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New Bollywood Movie: Dev D movie reviews and critics

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New Bollywood Movie: Dev DFilm: Dev D (drama)

Release date: 06 Feb 2009

Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin

Direction: Anurag Kashyap

Duration: 2 hours 52 minutes

About: Dev.D is a 2009 Indian romantic drama film released on February 6, 2009. Written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film is a modern day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas. Dev.D was embraced by the media ,critics and public alike.Times of India had given it 5 stars.This film is considered to be a path breaking film depicting the youth of contemporary India.

THANK God for the mavericks, the non-conformists, the infidels, the les enfant terribles. They make things happen when kitsch becomes king; when creativity crumbles; when formula pervades, fungus-like. Imagine a world without rule breakers. And then imagine, like Anurag Kashyap: unbridled, unbounded, ungrounded....

Indeed, Dev D is one such flight of fancy from the filmmaker that definitely defies all conventions and demolishes all moulds. Not only does it rewrite the technique of the artistic medium, with its unusual cinematography, dizzy editing, non-linear plot narration, turn-of-the-century dialogues and breathtakingly bizarre audio track (music: Amit Trivedi, lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya), it completely revises the ancient text which has already made its mark in its various avtars , the latest being the high-pitched rendition of the self-destructive hero by Shah Rukh Khan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas.

Kashyap has always been a contrarian filmmaker, consciously steering away from traditional Bollywood with films like Black Friday, Paanch, No Smoking. However, while his earlier films were an innovative search for his groove and rhythm, Dev D is like that heady cocktail which has the vodka pitched perfectly with the tang. (Incidentally, Dev D likes his vodka with thumbs up, washed down in unlimited portions, morning, noon and night!) Set against the rich rural backdrop of Punjab and Paharganj (Delhi), the film traces the self-destructive sojourn of a young, contemporary hero who mirrors the existential angst of the proverbial outsider, made legendary in the writings of Satre, Camus, Kafka, Kerouac and the ballads of Kurt Cobain.

But Dev D (Abhay Deol), unlike Devdas, isn't a blast from the past. In his rootlessness, his lack of purpose and his complete disconnect with the real (read traditional) world, he reflects the mindset of the archetypal new millennium 20-something who doesn't know how to blend tradition with modernity, permissiveness with orthodoxy, Oxford with Bhatinda. And so, he asks his childhood sweetheart, Paro (Mahi Gill) to send him her nude photographs through e-mail, yet can't handle the quandary about her virginity and pronounced sexuality. In a fit of aggrieved machismo, he spurns her wild sexual adventurism which sees her cycling to the neighbouring fields at the break of dawn with a mattress meticulously rolled up on the carrier for a clandestine tryst with him. (Ever seen the bharatiya naari do this in Indian cinema? Bravo, brave new Bollywood!) Little does he realise that Paro isn't mere putty in his hand and is unwilling to subject herself to any kind of ‘emotional atyachar', in the name of love.

Having given vent to her anger and pain, she simply moves on while the already disconnected Dev becomes even more dysfunctional with his alcohol and drug addiction. He moves to a seedy hotel in Paharganj and ends up after a drunken stupour in young Chanda's (Kalki Koechlin) pink and purple boudoir. Once again, Kashyap reinterprets the self-sacrificing courtesan, Chandramukhi in completely post-modern terms. Here, she is Lenny, the schoolgirl who ends up as the sex worker, Chanda, after being disowned by family and friends because she featured in a lewd MMS, that sent the whole nation in a lustful tizzy. `And they call me a slut!' exclaims the feisty escort who attends college by day and plays Florence Nightingale in shorts by night.

The relationship between Dev and Chanda begins with hate, scorn and derision with the decadent Dev unleashing his chauvinism and me-centrism on the hooker. But when the haze of cocaine lifts, the heartburn begins, once again. After having stooped to unimaginable lows, our hero dreams of a second chance. Will he get it or is Devdas destined to waste away forever? The last we saw him was at a non-descript momo joint in the seedy by-lanes of Paharganj, waiting for nirvana. Of course, he's all by himself, since proud little Paro's moved on and survivor Chanda's too strong to play doormat, willing to give up her slutty ways, for love alone.

Dev D is indeed a coming-of-age film, not merely for the protagonist, Devender Singh Dhillon, but it is a brilliant breakthrough for Bollywood too. It really doesn't matter whether the film ends up as a box office scorcher. What matters is the fact that for the discerning viewer, Dev D is a tryst with milestone cinema, reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann's Shakespeare-shaken-and-stirred in Romeo and Juliet. Kashyap, however, gets even more adventurous and adds a progressive flourish to both the plot and the characters which are played to perfection by the three lead players. If Mahi and Kalki are riveting new finds, assured of a long innings in cinema, then Abhay Deol adds a whole new meaning to the term `Unconventional Hero'. Manorama Six Feet Under, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye were just teasers. Dev D is the class act from the Deol who cleverly flew over the cuckoo's nest. Don't miss this film which completely reinvents the musical love story, with zany numbers like ‘emosanal atyachar', ‘saali khushi', ‘nayan tarse' and the rest. More importantly, it might just go down in history as one of the most radical Indian films, at least in its delineation of male and female sexuality.


Race to Witch Mountain 2009 Movie Reviews and Casting information

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Race to Witch Mountain 2009 new movieTheatrical Release: Mar 13, 2009 Wide

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Carla Gugino, Ciaran Hinds, Alexander Ludwig, Tom Everett Scott, Christopher Marquette, Cheech Marin, Garry Marshall

Director: Andy Fickman

Rated: PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements.

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Disney restarts their beloved Witch Mountain franchise with this family-friendly adventure. Dwayne Johnson (THE GAME PLAN) stars as a taxi driver who gets more than get bargained for when he picks... Disney restarts their beloved Witch Mountain franchise with this family-friendly adventure. Dwayne Johnson (THE GAME PLAN) stars as a taxi driver who gets more than get bargained for when he picks up two teen runaways (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig). Not only does the pair possess supernatural powers, but they're also trying desperately to escape people who have made them their targets.

History: Race to Witch Mountain is an upcoming re-imagining of the original 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, using elements from the originating book of the same name. The film is directed by Andy Fickman and stars Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, and Carla Gugino. Filming began in Los Angeles in March 2008. Race to Witch Mountain is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2009.

Who is playing what role?...Lets find out:
# Dwayne Johnson as Jack Bruno, a Las Vegas cab driver. The director wrote in a cab driver as a main character because there was a unique relationship between the driver and his passengers. Fickman explained, "When Dwayne's driving and two aliens appear in his cab, he's stuck with them, there is an implied contract that I will get you to your destination, because that's what he does."

# AnnaSophia Robb as Sara, twin sister of Seth, a girl with paranormal powers. Fickman chose Robb based on her performance in Bridge to Terabithia (2007).

# Alexander Ludwig as Seth, twin brother of Sara, a boy with paranormal powers.

# Ciarán Hinds as Burke, the villain. Hinds described his character as a man in black, explaining, "I'm the head of the operation who's contacted directly by a man you never see...It is about protecting the country. He's responsible for it, and he'll do whatever needs to be done. That's how he sees it."

# Carla Gugino as Dr. Alex Friedman, a discredited astrophysicist. Fired from her university, she is relegated to giving a lecture at a UFO conference about hard science. Fickman cast Gugino into the role since he was a fan of the short-lived television series Threshold, in which the actress starred.

# Tom Everett Scott as Matheson.

# Garry Marshall as Dr. Donald Harlan, a government fringe scientist and UFO conspiracy theorist.

# Cheech Marin as Eddie.

# Chris Marquette as Pope.

# Kim Richards as Tina, a roadhouse waitress. Richards portrayed the girl, Tia Malone, in the 1975 film.

# Ike Eisenmann as Sheriff Antony. Eisenmann portrayed the boy, Tony Malone, in the 1975 film.

# William J. Birnes, the host of UFO Hunters, in a cameo.

# Whitley Strieber, author of Communion, in a cameo.




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