Dev D - Unconventional at its best..

Abhay Deol has worked in some of the most unconventional scripts. To his credit he has pulled it off many a time. He doesn't fail to impress us as Devdas this time either.

If you think that this is again one of those "rona dhona" types of movies then you are totally mistaken. I was infact taken aback by the way this movie progresses. After seeing No Smoking, I had vowed that I will never see another Anurag Kashyap movie. But being the true Bollywood buff that I am, I gave in and watched Dev D. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.

The movie is essentially the story of DevDas set up in modern times. The main 3 characters are based in Delhi and are punjabis which you generally see in a Abhay Deol movie. Dev and Paro are friends from the childhood. Dev's father makes him to go abroad to pursue a good education. Despite the boundaries and distance Dev and Paro's love blossoms over the internet and the both are keen to lose their virginity to each other. Dev comes back to Delhi and finds Paro there waiting for him. Just when all seems well, Dev kisses another girl in his brother's marriage in the heat of the moment and gets angry with himself. In his anger, he believes a false story about Paro not being loyal to him either, which is doing the rounds. Dev breaks up with Paro in a heated arguement and takes to Vodka instead. If you were a strong DevDas lover and cherished the relationship among devdas and paro and their immortal love, you might find this new Dev and Paro's relationship very fragile and based on more of physical pleasure, rather than being each others soul mates. This is the only blemish of the movie.
The plot continues to introduce the angle of Chanda (urf Lenis). Lenis is a young school going girl. She has an affair with an older guy which her parents dont know about. Her boyfriend films her and distributes it via MMS (much similar to the DPS MMS scandal). Circumstances force Lenis to become an escort and hence get a new name of Chanda.
Meanwhile, Dev has now taken to drugs as well and spends his dad's money like crazy. He meets Chunni who is a pimp and gets introduced to Chanda. After 2-3 meetings both become more of friends and share their life experiences with each other. Chanda falls in love with Dev and Dev too admits that he loves Chanda but he admits that he 'll always love Paro more.
What happens in the climax? Does Chanda help Dev in his quest to get Paro back? Does Dev finally get to be with Paro or will he die with his drinking habbit? This is for you to find out. I must say that the climax was very innovative on the director's part.

The music of the movie is very different and refreshing. Although "Emosanal Atyachar" might be the biggest hit, but its tracks like Duniya, Pardesi, Payaliya and Aankh Micholi which touch the soul of the movie. Two thumbs up to the music director Amit Trivedi for trying something very different and bold.
Among performances, Abhay Deol is top notch. This will add another feather to his cap. Especially the scene where he has too much of a drink and drugs, the way he has portrayed whats going inside his head by mere expressions is simply awesome. Mahie Gill (Paro) is strictly okay. Kalki (Chanda) has given a strong performance and mainly talks through her expressions. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Chunni could have been better.
The captain of te ship, Anurag Kashyap, has shown that "Black Friday" was no fluke. The direction is very good. I guess some of the scars made by "No Smoking" on me were erased by this movie and I will look forward to watching his next offering, "Gulaal".

Rating: *** (A good watch)