is one of the best films I have seen in recent times.


It's just the claims about film being realistic and echoing the youth of today that make me point out these things.

If only people were to accept it as another kind of masala flick...


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Why do you want to go with what people say about it. Everyone likes different things in a movie. Some liked the brazen dialogs, some like the cinematography that was so drugged in its treatment.Others like the way songs burst in at every corner. And some hated it for precisely those things.

Art is a very individual concept. One man's art is another man's sleaze. You can't decide what people will think.

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its not that what it does has not been done before. it takes the old things and used them in an utterly different way. there is music, dance, there is love there is sex and there is also the running in fields by heroine. but just note the way anurag has used the scenes. also the profanity is not overdone. it may not be very realistic but there is still an element of truth in this movie than sanjay leela bhansali's overblown tripe devdas.(i liked saawariya more than slb's devdas). so yeah it IS and it is NOT a Masala film as well.

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Very well put raj_rivaldo


I really liked the way he decided to show characters.

Totally crazy.

They are Punjabis. but a total departure from the Punjabiness we are used to see in other hindi films.

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"I was so exicted about Emosional Attyachar brass band version when I heard it.
But watching it on screen was such a letdown. I mean who in his right mind will allow such a song in a wedding. "

I heard this song at a real wedding a decade or so ago:
" ... Dekhega na tu kal ka savera ... Main Nagin tu sapera"

Emotional Atyachar is FAR less morbid :-)

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"So u mean a movie is good if it depicts that lovers should make love.. and can that be a criterion for a movie being good or bad. "

You are again taking the narrower perspective...what it means is that Bollywood has over these years have been giving an underaged Amar Citra Katha version of love where it never meets with lust & true lovers only sing songs & dance (often with the entire joint family)....which is something real life couples of present day will never do...

2."Also remember it is implied that he was not interested in making love with the girl he actually loved (Chanda)... so iron curtain of bollywood stays here as well. "

Don't know if you felt so...I din't get that implication that they din't do it...
Also the question remains ...who did he actually love?

3."If u wacth it clearly you will find there is nothing great about cinematography, It is intelligent usage of songs that gives an effect"...

So...it is the use of songs & sound...sound mixing & editing....some way or the other it is technical brilliance...you may give it different names...

4. "Are u referring to dialogues like: "Sahab aapne abhi tak uski li nahi kya?". If this is humor, than God save Indian cinema. "

Is that the only dialogue u picked from the movie?

5. "Boy gets girl and they live happily ever after.. is it a different ending? "

I was referring to earlier Devdas's & the novel itself...modern day specimen is supposed to be more practical...

i couldn't agree more on every point u have mentioned
even though i felt something was actually mising
i still don't know exactly what is
i have seen a really bizarre movie named after hours
i think u should see this(if u didn't do it already)

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agreed !! I mean I like the director of the movie but I would be aping all others those who did not like the movie but still said "its great" simply to sound good and hip !! Well I did not .. If I like the Director then it does not mean that I will like the *beep* dished out to me as well.. Well this was not *beep* maybe .. but I just cant think I enjoyed it any which way .. Abhay Deol is a great actor, and I seriously think he was the lone good point of the movie. The music.. well , the background score was good, but I dont take the music in contention when commenting on the movie..

The script was flawed. "People Connecting " .. ahh.. this movie.. Well thats crappy ..

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Hey man, wats ur problem wid the movie. The movie is fantastic and the cinematography is awesome. Music is one of the finest and above all it have a variation. It have various genres of music. The movie is one of the finest gem of our bollywood. I salute to Anurag Kashyap and hope that he will make more such movies in the future. U have a problem wid dialogues, then my friend u shud knw that the dialogues are very realistic. "Sahab apne abhi tak uski li nahi?" It may be vulgar or cheap for some people like u but it is realistic. Everybody knows that our world is full of these kind of sentences. The thing that made movie awesome is that the movie is realistic. All the incidents like 'The DPS girl scandal' and 'The BMW hit and run incident', all are real. U can relate them to the real world. I m very sure that Kashyag had a good research on the effects of alcohol and drugs that is why the scene of Dev vomiting, blood from the nose, dipping the head in water to reduce some highness, taking cocaine in a hundred ruppee is included in the movie. Because all these things are related to the type of drugs used in the movie.
The best thing I liked about the movie is the ending which gave us a message that there is never a end. There is always a light in darkness. One can actually quit the drugs and alcohol. Thanks alot Anurag Kashyap for making such a wonderful movie. And a salute to the cast of the movie specially Abhay, Kalki and Mahie, they were awesome.

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People didn't interrupt the flow of the movie by bursting into dances. I love this about Anurag Kashyap movies.

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Leave it or take it.

As someone above said " One man's art is another man's sleaze"

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[deleted]

sorry bro i dont agree with you .... i criticize many movies myself but this one stands a apart.
it is one of the best bollywood movies made.
this is how devdas should be made in this modern world.
a really really good take by anurag kashyap on devdas.
didnt imagine it to be that good. great acting , very realistic, shows quite of lot of underbelly.
overall a great film ....

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For this film to have worked the audience had to feel some sympathy for the hero after he breaks up with Paro and I didn't feel any.

With the hero being a self-centered, no-good with virtually nothing to make him remotely likable, the rest of the film turned into a long tale of a guy who you don't care about flushing his life down the toilet.

So, from the point of the break-up I felt emotionally detached from the characters and lost interest.

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I saw Devdas (only the most recent one) and basically hated it. No one's motivations felt real and I hated watching SRK drink himself to death.

Dev D is still a depressing movie. The basic Devdas story is a real downer. But here the remake is thoughtful, different things have been done with the characters. While I do not particularly like the characters, still less their actions, and "gritty realism" is NOT what draws me to a movie, I could believe what they were doing far more than I ever did in Devdas.

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