Whilst all industry verticals are toiling hard to upgrade and improve upon their latest technology and the mobile industry is waking up to 3G, Bollywood has taken the cake and the icing too. Thanks to Anurag Kashyap and for his 4G Devdas.
But before anything else, ovation is very much due to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay for creating an unparalleled story which has delivered four celluloid versions in a single language within 100 years of its creation(first published in 1917). And probably will see atleast 2 more versions in our generation’s lifetime. Such is the eternal appeal of this tragic love triangle. Absolutely fantastic. Applause! Applause! Applause!
The first Devdas came in 1935 by P C Baruah with K L Saigal, Jamuna and Rajkumari, followed by Bimal Roy’s 1955 version with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyjayanthimala. Then the 2002 Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed starring Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. And now in 2009, Anurag Kashyap’s narrative ‘Dev D’ with Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin.
Each of these filmmakers have had their own takes on Devdas. Whilst the 2G and 3G Devdas were larger than life and almost periodic renditions, the 1G and 4G Devdas if not realistic but more contemporary to their times. P C Baruah’s film was more about Devdas and Paro(Jamuna having played Paro in the Bengali version also to P C Baruah, himself, the Devdas) It portrayed Devdas as a lamentable wastrel in K L Saigal. The Bimal Roy’s Devdas launched the tragic hero image of Dilip Kumar.(Bimal Roy was the cinematographer of the first Devdas and he dedicated his version to P C Baruah).
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus was an ambitious project. Probably, he aimed to take away the ‘Showman’ title from Subhash Ghai. Unfortunately, he ended up creating a caricature of Devdas, though Shahrukh Khan tried to deliver his best. Bhansali also attempted to be as true to Bharatmuni’s ‘Natyashashtra’ with all the elements of nat, natya, nritta and nrittya. He also introduced the traditional theatre character, Vidushak, in Chunilal and there he definitely succeeded. Jackie Shroff’s buffoonery matched act to act with the ever remembered olden-day sidekick, Rajendranath, to perfection. And was a triangular love story same as Bimal Roy’s. Though his shashtra(weapon here) failed at the box office, the same fate that Bimal Roy’s Devdas met with. The 1G and 4G were acclaimed hits and were profitable to the producers.
The only thing common, apart from Sarat Chandra, to all the ‘Devdas’ is the hugely successful music…Timir Baran for P C Baruah, S D Burman to Bimal Roy, Ismail Darbar for Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Amit Trivedi for Anurag Kashyap. All the four composers created hits in their respective films, to list just a few…’dukh ke din ab beetat nahi’ by K L Saigal in 1935, ‘aan milo shyam sanware’ by Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey and ‘woh na aayenge palat ke’ by Mubarrak Begum in 1955, ‘bairi piya’ by Shreya Ghoshal and ‘more piya’ by Jaspinder Narula in 2002, ‘emosanal attyachar’ by Rangeela, Rasila and ‘dhol yaara dhol’ by Shilpa Rao in 2009.
The earlier three filmmakers used established and successful actors; Anurag Kashyap went for lesser known Abhay Deol and newcomers Mahi and Kalki. And therein lay the filmmaker’s conviction of vision and the confidence of his art and talent.
Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D is the circumstantial frustration of Abhay and Kalki. Veering away, Abhay’s Devdas is debauch, with scant respect for emotions and relations and is very self-centred. He uses people for his ends. Abhay has enacted the role to believable senses without going over the top or trying to gain the sympathy of the audience. Kalki’s Chanda is a fresh change from lovelorn Chandramukhis of the past. Anurag has tried to demystify the circumstances behind Chanda’s fate to turn sexworker. Mahi’s Paro is limited in its scope and is more of an initiation to the story of Dev and Chanda.
Real life incidents of the past, from across the country, have been woven effectively into the script. Dev D’s screenplay flows from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s. In the earlier two Devdases, the father’s character did not have as extended role to play. The influence is also seen in usage of Shahrukh posters. The cinematography is psychedelic and fits the narration style very well.
It may not appeal to masala movie fans but Anurag has treated it with his own flavours and spices. But, Dev D will be long remembered for Anurag Kashyap’s pathbreaking, gutsy but honest style.
Anurag you rock, your Dev D rocks!
And I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 5G Devdas very soon. What with Farhan’s Devdas for Zoya Akhtar…and maybe, just maybe, Isha as Paro and Konkana for Chandramukhi. What say you? Are you ready?