Dev [Abhay Deol] is the son of a rich Punjabi Businessman. He and Paro [Mahi Gill] are childhood sweethearts. But Dev, being an insecure arrogant guy, instead of acknowledging her affection and care, nudges Paro over frivolous things. The movie is based in the contemporary Punjab and Delhi, where familial ties are negotiated by the traditions of patriarchy and marriages are reduced to a game of power and "honour". Dev is sent to London for higher studies when his father senses how spoilt his son is. But while separated by distance, Paro and Devs youthful love only blossoms more. Dev arrives in Chandigarh to meet Paro. Their endeavor to make love makes for some dark comic moments. The seeds of suspicion are sown here, that the couple will never be able to weed out for a lifetime. When Dev hears rumours about Paro, he immediately believes them and ditches Paro. What makes them fall apart is mutual suspicion and an essentially male vision of how a woman should conduct herself sexually. Paro turns her back on him when she hears him insult her, and agrees to marry whoever her parents choose. On her wedding day, he realizes that the rumors were false. But his ego doesnt let him accept his mistake, and he lets her marry someone else. Enter Chanda. This part has references to the notorious Delhi school sex MMS scandal. Her father commits suicide as he feels humiliated by his daughters reputation. She is disowned by her family. The movie portrays how she transforms herself from an innocent traumatized schoolgirl into a prostitute. While Chanda isn''t a career prostitute, she is no different as well. Instead of performing Mujras, she enacts scenes from popular American pornographic series. The only thing, that makes her different is the fact that she hasn''t given up on her studies for the profession and has also kept the exit gate open. Dev, tormented by Paro''s wedding, seeks alcohol and drugs. His escape to Delhi from Chandigarh, is as much a pursuit of his lost love, as much it is an attempt to run away from his father. Months later, Dev calls Paros husband in the middle of the night, after which Paro visits him. While Paro has grown to accept her fate, her heart still beats for her childhood lover. Her love always transforms into immense care. On the other hand, Dev demands much more than love - exclusivity over her body - and that''s where he runs out of luck. More than separation it''s the thought of Paro making love to somebody else that''s the cause of agony for him. She makes pass at his sexual power when she says that she does not need to be on top with her husband Ironically, his life always orbits around women. He is forced to cause self-destruction by one and rescued by another. In the end he realises that he was wrong and that maybe he never really loved Paro. He goes back to Chanda and lives with her thereafter.

Production

The original idea of film was suggested by Abhay Deol to Anurag Kashyap, who then worked on the script along with Vikramaditya Motwane, using "news headlines about Generation X" to give the film its youth feel. It was produced by Ronnie Screwvala, and shot in various places including Paharganj in central Delhi. For the scenes where Dev is high, British director Danny Boyle suggested the use of a still camera as Kahyap did not have the budget for special effects.

Box office

= Dev D had an average opening day collection of Rs 15 million. However the movie picked up in box office soon and recovered its budget of Rs 60 million in a few weeks. The net collection in its first four weeks were nearly Rs 150 million. It performed an hit score at the box office.

Reception

Dev.D received mostly positive reviews. Times of India reviewer, Nikhat Kazmi termed the film as a "brilliant breakthrough for Bollywood" and rated it 5/5.. Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express, praising the performance of Abhay Deol and the movie overall. Hindustan Times,praised the film for its "slick style and adventurous interpretation that pushes the boundaries of Hindi cinema" and rating it as 3.5/5. Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India was completely bowled out by the movie and stated, "go and watch Dev D and be blown away by a sample of what Anurag Kashyap as a director is capable of. At least the first half of movie will leave you spellbound."

Development

= Anurag Kashyap did not want to do another remake of any the 9 previous films versions titled Devdas. His version was created as a modern take on the 1917 original classic novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Kashyap decided he wanted to make his own version of Devdas to reflect the original novel but through 2008 mores, with the lead character of Devdas as a debauching, hypocritical sensualist, who is self destructive without knowing he is destroying himself. Talking about the story and his role as Dev, Abhay Deol told Radio Sargam, "The story is very much from the book which Ive read in English. I have played the character according to my interpretation of the book. His character was contemporary, he was quite urban in many ways, hes misplaced in the surrounding and has a spoilt, obsessive and addictive personality."

Initial delays

= After the box office disaster of Kashyaps No Smoking, it was rumoured that United Television [UTV] had backed out of the directors next project, Dev.D, starring Abhay Deol. But according to sources, UTV had signed Abhay for three projects and the actor had blocked dates from November 2007 to March 2008 for Kashyaps film, as the idea was to wrap up the film in one schedule. When the film hit initial snags and was stalled, it was rumoured that UTV had backed out. At that time, the director denied that UTV had backed out. He explained the delay by saying that he would be able to work on the film once work on the earlier film Hanuman Returns had finished. He said that he was still looking out for his Chandramukhi, and so far had locked in Abhay and newcomer Mahi Gill., the film was further delayed as he took more time to find an actress suitable for the role of Chandramukhi, which he eventually found with Kalki Koechlin, who was one of the last girls to be auditioned.

Filmfare awards 2009

= #Won : Best Supporting Actor [Female]: Kalki Koechlin #Won : Critics Award for Best Performance [Female]: Mahi Gill #Won : Best Production Design & Art Direction : Helen Jones, Sukanta Panigrahi #Won : Best Cinematography : Rajeev Ravi #Won : Best Background Score : Amit Trivedi #Won : R D Burman Award for New Musical Talent: Amit Trivedi

Others

= #Nominated at 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards at Queensland Australia #Dev D will be premiered at 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival which will be held in Palm Springs,Palm Springs Regal 9 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262 California, USA on 5-18 Jan 2010