Friday, February 27, 2009

ooo what does this button do or the attack of the :DD's-Dev-D and Delhi-6

The problem with posting late is that fellow bloggers would have already stolen your thunder when it comes to reviewing Movies or albums.

I recently saw DevD and Delhi-6.I would give DevD a lukewarm rating-not a movie which you should miss but definitely not worth burning-a-hole-in-your-pocket-by-watching-it-in-a-multiplex-in-these-recessionary-times like I did.I was expecting a slightly different plot than that of Devdas and going by the comments of Abhay Deol(He said he wanted to explore the drug 'culture' in urban India) I thought it would be similar to other drug stories that I know of like James Frey's A million little pieces but the impression you get after watching the movie is that the Dev of DevD is basically a drunkard gone awry in a BMW.The audience primarily gets the impression that it was alcohol which caused the problems and not cocaine.Mahi Gill as Paro was simply mind blowing in the way she oozes raw sexuality whether sending her nude pics to her lover or the most amazing scene of all-carrying a gadda on her bicycle riding in the middle of fields of Sarson.I have a vague feeling she is somehow related to actress Priya Gill.(?)I did not like Chanda played by Kalki Koechlin as I was not too impressed by her potrayal of a foreign embassy child turned part-time prostitute cum student.Finally,Abhay Deol as Dev does quite convincingly seem to be the delusional arrogant bade baap ka beta but for someone whose last Abhay Deol movie was "Oye lucky lucky oye" -to escape the similarities in both the movies seems impossible.Both are based in Delhi and both involve a second half in which Abhay Deol rambles around Delhi-in one case drinking and wrecking his life and in the other case carrying out a serious of thefts to prove a point.It seemed like a repeat of the performance in Oye lucky.I definitely like the alternate ending and it finally helped me purge my mind of the horrific run-to-Paro's-gate-and-die-with-bottle-in-hand Shahrukh in SLB's Devdas.I think DevD is a movie which grows on you more the number of times you watch it and I am definitely looking forward to watching it on DVD.

Delhi-6 was a complete and utter letdown.Saw it on the saturday of it's release and I was pretty disappointed.The most frustrating thing about Delhi-6 is that none of the songs are picturized(except Masakalli and Dil Gira) and I kept waiting and waiting but was time and again horrified by hearing all my favourite songs being frittered away as background score.Actually when it comes to ARR's music,it is usually very difficult for filmmakers to picturize them.Ram Gopal Varma has go on record saying that he had quite an headache trying to imagine how to picturize 'Aye rama' in Rangeela.The only Bollywood filmamker who has done justice to Rehman's music is in my opinion Ashutosh Gowarikar esp. in Swades.Most of the characters in Delhi-6 are very well fleshed out but the plot is horribly weak.Nothing much happens in the first half and the second half is one of the most silliest I have seen in recent memory.The only silver lining is Sonam Kapoor who just looks very very yummy :D and this movie proves that she can be a good actress as well.Overall,something which you can definitely avoid if you have not wasted your moolah already.

PS:The movie I am waiting for with utter impatience is Gulaal releasing Mar 13

10 comments:

Deepika said...

Haven't watched DevD yet, but I totally agree about the picturization of the songs in Dilli 6. Mani Ratnam does an excellent job at ARR song picturization. Even Lagaan, RDB had good picturization. RDB for that matter for that matter was excellent because you'd never expect what was shown out of Lukka Chuppi and Roobaroo but it still made so much sense. Mehra could have and should have done a better job at it.
(Sorry for this super long comment but Dilli 6 was a huge blow.)

Niksworth said...

the only reason to watch delhi 6 is masakali, and since it is available on youtube so why would I go to the theatre? I did not find rakesh mehra terribly promising in RDB as was made out to be. And to shut the door completely, it has AB's baby.

Dreamcatcher said...

I haven't seen DevD and now I don't think I'm going to waste money on Dilli6 - I'll download it instead.

Ankita said...

Well,'Gulaal' hasn't been a victim of similar hype, at least till date, so maybe would turn out better than both.

Took said...

I thought Dev D is by far the most innovative and original offerings of the year...what with a string of pretentious mediocres like Gajini, Luck By Chance and...(am I allowed to say Slumdog Millionaire?)...it was a refreshing change.
Thought Kalki was quite a natural...

Dutta said...

I loved Kalki's potrayal, and some of her scenes with Abhay Deol is amazing, the Hug scene or the Car scene where both of them are eating Momos. You should also have mentioned about the Music of Dev D.
If you expected a Train spotting or Requiem of Dream from Dev D .. you should know about the Indian Censors first ... !!

Delhi 6 as rightly said was a let down and especially due to misutilization of the Songs. Even thE Script was too loose ...

Anonymous said...

Sonam Kapoor is yummy!! Really! I haven't watched the movie and might not watch it.. But I have the trailers, which I am tempted to watch every night before going to sleep.. :)

Gammafunction said...

@Deepika:I am not a big fan of RDB either but at least it was watchable and at least the song picturizations were spot on.

@Niksworth:I agree.Abhishek Bachchan fails to impress in this movie with his faux American accent.

@DC:That's like the best thing you can do to avenge your wastage of money on bad movies.Download! :-D

@Ankita:Hope Gulaal turns out better.The promos are out!

@Took:Slumdog was mediocre I agree.I think most people fed on a staple diet of rags to riches bollywood would find it insipid. Welcome to the blog!

@Som:I did not mention the music of DevD 'coz I have not had the chance to listen to it other than in the movie though I did like the rock version of Emotional Atyachaar :-D

Indecision Personified said...

Hey, I heard Parakh Madan (remember her?) is in Dev D. Haven't watched the movie yet.. may do so.. but was wondering if you knew what charecter she was playing?

Anonymous said...

whoa!!!! a whole bunch of intellectuals critically analysing movies!!! Good to c that....i saw both the D's and to my surprise found myself satisfied with both of them...Perhaps after working for 6 long days in a glamourless factory any bloody movie can charm me...:) n yeah sonam is too delicious!!! Agreed.

I am Jack's indecisiveness wrapped in a sheath of fatalistic tendencies