Tuesday Trivia: Dev D was suggested to Anurag Kashyap by Abhay Deol at a party

Abhay Deol approached filmmaker Anurag Kashyap with a concept of a contemporary retelling of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas.

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Tuesday Trivia: Dev D was suggested to Anurag Kashyap by Abhay Deol at a party
Dev D stars Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin and Mahie Gill in lead roles.

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was one of the most prolific Indian writers whose stories have been adapted into many films. It is the 144th birth anniversary of the Bengali writer today. Among many of his creations, Devdas is one novel that has been recreated in different eras. Anurag Kashyap's 2009 film Dev D is a modern take on the story of Devdas, written in 1917. While the director received praises galore for his adaptation of the classic Bengali novel, few know that it was actually Abhay Deol's idea to give Devdas a modern twist.

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More than a decade ago, Abhay Deol approached filmmaker Anurag Kashyap with a concept of a contemporary retelling of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas. Abhay narrated the concept to Anurag at a party before he took up acting as his career. Later, when Anurag decided to make a film on the concept he thought of signing Abhay Deol as the lead. The film became one of the most successful art-house movies of our time.

The depiction of complex female characters in Dev D and its out-of-the-box music resonated with the audience. The music of Dev D plays an important part in the narrative of the film. It was composer Amit Trivedi’s breakout film. While he was supposed to make his debut as a composer with this film, Raj Kumar Gupta's Aamir is technically his first film as Dev D was delayed due to various issues. Anurag asked Amit Trivedi to compose music for the film after briefing him about the premise. And eight months later, Trivedi gave him seven songs, all of which are in the film - and are superhits.

Watch the trailer of Dev D here:

From Emotional Atyachar to Pardesi, the songs lend the film a unique character. The Pardesi song sequence was as significant to the film’s narrative as it was visually dazzling. For it is here that Dev’s descent into self-destruction is shown. The director has used hallucinatory visuals aimed to depict Dev's drunken state of mind. Interestingly, the underwater shot which sees Dev plunge his head into a bucket was inspired by Danny Boyle. Boyle, who used this technique in his drug film Trainspotting, is said to have helped Anurag Kashyap understand it. The director has given a ‘Special Thanks’ credit to the Slumdog Millionaire director in Dev D.

Watch the Pardesi song here:

Emotional Atyrachar has its own story. The idea of using a brass band in the song came to Anurag Kashyap's mind in 1995 after watching Kamal Swarup's 1988 film Om Dar-B-Dar. There is a sequence in the film where a band is playing on the streets and the protagonist is walking through it. Just like the characters wear sunglasses at night in Emotional Atyachar, the singer in this sequence is also seen wearing sunglasses. The idea of using Hinglish lyrics in the song also came from the 1988 film.

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Watch Emotional Atyachar song here:

Did you notice Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Emotional Atyachar? Nope? Go watch the song right now. You can also watch Dev D just to pay a tribute to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay on his birth anniversary today.

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ALSO WATCH: ANURAG'S FULL INTERVIEW WITH INDIA TODAY