Dev D or how much (and how fast!) Bollywood has changed
{FILM SPOTTING}
Dev D (India, 2009)
Polish Distributor: I doubt one exists or that one will exist in the near future :]
Release Date (worldwide): 9th January 2009
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill
Production House: UTV Motion Pictures (UTV Spot Boy)
Plot: This is a modern interpretation of Devdas, one of India’s most famous novels (it’s been adapted for the screen so many times it defies belief ;)). This one (judging by the trailer), doesn’t just have Devdas drunk, but on drugs also…
Trailer
What makes it exciting?
Well, actually the main reason I’d quite like to see this is this - it’s one of the most ridiculous Bollywood songs I have ever seen! I mean how often do you see two Indian Elvis Presleys lip-syncing to a song which sounds like Balkan music (well except for the Hindi lyrics ;-P). If that’s what the narcotic visions in this film are going to be like then it might be fun ;)
I also love the tagline - “Try not falling in love.” (it’s a play on the most famous Bollywood tagline of all time, which is “Come Fall in Love” - the tagline of DDLJ).
Finally, I guess the whole movement going on on the outskirts of Bollywood now is, to me, quite fascinating. It seems like less and less things are taboo (I kind of doubt that drugs and narcotic visions would have made it into an adaption of Devdas a few years ago) and basically anything goes now. Sure, Dev D might not exactly be a very mainstream film, but then nor are these sorts of films in the West.
The sceptical part of me thinks this film might be pretty difficult to get through though. The only other of Kashyap’s film that I’ve seen is No Smoking and I found it a little difficult (although interesting - if David Lynch ever decided to make a song & dance Bollywood film I think that No Smoking might be a bit like what it would look like ;) ).
