Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Disputable Dev.D

Love it or hate it. You can’t ignore it. Steeped in controversy, there's no escaping it.

The thing I like about DEV.D the most, is that it has dethroned the critics from their pristine marble thrones, who much like ancient roman emperors decide the fate of movies by giving them the 'thumbs up' and letting them live, or giving them the 'thumbs down' and condemning them to the place where all showreels go to die. I however, to a certain extent despise critics, mostly because they influence your mind and feed you with opinions much before you've experienced the bit of reel life in question, yourself. I have a mind of my own and don’t need anyone to tell me what I should think or feel about a movie. I'd rather watch a movie first and then read the review.

But more than the critics, the ones who I truly loathe are the hordes of countless, mindless minions, who surrender themselves wholeheartedly to these critics. Like lions in the zoo that have slipped into impotency, who have now accustomed themselves to quenching their cinematic appetite and satisfying themselves with the allotted bit of opinion-meat, that's freely flung into their confining cages. Conveniently forgetting that they are fu#$@ng hunters, on top of the food chain.

I sometimes wonder if the minions miss the thrill of the hunt. Of grabbing hold of a cinematic experience in their jaws and digesting it for themselves. I believe they are amply content with being fed the chewed up worms that 'mother critic' meticulously and religiously spits into their mouths. Which they spit back in return, garnished with some exquisite thesaurausy words, and a smirk that says 'I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread', when asked for their take on the movie matter.

It's true. Dev.D has dethroned the pagan critic gods from their pretentious pedestals. And in forcing them to forfeit their thrones, has cornered them into raising up their white flags and telling people that 'Ok, this is what I feel about the movie, personally, as an individual, i.e. - I love it or hate it. There's no middle ground with a movie like this, and you should buy a ticket and decide for yourself, all right?'

Plunging them into a 'Critical quandary', Kashyap has created something that, i daresay, people would have to go out and form their own opinions about. There's no unanimous crital opinion. Everyone has their own rating system, and this is true not only for the critics, but also for the public. And for you, as an individual. Recognize it. With the naked emotion, unapologetic abandon, unabashed openness and stark individuality of the characters that's superbly captured on film, this movie definitely deserves a dekko. But don't just take my word for it. Check it out for yourself and tell me what you think.

Posted by Shane.

5 comments:

anantha said...

two thumbs up for reviewing the reviewers. thus spake the thesaurusy critic.

Usha said...

hahaha. thus spake the angry Shane!
i dislike critics too. and dev.d is definitely worth a watch, simply for being so brave if nothing else.

Shane said...

Thanks Anantha. And Meera, I believe deranged minds think alike.

Usha said...

listen, let's just call it great.
like, mad genius. :)

Subramaniam Avinash said...

Love your critique. I'm going to totally disregard it and decide for myself.