Devdas To Dev D
A novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay that has been remade in the cinema not once, not twice but 9 times. Devdas has become synonymous with an image of a heartbroken lover, so much so that even keeping a beard is met with a question , "Kya Devdas bane ghoom raha hai ?".
What is it about this story that attracts people to it again and again? What gives it a place set in our ethos? Maybe it is the social system that we cant seem to break out of, a hierarchy that we want to do away with but cant, for reasons unknown and most of the reasons that are not questioned enough. Maybe it is about the recklessness of knowing that that we are on a suicidal cruise control to who knows where and then again who cares? May be it is with a certain pleasure that we watch this educated and rich youth self-destruct himself one peg at a time. It might be also about finding two beautiful women pining for the drunk youth's attention. Which exactly is it, no one can tell and no one wants to. The truth might be that Devdas is a warped mirror that was held out almost 100 years back and sadly enough it still holds true.
So on 30th January 2009 when Dev.D its 9th remake made its way to the theaters nothing much had changed … or had it ? From the opulent, rich bordering on indulgent Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002 to Dev D by Anurag Kashyap in 2009 trippy, edgy, raw and in your face.
Things so to say have moved on and our social norms are changing rather fast. The story in essence remains the same but the setup,the interpretations and undercurrents are given a radical makeover. Surely it is about being a Devdas drinking down one's sorrows about the love the love lost but what now matters is how that happened? There are no societal pressures, almost unmentionable hierarchy. Here Dev’s father actually wants to marry him to Paro. This time its about the sexual politics and mind games that come with it.
Paro this time isn’t only an ethereal beauty going gaga over a 'diya' and her 'pardesi piya' but is a 'chammak challo' equipped and enterprising enough to send 'nange' photos of herself. Not only forthcoming about her wants and desires but also proactive to fulfill them. After being at the receiving end of Dev’s moody and brash refusal, she is strong enough to move on and even give it back to him, in due course of time.
Dev drinks when he wants to even before he was lovelorn, has sex whenever he can, rolls a joint when he feels like, snorts some when he gets an urge. Why if you dare ask? Because he wants to and he can!
You hate him but look at his brash nature in awe. You despise him but cant help cheer for him.
Chanda in her character graph brings in how women are seen as commodities to be bought and sold but in a contemporary sense, in a MMS scandal. The compulsions of joining the oldest profession, then finding her redemption of sorts in a high class brothel, BSc(Hons) student by morning Randi (in her own words) by night, and she is completely okay with it. What is interesting is that she isn't by any means apologetic or sorry about it.
Anurag Kashyap has polished and brought out that mirror again showing us what we have become or run the risk of becoming. Sex is now out in the open with collegians average age of losing virginity down to 18. Everybody is indeed doing it. From considering drinking bad we now need a drink badly and as almost a case study for escalation and descent into our recreational drug use, Marijuana now seeks legalization. The whole meaning of 'trips' which was an innocuous getaway is now morphed into a heady after effect of not so innocuous drugs.
Yes things have changed, we are more hedonistic than we were ever before, we enjoy every pleasure to the fullest, we are unapologetic about what we want in life and will be proactive to achieve it, but if not achieved we will move on. We are more inclusive and uninhibited about a lot of things and including a variety of professions. There in lies our redemption, in our own hands, in our own awakening and relalization and hopefully we get to it sooner than later.
As the whore tells the hedonist, “You are not that bad you know!”.
- Prateek. D.Vadgaonkar
