What can you expect from a film which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor?Of course, a typical Bollywood movie, because mostly, Big B stars in family movies such as ?Baghban?, Kareena Kapoor works in films like ?Main Prem Ki Deewaani Hoon? and Fardeen Khan in films like ?Janasheen?. These films are all those typical singing and dancing kind of movies, but this time, they are together, in a very different film. This film is about the lives of cops and how do they affect the society.This film is very different, as there is no glamorous heroine here, nor is there any item dance number, as it is the case in most of the cop films and nor is there any comic relief, out here.It is all reality and nothing else.
THE FILM:
?DEV?, directed by Govind Nihalani stars Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Amrish Puri, Milind Gunaji and Ehsaan Khan. There are so many multi-starrer cop films made in Bollywood and ?Dev? is also one of them, but the difference lies in the way, it has been made. This film depicts the tortures people go through in a society. There is lots of violence but the film consists of a hard-hitting subject, which you cannot criticize.
THE CHARACTERS AND PERFORMANCES:
1.Dev Pratap Singh(Amitabh Bachchan):Inspector Dev Pratap Singh is a hard-working cop who does his job with full dedication. He believes that the police should be respected by everyone. Amitabh Bachchan plays the title role, and, as usual, this time also he gives an excellent performance.His dialogue delivery and his overall presence is the highlight of this film. He is excellent in the scene where he has a confrontation with Fardeen Khan. The way he says ?Come on?SPEAK UP?, in the complete BIG B style is clapworthy. If this film is a body, then he is the life of this film!
2.Farhan(Fardeen Khan): Farhan is a young Muslim boy who is secretly fighting for the cause of Muslim rights. He wants full protection of Muslims and Inspector Dev, finished. Fardeen Khan after a line of super flops such as the horrible ?Janasheen?, is back and does a brilliant job. He fits into the role of Farhan, very well and breathes life into this character.For the first time you can see him doing some serious acting. Improvement can be clearly seen!
3.Aliya(Kareena Kapoor): Aliya is a simple girl, who is in love with Farhan, the boy who is living in the same building where she is. She is completely in love with Farhan and if he has a problem, she takes it as her own problem. Kareena Kapoor is wonderful, in this film. Although this is a male-dominated flick, she holds a position of her own, throughout the movie. She is daring to do something different in Bollywood. First, there was her film ?Chameli?, which was very different and now this one. She is excellent in especially two scenes. The first one is where she sees a pistol on Farhan`s bed and asks him cleverly if he is involved in something dangerous. The second scene, where she stands out, is of course, the one in which she has a scene with Amitabh Bachchan, where she is a witness. This actress is, for sure, maturing!
4.Tej(Om Puri):Inspector Tej is Dev`s best friend. Whenever, Dev and his wife are free, he is always there to give them company. He, like Inspector Dev, also does his job with honesty. Om Puri is fantastic as Tej. He looks very good on screen with Amitabh Bachchan and gives a competent performance. He is excellent in the scene where he is drunk and tells about his ?Geeta? to Inspector Dev.This performance is another highlight of the film!
Rati Agnihotri as Bharti/Dev`s wife does a nice job. She plays Amitabh Bachchan`s wife for the second time after ?Kaante?, but this time she shares a better on-screen chemistry with Big B.Ehsaan Khan as the corrupt politician who starts this movement of going against the police force, is very good. Amrish Puri also does equally well and carries the same ?mogambo? attitude. Milind Gunaji and Harsh Chayya are also fine, in their respective roles.
THE STORY:
This film talks about the issue of Muslim rights in the Indian society. Whether they are treated fairly or not? Inspector Dev Pratap Singh is a very hard-working policeman, who has a wife, Bharti and a friend Tej. At work, he is very strict and stone-hearted and at home, he is very relaxed as any other man.One night, some policemen enter the building where mostly Muslims live and there is a sudden attack on them. This makes everyone living in that place, terrified and full of anger. A corrupt politician Latif, makes everyone want to fight against the police. He wants to spread violence and attracts more and more people to join this movement, which he calls ?jihad?. One of the angry young man, who joins him in this mission is Farhan, who wants the full protection of Muslim rights. He holds Inspector Dev responsible for the difficulties the are facing, due to several reasons. The main motive of his life is now, to kill Inspector Dev. One night, he tries to attack Inspector Dev with his wife, but fails to do so and the next day, he is caught by the policemen. From then, many events follow up.
THE WORK OF THE CREW:
Govind Nihalani, as a director succeeds. The dramatic moments are held very well without any unrealistic feel. Many scenes might interest the viewers, such as the one where Farhan is caught and is beaten up, severely and how he shows his anger. The scene in the start where a college student shows Dev that he keeps the status of police under his pant`s` zip and Dev uses his gun is excellent but I felt that Dev took a very big action for such a small issue.
Screenplay is another positive point of the film. The film goes on one track and doesn`t let you feel as if it is going haywire. Meenakshi Sharma`s script is original and different.The scenes have been very well planned and each and every character is very well sketched. You can relate to everyone`s character-from an honest policeman Dev`s character to a corrupt politician Latif`s character.
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