In the pre-Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) era, it was Dev D (2009) that made Anurag Kashyap a force to reckon with. It attained a cult following and 17 years after its release, it’s all set to re-release in cinemas on April 24.
As per an article in Bombay Times, the Abhay Deol-Kalki Koechlin-Mahie Gill starrer will be back on the big screen, but only in select theatres. It also carried quotes of Anurag Kashyap, Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin and music director Amit Trivedi. Anurag said, “To see Dev D return to the big screen feels special. It’s a film meant to be experienced collectively with Amit Trivedi’s music and Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography powering the narrative. I am curious to see how the new generation responds to it.”
Kalki Koechlin revealed, “I remember being so nervous about my Hindi lines that every morning on set, I would practise all my vowels and consonants in Devanagari to get the pronunciation right. The best part about shooting the film was not knowing anything about filmmaking, because it meant I didn’t care about the camera angle or how I looked on camera.”
Interestingly, it was lead actor Abhay Deol who suggested the idea of the film to Anurag. He explained, “I remember when I would narrate the idea of Dev D, the most common reaction I got was that it was ‘too arty’ to be made. When I narrated it to Anurag, I didn’t tell him it was a contemporary treatment. I just narrated a love story. He did not guess what I was actually narrating, and when I revealed that it was a contemporary Devdas, he went quiet for 20 minutes, imagining it in his head. He loved the idea of treating it with a musical score that would take the story forward, one song at a time. Although he went with a different ending (my idea remains Dev dying in the end), my thought was to call out Devdas’ misogyny and highlight the women’s resilience. It’s my only idea that got made into a movie.”
Amit Trivedi’s career also got a boost with Dev D. He stated, “Each song was deeply rooted in the narrative, whether it was the wild energy of ‘Emosanal Attyachaar’ or the quiet ache of ‘Nayan Tarse’. When the film was released, something shifted for me and helped me find my voice as a composer.”
About Dev D
Dev D was a contemporary reimagining of the classic Bengali novel Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and was produced by Ronnie Screwvala. While Abhay Deol played Dev, Mahie Gill essayed the role of Paro. Kalki Koechlin was launched with this film and she played Chanda. Nawazuddin Siddiqui featured in an entertaining cameo as a band singer in the song ‘Emosanal Attyachar’.
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