Dev.D (2009)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good. Kershaw's falling.

(00:01):
I can talk like this, right? Is this fine?
Do you want to do a sound check before we begin for good?
Everything's fine.
Everything's fine. Everything's fine.
I guess we just begin.
Okay.
Welcome to Fear of Stairs, Desi Films Decoded, the podcast where four friends from different

(00:25):
backgrounds unlock the world of Desi cinema.
I'm Winnie, the Desi who unfortunately has never been to India.
Yeah. Hi, I'm Shorob. I'm the film enthusiast from India.
This is Nicky, newfound Bollywood enthusiast.
I'm Adam, the Western film buff. And this week I learned that if you become a high-end
prostitute, life is pretty good. And Indian pimps are really nice to you and they really

(00:50):
want you to do well in school. And you know, it seems like a nice career path.
And today we're doing an episode on Dev D, a 2009 film by Wan Anurag Kashyap. And as
a Thai person, I had no idea coming into this movie that this was an adaptation on a very
popular classic Bengali novel called Dev Das.

(01:14):
Yeah.
So, Kiwi, can you tell us about what Dev Das is in general?
Yeah. So it's not only a very popular Bengali novel. It has been, it has been adopted to
on screen so many times in Bollywood, in Bengali film industry and everywhere.
This film is focusing on this guy called Dev Das, who had like a childhood semi-romance

(01:41):
relation with this girl called Paru, Parvati in the novel. He comes back, like when the
girl comes of age, according to that time standard, which was 13, and then her parents
want to marry her off. The girl actually wants to marry Dev Das, but being in from a little

(02:07):
lower caste than Dev Das, who was like a landlord Brahmin family. And their parents, like the
parents of Dev Das was not agreeing to this alliance and kind of humiliated Paru's family.
And when Paru goes to confirm Dev Das that, no, I want to marry you, not like, not please,

(02:34):
convince your parents. And then Dev Das kind of being like just a 19 year old kid, he's
just, whatever, like, nah. And then she just gets married to someone else who was an older
guy in his 40. And that time, Dev, after a bit, actually realizes what happened, that

(02:58):
his childhood sweetheart is now someone else's wife and he goes totally berserk. Like he
starts drinking, he destroys himself. And at this point, another girl comes to his life
who is a sex worker from where, in the city where he was living. In the story, the city

(03:20):
is Kolkata. So he was living in Kolkata and then he meets this prostitute called Chandramukhi,
Chandu or whatever. And they have a certain relationship where Chandramukhi really falls

(03:40):
for Dev Das and the naivety of the guy and Dev Das being a very heartbroken, honest person.
He doesn't see many similar clients who are that kind of a person. So she really falls
for that guy and she takes care of him and everything. Dev Das at first doesn't like

(04:03):
her. He has this holier than thou behavior towards Chandramukhi being a prostitute and
he belittles her a bit at the beginning. But gradually he realizes that he likes her and
she also likes him. But at that point, Dev suffers physically a lot for his heavy drinking

(04:29):
and eventually he dies. So Dev Das became very popular as a novel and also it's very
filmy. The story was very filmy so it had been adapted on screen so many times. So when
this film comes on theater, it assumes that the audience already know the story already.

(04:56):
Why did you choose this for us? I always want to ask, as the curator, this is the second
film you're doing.
So this director is, for me, he's one of the best directors from Bollywood. And when he
started, he always remained an indie filmmaker, not a big production filmmaker. He made one

(05:19):
big production film that was not that good. So he remained an indie filmmaker forever.
I'm glad they updated the ages because I think Paro at 14 is way too old.
So with this particular adaptation, one thing that we should know is that this novel was

(05:40):
written in 1917 by Sarachandra Chattopadhyay.
Oh my god.
Okay, just first of all guys, if anyone gives us feedback on how we pronounce the names,
we're sorry. Please don't give us flak for that. Like, Killy is the only one that pronounces
correctly. Please don't get mad. We're sorry. We're just going to preemptively apologize
every episode, but we're going to screw up the names and we're very sorry.

(06:01):
Yeah, it's a modern take, a modern day take. And then I think part of the fun that I would
say watching this movie is that, you know, try to see what's different and how they adapted
into like, you know, say the work in the modern context.
I don't think you need to read that. I mean, because I wasn't familiar with the story.
You weren't either when you were.
No, I wasn't.
Were you familiar with the story?

(06:21):
I was familiar with it because I watched the Shah Rukh Khan adaptation. I think that was
in early 2002. But I actually thought Dave Das was like a term that you'd find in the
Oxford dictionary. I thought it had a meaning behind it and they just use it as a name for
the film. It was just after watching the FD that I realized that the name Dave Das actually
just came from a novel. So it's really just a person's name. Because we grew up calling,

(06:42):
you know, like certain boys who maybe were like party goers and flirty Dave Das. So I
thought that was a literal definition of the term. I didn't know it was associated with
a name that came out of a novel and had been adapted to film multiple times.
Yeah. But Killy did go like very close to the guidelines we gave him because there are
no dance numbers in this movie.
There definitely are dance numbers. And it was quite, I think this movie is well known

(07:06):
for having such a great soundtrack, which you brought up multiple times.
There's songs, there's not dance numbers.
I didn't actually think-
Nobody dances.
I didn't think about-
They were dancing to the dance number in the movie.
Remember when he's in a bar at one point and you see like closeups of people going on the
mic. It looked very-
It's not a dance number.
And there was like Elvis, Indian Elvis that showed up at one point.

(07:26):
Okay. Yeah. So there's a Greek choir that dances. Like the, it's analogous to a Greek
choir. That's it. There's three dudes that dance like the robot. Nobody in the film dances.
Like, so there's no costume changes. There's no big musical numbers. I'm just going to
say like this does hit the outlines of the one guideline we gave, which was dance numbers.
Well, I think this movie is kind of rooted in realism. It wants to show raw experiences

(07:50):
and that translates to the music numbers, right? A lot of it is just very realistic.
That's fine. It's just as the guidelines we gave to Killy of I want music, it barely fulfilled
it.
Yeah. This, the music from this film was like cherished for so long. It's still, it's still
like really fame popular. And this, the music director, I think he's, I can't say for now

(08:12):
because I didn't research it. I don't remember exactly whether it was his, but it was his
one of the first works that he was doing Amitrivedi. So yeah, it was really good.
Good for him.
Niki, how does the movie start?
So straight out of the bat, we realized that the movie is split into three parts. It's
told in the perspective of three of these main characters. We start with, I think it

(08:39):
was like a childhood flashback scene and it shows like Dev, our main character. He's like
a kid, right? And he, I think what I remember, what I remember was that like, he, he was
very rude. He's very like.
He calls his dad by his first name. That's like our first introduction is he calls his

(09:01):
dad by his first name. Have you guys ever done that?
That's unacceptable in Desi culture. Honestly, that's like, like I told, I think I mentioned
this while watching the film, but I don't even know my grandparents names till today
because we don't refer to them by their names at all. You know, they're, yeah, that's like
the biggest sign of disrespect, honestly. But I think that's rather common in America.
Calling someone's father by his name, Satu here, that is like totally unacceptable. And

(09:27):
that was the first character development for Dave that the filmmaker showed us. I think
that this guy is just like, get on your nerves.
It's not just like Indian culture, like in American culture, like you're a real prick
if you call your parents by their first name. My roommates in college called their parents
by their first names. They were like on a first name basis. They were best friends.

(09:49):
American media that. But as a kid, like I can never imagine using
like first name basis. And I'm like, you know, like I'm not like I have a super strict parents
or they're not very conservative or anything. But I mean, even my phone is like mom and
dad. I can't do that. But I guess the difference in the cultures is that your dad probably
wouldn't have sent you to boarding school in London had you called him by his first

(10:10):
name. And over here, that's exactly what happened. I did not get beaten ever. It was just the
fear of God, not physical punishment that made me say dad.
So one thing that's established is that Paro is this this woman that is completely devoted
to him. She like she's like so in love with him. But then we see this this deaf guy. He's

(10:34):
kind of a douche bag. He sleeps around. You know, he's taking advantage of her. That's
when we know that, OK, something is, you know, something's off with this with this romance.
Yeah. One thing I do like is they don't portray that as romantic. I think in another movie
that might be seen as romantic, like the just incredible devotion to an asshole. And I'm

(10:56):
glad that they showed Dev as like being a prick and taking advantage of her and asking
for nudes and just like trying to like sexually advance with her, knowing like what she'll
do. And he doesn't care about her, obviously clearly takes her for granted. But like I
think in another movie with maybe a different director would be seen as like romantic. I'm
glad it's not. Yeah.
And one thing I want to say about like the Paro's chapter here, like, I mean, they actually

(11:24):
that they actually did. That's that's one of the diversion from the typical Bollywood
culture. And they kind of did that homage to the typical Bollywood. So there was this
film called Pardes where like a desi girl from a village. It's like it's a complete
fetishization of Indian desi village girl from a Indian, like foreign living, foreign

(11:48):
country, like Indian who lives in a foreign country, their point of view. So that has
the scene of like, you know, that we see here, she's running through the field and that airplane
is coming. Oh, by the way, that airplane shot like which looks like a dick. Yeah. I didn't
notice that actually. The airplane, Sheila has like an orgasmic phase and it cross fades

(12:12):
into a big phallic airplane landing. Yeah. Because Dev is arriving. Yeah. That's very
happy. Yeah. So anyway, so that scene is kind of a homage to like that kind of thing, like
which he's running around the field with his with her Dopa and stuff like, you know, very
playfully. And then there's a very like a very innocent village girl look. But when
we actually get to know Paro, we really know that she's not like the typical innocent desi

(12:38):
girl. The Bollywood portraits. She she has flings with guys in the village. She has.
Does she though? Because I feel like that was never proven in the end whether that guy
actually was talking. She was like. Yeah, that guy lied. But there was certain hints
that maybe she didn't sleep with him. Maybe she just made out because she's she there

(13:01):
was a hint that she goes to say, like, if I would have thought I would have never done
and then she stops. So it's like. Yeah. But she does tell Dave over the chat, right? She
does tell Dave over the chat that she would never let any other man touch her until he
does. For my for my reading of the film, I think that's a lie. She's telling Dave to

(13:23):
keep her image to Dave. She's a she's a sexual being in Indian culture, I felt like. So like
they gave her sexual agency, which is super nice. Like, she's clearly I don't think she's
a virgin or at least she's experimented when they go out to the field, which we'll get
to in a second. But she brings out the mattress. And I like that that agency that she had where

(13:43):
like she brings the mattress to the field. She has a purpose of like, I want to hook
up with this guy. It's very clear her feelings for her. And that's cool. Like she has sexual
agency. Like she's not like super she's not an innocent child. She knows what she wants.
And the way she arranged the the mattress and told I and she knows that she knows stuff.

(14:06):
Like it's not like it's not her first rodeo with the mattress in the field. Classic trick,
which by the way, Kelly, did you ever hook up in a field? Where was the weirdest place
you hooked up with when you were like young and you were living with your parents? You're
right, because you mentioned that all of India is a cock block. You said I think when you
said all India is a cock block. No, Kelly said that because obviously, if I were in

(14:30):
there for struggling to have sex when that's all they wanted to do. So Kelly said those
exact words. So please tell us how you navigated all of that. Yeah. The problem is like you
have to find this place like I mean, first of all, the I mean, you live with your parents
when you come off. You're a teenager. You're still with your parents. And getting an empty

(14:54):
room was a difficulty in any of the girls I dated and also in my house. So you have
to figure out a way to get an empty room and empty house. Where? Was it the fields? For
me, it was my friend who was from somewhere else and he had an apartment in the city.

(15:16):
It's an apartment with fields. Well, I'm glad you didn't ask your friends who benefits
to be power with it though. So yeah, yeah, that was crazy. In America, like we saw that
with car culture, right? Like you hook up in cars and stuff. And we don't like in America,

(15:37):
like it's hotels are too expensive. But like I know in Asia, like in Asia, there's love
motels you pay hourly and stuff. America doesn't have that too much. So it was mostly cars.
Yeah. So the knowledge changed like when we were like when I was older, like I mean, last
few, maybe last decade, India saw the bloom of love, love models like oil. Wait, actually,

(16:01):
I think a fun fact. Yeah, but a fun fact about India is that you can actually book a hotel
with another guy or your partner unless you're married and they actually check these things.
Yeah, most of them. All hotels are off limits unless it has this oil branding. One of the
first things I said when I met Killy because you're from Calcutta. And I said, when I went

(16:25):
there, like I went to this, I went to go to the museum. I don't remember the name. It was
like the big Victorian monument. Yeah, the Victorian monument, right? It's a big park,
right? Yeah. And I went in there to just go see the museum. And there is this huge park
with trees. And I look around and everyone is like a couple hiding behind a tree being
super handsy. And like what's going on? Like it was super PDA. Like everyone's hooking

(16:50):
up at this park and in daylight. And I'm like, this is, I've never seen this in India. Like
I've never seen anyone like hold hands or kiss. And like in a park, I'm just like looking
and everyone's just behind a tree trunk making out. I was like, this is wild. And I asked
Killy about it. I'm like, is this like a normal thing? And he said like, yeah, that's like
a park. Yeah, these are love spots. There are love spots that the student, like the

(17:13):
young people just go make out. Yeah. I wish we could have that in Thailand. So where do
you hook up in Thailand? Okay. Homes, back in condos. We just don't do it out in public.
I don't know. But like what, your parents aren't home? Yeah, when parents aren't home.
I know, I know, I know that's the time to get funky, right? It depends also like, yeah,
if like I'm from a joint family. So like my home was, first of all, my home, home was

(17:38):
not in the city where I was living. It was in the outside of the city. Like I cannot
take anyone there, but anyway, even if I could, it was like, it's just a joint family. It's
like, like someone or other is there. Winnie? Growing up in Thailand? It was a rooftop
of a building, which if anyone had a telescope or anything of that sort, it'd be in trouble.

(18:04):
So like a condo building? Yeah, like the rooftop of a big condo building. With the hot Thai
sun beating down. Was there a mattress involved? No, it was literally just, just a stool. Yeah.
Movie theaters. All single screen, the big theater. Yeah. There was a cinema in Thailand

(18:28):
called Happy Cinema and it was pretty much a bed that give you, there would be pillows
that give you a blanket. And I'm pretty sure it was mostly high school students that booked
out that cinema. That is so smart. Nikki, did you ever? I want to open, want to open
karaoke club. That was my idea. There's too many already. I told you this idea. Oh yeah,
right. So I was like, I want to open karaoke bars in India for like, for college hookups

(18:51):
and high school hookups. I think that would do so well. That should be the best thing.
Like you rent it by the hour. You play music if you want. Like, no, that's the main thing.
Yeah. But anyway, like it's usually sound block, right? Yeah. If you guys never, like
if I'm not on this podcast anymore, it's cause my karaoke empire in India took off. I don't
need this shit anymore. I think if we learn anything from this movies, we can just buy

(19:13):
a piece of land. Indian people know what they're doing. They'll bring their own mattresses.
They'll find empty spots in the fields and they'll get down to business. Yeah. You don't
need that much infrastructure. Last thing before we continue, cause this is something
I thought about too. So, so, so Para was like in the field looking at the plane come and
I remember too, I don't remember where I was in India, but it was a, it was a super, super

(19:35):
kind of remote place. And I remember like we were just driving in like a bus or something
going somewhere, but it was near like a small airport and a plane was taking off and all
the cars were just stopped along the road to like watch the plane take off. Cause it
was like a cool event that happens sometimes. Like people were like holding up their kids
to watch and people are sitting on cars and stuff and everyone's like looking at the planes

(19:56):
go by. I thought that was pretty cool. Like, yeah, yeah. It was pretty special. Those people
are not from that area. I mean, they're coming from somewhere else and they were like, oh,
that's a good plane. Well, let's get back to the plot because we fast forward to the
fields pretty quickly. All right. So yeah. So the, so the main problem between Dev and
Paro. Okay. Dev is, is very, you know, because he's so rude and everything, his parents sent

(20:20):
him abroad. He was studying in the UK, I think. And then he came back to meet Paro. They rekindled
their romance. And as we said, they do not have a place to get busy. They did not have
a place to get jiggy with it. They cannot, everyone's always interrupting them. And yeah,
they took it to the, the, the sugar cane fields where they're about to have sex. But then

(20:41):
before that, I think, I think there was a scene like, I think, I think they were at
Dev's brother's wedding. Yeah. As brother's wedding. And that's when Dev finds out from
a man, another man. I don't remember his name. I think it was a man that told him that, hey,
you know, Paro has been, she's a wild one, right? She's been sleeping around. And I think

(21:08):
at that moment, I actually didn't know, because I don't know the context of the story, right?
I thought that there was something about Paro we didn't know that maybe she actually was
sleeping around or something. But then I think it's just this guy, I think he was just trying to
ruin her reputation or something. He did do stuff together. That was never confirmed.

(21:29):
That was never confirmed. He did. He said, like, she was like, there was a point like where she was
saying, she was saying that otherwise I would have, so he's like, oh, you, you are behaving
like this. If I knew that you would behave like this, I would have never, then she stops.
When he was like, why are you going to my place to hook up with Dave? Because he knows that Paro

(21:50):
is in love with Dave. So, and he's like, ah, I love you. You know that I love you. She's like,
shut up. You know that I, I, I mean, I like Dave. Dave is here. I will be with him. So if I knew
that you would behave like this, I would have never, and then she stops saying that. So the
film makes the point, makes a point that it doesn't matter who she slept with. It doesn't

(22:12):
matter because she loves Dave. Dave loves her, but Dave isn't like a weird asshole who just slept
with another girl who came to the wedding. He was sleeping with someone else. Yeah. Yeah.
She is. Just before Paro, but she, he behaves like so like holier than thou in front of Paro.
And Paro brings up that point that when you do it, it's okay. And when I do it, it's wrong.

(22:34):
Yeah. Paro calls him out on it. It doesn't matter whether I did it or not, but the fact that you
find it's an objectionable thing and you are like making this whole scene, that makes you douchebag.
It doesn't matter whether I did it or not. So she is very, very clear about that. And that's where
like she wins our heart. Like, yeah, go girl. So that being said, like that man told Dave that,

(22:57):
you know, she was sleeping around and Dave cannot handle that revelation. Who can?
Like, could you imagine your current girlfriend sleeping with anyone else? Well, they've never
really in a relationship. I mean, like if they weren't in a relationship by then, it would have
been, I think it would have been fine, right? I don't know. I wouldn't have a problem. I mean,
if they had a history with somebody. But I guess, you know, the point like, like Keeley said,

(23:21):
the point is like, it doesn't matter. Like a very traditional in head. We're not committed to a
relationship or anything. Also he's been doing the same thing. Yeah. Exactly. So they're in the
Shuriken field. So they're about to get busy. They're about to do the bow chicka wow wow. And then
he could not accept the fact that, you know, she was sleeping around. And I think he proceeded to
like berate her for it. And even while we're watching this, we are we know that he's sleeping.

(23:47):
He's also sleeping around. Wait, I don't think we should glaze over the fact that he actually
slaps her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Physically hits her. Yeah, yeah, he did. He's very clearly
not a good guy. Yeah, no, he's an asshole. I knew from the beginning, like, okay, this guy, I don't
like this guy. Fuck this guy. Yeah. The minute he calls his dad his first name, I hate this guy.

(24:08):
I hate him. Fucking hate him. So yeah, he confronts, I think he confronted her. But while that was
happening, right, I think she was at home with her, like, Paro was at home with her family. And then
they were like, so Paro is really attractive. She's getting a lot of attraction from all these
suitors and everything. And I think that her parents were trying to set her up

(24:31):
with with other people, with other men. One guy who is just so adamant. She was like, she was so adamant,
like, she does not want to settle down with all these other men. She loves Dev. And we know that,
you know, Dev is an asshole. And that's when she finds out that, okay, Dev doesn't actually love
her. Yeah. So she went to confront him. And what did we find? He was sleeping with another woman.
Yeah. Who also happens to be her suitor's sister. Yeah. Yeah. So here the film takes a little

(24:58):
deviation from the actual the original story, where in the original story, it's, Dave is a
teenager, right? And it's his parents who, like, put down the matrimony alliance that Paro and
Paro and her family wanted with Dave. But here we clearly, we are clearly shown that Dave's parents

(25:20):
always wanted Paro to be their, like, daughter-in-law. And they always thought that they, when they grow up,
because they were so fond of each other when they were kids, when they grow up, it will be eventually
they marrying each other because they saw that thing with their conversation, their body language.
But here, Dave is the guy who fucks it all up. He's like, no, like, what is your Okat? Okat means,

(25:47):
like, how do I put? Dowery? No, no, no. Status, like, what's your status? Like, your status is
nothing in front of the people. Yeah, she's gonna marry, the guy she's arranged with is, like, a manager.
Yeah. And he's like, you're always gonna be, like, with a manager, right? I think his father was a
manager. Manager ki beti, he says, like, manager's daughter will be, like, that will be your status.

(26:11):
Like, Dave is, like, an industrialist son. And he's like, don't fuck with us. Like, yeah, I mean,
like, you are nothing. Like, just go off. And then totally destroys her, like, love for him. And then
she get over it. And oh, yeah, here, that scene that where is after knowing that she goes back and

(26:33):
wants to beat the shit out of that guy who badmouthing her. I love that scene. Yeah, so there are
a few scenes that show that power also has a bit of a wild side to it. Right? She's pumping that
way. A lot of rage. A lot of anger there. She has tremendous agency. Yes, yes. Like, she knows what
she wants. She does actions towards the things she wants. She gets mad and, like, reacts towards that.

(26:55):
I really do like her character. Yeah, yeah. And she speaks back to her father as well, which I think
is a bit rare to portray when her husband when her father's trying to get her married to the suitor.
She's just like, No, you can't tell me what to do. And she smells cigarettes. She does.
Incredible. She took off from the, they was rolling joints, I think. Incredible. Well,
I, okay, so I, okay, something that. They was continuously rolling something. I mean, it could

(27:19):
be joint, it could be a rolled tobacco, but later given his drug abuse, I think he was joined.
Could be herbal tea. Who are we to judge? Who knows? Yeah. He was just cleaning up his detoxing
when he was in the village. So one interesting thing that I wanted to shed light upon is that
there's a reason why, uh, Paro's parents didn't want her to marry Dev. Right. Oh, yeah. It's

(27:45):
because they're poor family. Yeah. Dev is like high. He's very like, he's, he's from the wealthy
upper class. He's from the industry. He's an industry. Yeah. So that is a thing, right? Like
it's just like, we, we just have to marry somebody of the same, same class or whatever. So are they
from the same cast, but just of different statuses or they're from completely different cast systems?

(28:05):
This film doesn't talk about cast. It's in the, it's in the original material. Uh, the, it was
also, it was both class and caste combination that they were both low in that thing. Just for people
listening, what is the difference class and caste in this context? Class is a very economical thing,
right? And caste is totally a social thing that has a religious stamp on it that you are born into

(28:34):
a caste. You will always be in caste. Doesn't matter which class you belong to. You'll always
be that. You cannot, you can change your class. You cannot ever change your caste. So it's a,
it's a, it's a, I can say it's a race, class division that lived for thousands of years
and got a religious stamp on it. So it's the rule. So that's, that's caste in a nutshell. Yeah.

(28:59):
Yeah. So, uh, I guess one thing, okay, just to fast forward things a little bit, like he didn't,
he didn't want to have sex with her and he confronted her about it. Like, you know, she
sleep around and then she denies it. And then we have like a quick little confrontation scene
where she goes and goes up to that guy that told Dev that she was a wild one and she would like

(29:23):
fight him off and everything. And then I think we can cut this part, but, uh, it's,
well, you know, it, I guess because of like their disagreements on what is considered okay or not
okay in a rage, Parrow decides that, okay, I'll, I'll just marry someone. My parents chose for me

(29:48):
just, just in a fit of rage and Dev just lets that happen. Right. And then he just,
and then the day of her wedding, the day of the wedding, he just goes on a
guest and finish a whole like 750 ml vodka bottle in one go. Yeah. And then he goes to dance. What an arrogant jerk.

(30:08):
Well, he's giving me the spirits of a Punjabi wedding and I respect that.
No, no. I mean, they're drinking, everyone is drinking and drunk, but he just bottoms up a 750 ml
liquor bottle. That's called 10 a.m. on a Monday. I don't think I could do that. I want to touch
upon the song that was the brass version, the Elvis Presley lookalike, the, the, the dance.

(30:31):
So you mentioned this Indian Elvis is a very famous guy. He is, he's a very famous actor. Like he was
not that famous at that point of time, but later the same, with the same director, he made a huge
film. And then after that, people got to know like how talented he was. And he's like an amazing
actor. And he's a huge actor in Bollywood. Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Yeah. He was just playing that,

(30:54):
yeah, role of like the singer like in the brass. So that's a very, I mean,
I have seen the live music in Punjabi in wedding. Yes, yes. Like the barat thing, like people
dancing and going. It's always music. We always bangraing. Yeah. So yeah. Okay. So cut to, so

(31:19):
anyways, he, he, the wedding, he gets drunk, cut to. Yeah. So he gets drunk and he gets wasted.
And then suddenly we get to the next segment of the movie, which is not death, but Chandra.
And I think this was the, this is the, this is, this was the start where it kind of hooks me in

(31:40):
with the story. So you get this, this, this, this woman or girl, I don't know. Yeah. She was like
a school girl. And which I thought was kind of weird because like she didn't look like a kid at
all. She's in school though. She's in school. Played by this, do you know this person,
Kiwi? Like she's a, she's actually French. Yeah. But she's French and apparently she's

(32:02):
raised in India, I think. Yeah. But yes, it's, she has this white. She's married to the director,
right? You said? Yeah. Not that point of view. I think later, later she was, she was married.
She was married to the director. But she's fully French and she was just born and raised in India.
Yeah. Oh, she's no Indian heritage. No, just born and raised. Because she looks super white.

(32:23):
Yes. Yeah. She's French. All right. Cool. So yeah, this is Chandra, but then right,
right from the back, we know that she's called Lenny. That's her real name. Yeah.
We're going to find out soon enough why she changed her name to Chandra. But basically
Lenny, you can see that Lenny is like this, I think she's from a wealthy family. She, you know,
I think she's born from a mixed race. Like her father, her father's Indian and her mother's white.

(32:48):
And right off the bat, we saw that she has an older boyfriend and we get to this quick scene
where they're like hanging out and then suddenly they end up in a room. And then he's like just
filming her in that school girl outfit. I thought I was, I was really uncomfortable with that scene,
honestly. And then, and then we, we suddenly know that, okay, something's off, you know,

(33:13):
she's literally asking him, why are you, why are you filming me? She goes to school and then she
finds out that he was sharing this, shall we call it like a sex tape? Yeah. So she, she, she, she
blew him and he filmed. MMS scandal. Actually, it was like based on one of the, one of the major
school MMS scandal from New Delhi. It was in New Delhi. So this was based on another scandal.

(33:37):
Yeah. It was a Delhi public school, New Delhi, 2004. Yeah. That happened. So that became really
like a big, doesn't that happen all the time? It happens a lot, but that one became a huge deal.
It's not that common to me. I think it's also a classic. It happened to someone rich.

(33:57):
Does that have you ever experienced that in school? Like, do we ever have, I had seen,
I had seen clips of someone I knew, not didn't know personally, but I knew that that person exists.
And like in some place I used to, like I was there like in some institute and I saw her

(34:21):
clip once, but it was not that much, but I, I mean, but it never became a huge
widespread thing. I think so. I've had several incidents in back when I was in high school.
There were like many people, a couple of girls got exposed. Their sex tapes got
disseminated. Did it derail their lives as much as it derailed the 90s life?

(34:43):
I wouldn't, I don't know them personally, but they, they, they turned out all right in the end. Right.
But then it was a big deal. These are things that actually do happen. We don't really talk about.
I just read actually it's, it's getting worse. I mean, like it's already pretty bad when everyone
has a camera. Cause when I grew up in high school, honestly, you just didn't have a camera. So we just
couldn't film. Like you didn't have, iPhones didn't come out till my first year of college when I was

(35:07):
a freshman. We just didn't have that. But I read now that like in high school, one in 10 kids
in high school have had like AI photos of them in sexual positions and stuff. So they don't even
have to do it anymore. Like the kids are just sharing like AI stuff of their classmates and

(35:27):
that's pretty rough. That's pretty brutal. I feel quite bad for them. Yeah. So it, you know,
anyone who goes through that would fuck them up pretty badly. So yeah, this was happening to Lenny,
our character here. She, you know, obviously that shamed her old family. She had to fly to another
country and then, you know, she was just getting blamed for, you know, sleeping around with this,

(35:52):
this older man. And then we had like a real kicker, like a punch to the stomach scene where
she's just, her father, her father saw the video and in a, in a moment of disgust, I guess he was
like ashamed that he saw it. He just kills himself. Yeah. So I mean, like he shoots himself in the face

(36:15):
from a Freudian perspective. If you're like a teenage girl, like the, the, the straight line
from like, I sucked a man's dick and now my father's dead. Like it's a pretty traumatic event. And,
and, but like also, you know, uh, uh, I think a pretty good metaphor for what happens, right? Like,

(36:36):
you know, your father dies as you become an adult, but it's pretty fucked that like,
she just does this thing. And now like, because of that small act of becoming an adult,
she realizes, you know, her father's a sexual being and then her father like dies as a result.
And now she's fully into adulthood. I would, I would rephrase sexual being to sexual predator,
because I don't think it's normal for any father to watch your daughter's sex tape. And yeah,

(36:59):
and she accuses him as well. She's like, Oh, did you get off of it? You sick jerk, right? And that's,
that whole scene is very disturbing. And what's more disturbing is the fact that people end up
blaming her for his death. Right? So there's a scene where she's sitting with her grandma
and her grandma's like, are you going to kill me the same way you killed your father?
Right. And so she's pretty much shunned from the entire story.
She's like, I'm not going to scissor my classmate grandma. You're not going to watch my scissoring video and kill yourself.

(37:21):
And the saddest part was like that scene where she makes a phone call to her mom to maybe try to like
work things out, ask her mom to get her out of the situation. And her mom's just listening and ignores
the whole thing. So you can tell that everybody blames him for her, blames her for his death.
Yeah, her mom hates her, her whole family hates her, her dad killed her himself, like she's in a bad spot.
Yeah. It's a thing. It's like the dad's curiosity for her, his daughter's sex tape. I mean, he wanted to see what was there.

(37:47):
Still wrong. Yeah, that's totally wrong. So that's why he kills her himself.
He goes on to say, well, she obviously knew what she was doing. Yeah. So that statement. Yeah.
Yeah. The subtitles were correct, right? Yeah.
Oh yeah. The subtitles.
The subtitles.
It's better if he's like, you didn't know at all what you were doing. Like you're an amateur, like do better.

(38:11):
Okay. So.
So I think, I mean, in her father's defense, I think like he was, not defense, okay. Yeah. I mean, I think.
Hang on.
I think, I think like he is just meaning that whether she was assaulted or it was like a, whether it was an assault or like, I think that's what he wanted to mean.

(38:31):
No, he was a slut comment. Like you've done this a lot.
I don't think he would have shot himself had he not felt guilty for what he did. Yeah. So it was obviously out of wrong reasons.
They're both realizing like he's realizing his daughter is a sexual being and he can't handle it. And then she has to deal with the aftermath of that.
Yeah. She did. And she dealt with the aftermath she did because she was just shamed. And I think she was living with her family, her father, the father side of her family.

(39:00):
And like they were just shaming her. They were threatening to kill her, like strip her naked, burn her in the fields.
And she just like, you know, she was just, she just wants, she needs to get out of there. And I think she was just traveling alone. She was all alone.
She, she, she went to Delhi. Yeah. And that's when she meets the, you know, no one else, sir. Like no, no, none of her friends helping her.

(39:21):
And she would ultimately meet what she will become where she will, she meets like a mama son, mama son, like a prostitution ring or whatever, whatever you want to call it.
And they promised that she could, you know, finish her studies. Yes. Yeah. As long as she becomes a prostitute.
So this is the funniest montage though. I gotta say, cause like, so she meets like the pimp and the pimp is like a really short guy with like a very slim ponytail,

(39:52):
slick back hair, like, he has like, you know, a really bright red like tie and suit. And it's like, you know, number one, like I know pimps stand out, but never understood why. Cause I feel like if you're committing crimes, you want to like blend in and not be obvious as a pimp.
But then the second thing is they are like, Hey, you know, like you go, you stay at this hotel, you're going to go to school, like you're going to get good grades and we're going to support you.

(40:16):
And like, it sounds like a dope life and like they're showing her getting grades and like the pimp and the mama son are all congratulating her for the good grades.
There's only like one sex scene involved with a customer where she's like spanking the customer.
Like it's as far as like montages go for like getting involved in the sex trade, like involuntarily almost, it seems really nice. And the pimp is not mean, the pimp doesn't hurt her.

(40:39):
Like he like really is like in a very encouraging figure. It seems like she's having a great time.
Yeah. I think that's very interesting because this movie definitely glorifies sex work to some degree.
And I think that's interesting in a sense that usually that's frowned upon, especially in India.
When you think of that, it's usually portrayed in slums, you know, women who are there by force have no other choice, but this movie really makes an attempt to glorify it.

(41:02):
Would you say it's empowering in a sense? Like it would empower her sexuality.
I think it would have been empowering had she not been a minor who had gone through all those things where ultimately she was also left with no choice.
This was the only place that took her in, you know, gave her a home.
But they just...
Pimps make it a point that you are a minor, you don't have to do anything.
Right. And he obviously he says that he's like, you don't have to do anything you don't want to and you can wait till you know, you're an adult.

(41:26):
And so like he she's given a lot of choice, which I don't know how accurate that is portrayal for sex work in India.
I think very little accuracy is involved with that.
Yeah, but I think it is empowering in the way for its time, especially because like Gangubai came out a few years ago and that was a highly sexually empowering movie for sex workers.
Also, I think it's kind of showing a little upscale brothel here where the girls are not all like there are a lot of like foreigner girls, like white girls.

(41:56):
And she's also like half white.
I mean, in the story, she's like mixed race.
Right.
So and also the decor of the interior and that kind of looked like it's an upscale brothel.
Like it's not the rundown brothel like the area where it's...
Yeah, they have like an HR, you like clock in and clock out.

(42:19):
You can report your problems.
Like, yeah, it's all digital payment service.
Yeah, it's like super clean.
Like she's having a blast.
She learns a lot about herself.
She's having the time of her life.
And but it's also like white privilege.
Like if she wasn't a white girl, none of this would have happened.
Yeah, the film probably saw it as a bit of an investment, right?
They like give her some time, few years, but then at some point she's going to bring in a lot of money because she's in high demand.

(42:44):
So yeah, she's like a high demand prostitute.
That's what we know.
She must be nice.
That's when we know that she changes her name to Chanda.
Yeah.
Which is what?
What's the name?
What does the name mean?
Well, it's a flower, but the point is like when she takes up the name, she was watching the Devdas film.
That's right.
That's when the Chandramukhi character was dancing on the screen.

(43:06):
And that's when she turns back and decides on a name to be her name.
There's a lot of references.
Lot of references to the actual Devdas film.
There are posters of that film in places like they at two or three places that film was being played on the TV.
You see, if you never told me that, I wouldn't have picked up on it.
Yeah, those are like things that you can ignore.

(43:28):
You cannot.
I mean, but like, yeah, it's a nice trivia point that they added in the film.
So, Kili, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this really the first Devdas adaptation where they actually showed a backstory to Chanda?
You know, because I think in the Shahrukh Khan adaptation, she's kind of there.
She's already a sex worker.
You don't see how she became one.
Yes.
Yes, you're right.
Because also in the story, actual story, there is no backstory to Chanda.

(43:52):
Oh, so the first time you see the backstory.
Yeah.
I think that's great.
That's a new dimension to the character in a way, right?
Because in the actual story, Chanda is just there to serve Dev.
She has literally no other agency in the whole thing.
She's just like worshiped Dev because she saw something in him.
She just loves him for no reason, even though Dev was like very condescending to her for her being a sex worker.

(44:17):
And him visiting her, but he belittles her for being a sex worker.
And she's just like, oh, I like this guy.
Yeah.
In the novel, is she high class as well?
No, she's just a sex worker.
I mean, some kind of, I mean, yeah.
Her status in the sex working racket is not ever mentioned.

(44:39):
Yeah.
So I think that is good though to show the background.
Because she is from a high-sale family.
Yeah.
She has houses in the Swiss Alps and stuff. And so that's why she's a good match for Dev in the movie at least.
Because she can speak his language and doesn't have to look up to him because she knows where he comes from, which is nice.
Yeah.
Well, it's really great that the director made both of the central female characters,

(45:00):
Paro and Chanda, in a very multifaceted dimension, right?
They both have a lot of sexual agency to them.
Yeah.
They're progressive.
She's not sad.
Right, not at all.
I mean, that's what she says, like, you know, I have processed my grief.
Because they keep saying, okay, we'll say that.
Yeah, so how does she meet Dev?

(45:21):
So yeah, I think she just suddenly, like, they just, I think the brothel just suddenly brings this,
there was this guy that's just super wasted.
Yeah.
And turns out, it's just Dev.
And then that's when I start to know, okay, clearly their paths are going to intertwine
and he's going to learn something and she's going to fall in love with him.

(45:42):
And she does fall in love with him, right?
She just sees something in Dev.
She just loves him for years.
But the problem with Dev is that even though with all the self-destructive
tendencies that he's up to, he just would not let Paro go.
Right?
I think he was so dead set on trying to win Paro back.
I think after that scene, the final chapter starts with what's called Dave D.

(46:07):
Yeah.
Where Dave's journey after Paro's wedding is started.
Yeah, so he gets brought in to Chandah and that's when we get to the third and most
important part of the film, which is like the Dev side of the story.
We get to see this really, so I think one of the first few things about Dev's segment is that

(46:28):
he goes on this drinking binge, smoking up, he's getting high, whatever.
But there were so many visually striking moments with the cinematography, I think.
Like the way he was going on a bender, right?
And I think that's when the directors, filmmaking...

(46:51):
Yeah, the cinematography, the colors are so strong and nice.
The cinematography was just phenomenal.
I loved it.
It was just great.
Yeah, it's a very well-made...
He was just going on one of his drug binges and I think
I think he was trying to win Paro back, right?
There was like, he was trying to win her back.
I think there was a plot where he was trying to get...

(47:13):
You need to fill me in on this.
There was a plot where he was trying to set them up to meet or something with Paro.
Yeah, so what happens is like Paro is now married.
So the guy Paro married to, his sister was the girl with whom Dave was hooking up, right?
So Dave knew that, of course. So he comes to New Delhi and then he calls her up,

(47:35):
calls the girl up with whom he hooked up and then he just stalks from far to that...
He gets the address.
Oh yeah, he was stalking them.
Yeah, so he gets the address from the girl saying that I will meet you, like,
give me your address so that he knows where Paro is and then he just starts stalking from a...

(47:57):
under construction building.
Yeah, it's like the music video for Google dolls, like Iris with the guy with all the telescopes, right?
Like looking at the tower. So he has like a shitty telescope and he's looking out at them,
which as a kid who was obsessed with telescopes, that doesn't work like that.
I had like all the binoculars and telescopes I could get my hands on because I was obsessed

(48:18):
with spy equipment as a kid and like his old brass telescope...
Oh come on, as a kid, I...
Wait, I mean, you guys, were you guys obsessed with spy equipment?
I'm really glad you didn't grow up in Thailand or my rooftop shenanigans would not have been at well.
In American commercials, like everything was geared towards spy equipment.
Like they advertised like VHS things, like you could like spy on your parents or your sister or whatever.

(48:42):
I had a roommate who bought a binocular because from the window he could see some women taking...
dipping, swimming in the pond.
Okay, and I want to clarify this. When I say spy, I don't mean being a peeping tom.
I know, I know. I was a very decent nice boy and I just wanted to spy on people because spying was cool.

(49:06):
I had sunglasses that had mirrors on the edges. You could see who was behind you.
And I did this one thing where I removed the power socket from my wall and put like an empty space in there
so I could hide stuff and stuff stuff in there. I was all about like secret compartments and hidden pockets and spy equipment.
And my parents were very supportive of this. So I just like would show secret pockets on everything and just spy on everyone.

(49:30):
That's nice.
Adam, what were you hoping to see? Please enlighten us.
Something that other people hiding.
People, you know, you know, like I still to this day want to be a private investigator.
So do you still sit out with your telescope on the balcony and spy on people till today?
So that's why you call the C now.

(49:52):
Yeah.
Alright, so anyway.
So yeah, so there he goes and then he meets the girl who he called and then just treats her as another sex object.
He's just like in a bus, yeah, and then like with a very disgusted face.
And the girl is like, where are we going? Where are we going? Like where is the date?

(50:16):
And he's just to my hotel. I just want to fuck like, you know, like and the girl gets disgusted and leaves Dave and Davis goes on a bender after that.
Like he says he's again and again going on bender. That's this thing.
And then, OK, so when you said like he wants to win over Paro, that's the thing is like he calls Paro's home at middle of the night because she took the phone number from that girl.

(50:40):
Right. So calls her at the middle of the night.
Her husband picks up the phone and he just like curses Dave for obvious reasons.
And then next day, Paro comes to meet Dave to his shitty motel wherever he was staying.
And she cleans up all his apartment, washes his clothes and does that does everything, does a homemade service on his apartment, like out of care for Dave.

(51:15):
So it shows that Paro is still caring for Dave and Dave wants to have sex with her.
And she just gives into that that, OK, I'll have sex. But when they're about to have sex, Paro just flips.
There was a pivotal point where she was saying something like, I'm showing you for who you are.

(51:36):
Yeah. Something like that.
Because it's a play that Dave told her that right when she came for asking for to marry her, he said out of rage that, oh, what's your status, man?
And now Paro sees Dave as a loser boy living his loser life in a shitty motel room.

(51:59):
We start to see his decline.
When they do try to have sex, she does say you do what you want, but I'm not taking my clothes off.
Oh, yeah. I'm really curious how that would have played out.
Yeah, I think like she's just saying that I'm just doing a service to you.
Yeah, I am not. I love pity sex. I'll tell you what.

(52:21):
This is also a big deviation from the original Dave does, right?
Because I think in the original film or the Shah Rukh Khan film, I should say, because that's my only reference point.
Paro stays in love with Dave until the very end.
Yeah. Right. Yeah.
And over here, you can kind of tell that she's had so much character growth to the point that she realizes she sees him for what he is and she walks away.

(52:42):
She's like, I have a good husband. I have kids. Like, I moved on. You're the one that's stuck.
You're the big loser. Like, I'm an adult with a family.
Yeah. I mean, also, like in Dave's defense for in the original source material, I mean, he's not that big of an asshole there.
So Paro, of course, like, is not that strongly hateful towards him because he was not that big of an asshole to Paro.

(53:12):
But like this Dave is.
Yeah. And during the scene is when Killy was like, oh, man, the dialogue is so good because like, you know, Paro and Deb are having this like back and forth.
And I guess what Killy was watching, it was like a very like, you know, nice wordplay and they're attacking each other.
And we are just looking like dog shit subtitles.

(53:34):
It doesn't really make that much sense. And we're just like, keep looking to like, what the fuck are they like?
Well, how is this good? And like the subtitles just got a lot of things wrong, like, like got like people wrong and pronouns wrong.
And like, so I just want to say throughout this film, like we did have a slightly different movie experience because the subtitles for us were so different than like.

(53:57):
And then they would like they would have English words, the characters would speak English words and then the subtitle would be wrong.
So like when they said that, like they were like watching porn, the subtitle called it erotic.
Like Deb calls Chandra like a sex worker, but in the subtitles it's a flesh trader.
They're saying the English word. He says sex worker in English and like the subtitle is wrong.

(54:20):
So like I see a totally different movie, too.
So I just want to say that as well, like if we're referencing stuff like it might have been different.
I remember one place it was a huge character growth.
Like, I mean, it's a dialogue that gives Chandra's character out on like this play, right?
So she says like she's say like the first night, the Chunni, the the the Pimp brings Dave to there.

(54:46):
And when Dave is leaving next morning, she tells Dave that don't bring him here second time.
He will fall in love with me. And that's what she says in Hindi.
And the subtitle is like, don't bring him here second time. I will fall in love with him.
Like it's a it's a totally opposite thing that she says.

(55:09):
And it's totally takes out the meaning of what she wanted to mean.
It totally takes out her swagger towards like the whole.
And it makes it worse because like the guy that made the subtitles keeps advertising his subtitles throughout the movie.
So yeah, it's a poor Mender Monkhu flashes his phone number, his WhatsApp and his email constantly throughout the film, even though he's very wrong.

(55:32):
And we will have a future episode where we call him and dress him down because he needs to stop advertising because he's bad.
And poor Mender, I don't like you.
Basically, we watch an R rated film with PG 13 rated subtitles.
How is Flesh Trader nice?
It's like a Star Wars term for like what you call like a mercenary.

(55:54):
Well, at some other point of film, they said sex work and that was trans.
That was subtitled as sex work. So, you know, that those terms were not even off limits.
He just willingly voluntarily chose to interpret as a flash trader.
Flash Trader. Yeah. Why?
A slut like Chandu Chandu always calls Dave a slut.

(56:16):
You're going to have to change that to Flesh Trader when we edit this.
A slut is changed by a strumpet.
Strumpet.
They keep calling him a strumpet, which is like Dickensian word for like a Victorian slut.
So Dev and Chandra, they keep meeting in between while Dev is going through his binges and trying to win a parrow back.

(56:37):
You know, they have this back and forth and you can see that Chandra is starting.
I think she does fall in love with him.
Yeah, of course. She starts liking him.
She starts taking others. She stops taking other clients and just hangs out with Dave the whole time.
And then like, yeah, like a couple that start like a new sweet couple, they start go do like some stuff.

(57:01):
But yeah, that's us.
And the pimp doesn't care.
The pimp cares at the end.
He's the nicest pushover pimp in the world.
He's like, well, if you have to fall in love, I guess.
He's like, I won't do anything bad to you.
It's disappointing for me because my income stream is gone, but I'm not going to touch you and you're free to do whatever you want.
He's the biggest pushover pimp I've ever seen in my life.

(57:22):
I don't know how he's successful at his job.
Pimp with a heart of gold.
I want to see a movie about him how he bleeds money because he just like these girls just like run him and like he just like can't really do anything.
That's why he lives in such a shitty place.
He spent all his money on his ties and then was like, I just can't, I can't control these people.

(57:43):
He's like a small shack.
But he notices Dev and he intentionally picks him out and just gets him massively drunk so that he can take her take him back to Chanda.
But then he's like, egg on my face.
I guess you guys get married.
Goodbye.
I'll spend 10 years investing in someone else.
All right.
I think I think what he did, but at the end, like she did, he tells her that what are you doing?

(58:06):
Like, why are you hanging out?
Please, Chanda, please go back to work.
Please.
He even calls, he even calls Dev that, dude, like, don't be friends with sex work.
Don't keep girls in Delhi.
Like, just do them.
Like, yeah, and get over it.
Do you think any pimp watched this movie and was influenced to be a better person?

(58:29):
I think all of them.
I think this movie solves sex work and all the pins are pretty nice now because they saw the lesson, which is they will all leave your business if you're nice.
So I think they probably did all change.
Yeah. So so power rebuffs them.
Right. And that's when Dev decides, oh, maybe I maybe I'll just just get with Chanda.
Maybe maybe I love maybe I love Chanda.

(58:50):
Chanda just says, like, I think she gives him a reality check.
She gives a reality check that, you know, you should have just apologized to Paro.
Yeah, that was me.
And she just she just wouldn't because this guy, he's like an arrogant self-absorbed jerk.
And I don't think he would ever realize that.
And, you know, I think there were he has to come to terms that Chanda is also a prostitute.

(59:16):
Right. Yeah.
So I mean, which is sorry, I just want to I just noticed this, too, which is fun.
That is growth, actually, because he wouldn't get with Paro because she slept with other people.
Now he's getting with a prostitute. Yeah.
That is growth. Yeah.
That's getting over women's sexual agency.
I just realized. Yeah. Yeah.
That's cool. Not quite, though, because there is a scene where a customer comes in and he that's when he decides to try to leave.
Yeah. He wanted to propose her.

(59:39):
Yeah. No, but no, I don't talking about women's past, not present.
OK. Fair enough.
Oh, you mean like he doesn't like being cucked?
Yeah.
I mean, yeah. How could he not?
The film did not explore his cucked fantasies.
No, but yeah, he's OK with women's past now.
Yeah. That's the progress.
But sadly for our hero, Dev, he's like he's not getting what he wants.

(01:00:03):
He's not getting with Paro. He's not going to get with Chanda.
Yeah. He goes. He continues to go on this path of like self destruction.
I think he brings he brings the wedding ring he was supposed to give Paru.
And then he brings it for Chanda and that time he sees that Chanda got a new customer and then he just throws it to the trash and leaves and go on another bender.

(01:00:24):
And after that bender, very cool music video during all his bender.
That's the most we were. We were so absorbed by the cinematography of the music video.
But then it comes to like a screeching halt where he just suddenly runs over people.
Yeah. Seven or six people.
I forgot I did something like that now.
It just runs over people.

(01:00:45):
That's also that's also based on a true incident where it's a 99 daily hit and run case, six dead.
There were like three police officers as well.
Police as well. And then it was a Kennedy.
He pulls a Kennedy. He drives. He runs over people in his BMW car.
Yeah. That's what every rich kid does, which is kill poor people on the street.

(01:01:09):
Yeah. I think we can find multiple true stories.
I think he got kind of with it for a bit.
But the case was reopened and he got some kind of he was sentenced to making momos the rest of his life.
I think he spent two years in jail and he got off on community service.
Yeah. But he was acquitted originally.
That's like two months for every person you kill.

(01:01:31):
Six people. Yeah.
Six or seven. I think it was seven people.
In the true story, it's based off on his six people, but in the film, it's seven people.
And that's when we start to say things for death that his life is just falling apart.
Like there was just no turning back now.
And at the same time, his father is dead.
And his father passes away in shock.
While all that was happening, his father bailed him out.

(01:01:53):
I think he bailed him out. Right?
No, no, no. So he gets the sympathy from the court.
Right. Oh, yes.
I don't think he knew that his father is dead.
I don't remember.
This is great podcast material.
We're like, what happened?
I think there's an earlier scene where his dad is sick and he calls Dev to maybe come and meet him.

(01:02:18):
And Dev says no. And then his mom is telling the father, like, why did you buy him a car?
And so you see his father softening up to him after many years of maybe finding him too hotheaded.
But he buys him this car because he's his son after all. Right?
And then later on, this is the exact car that he has the accident in.
He still calls him by his name.
Right. And throughout this scene, he's still calling him Sattu.
He's still being a dickhead.

(01:02:40):
And I think this movie shows every Indian kid's biggest fear, which is your actions will literally make your parents kill themselves.
Those two things that make their parents kill themselves, which I think is the greatest fear of all.
But also a big lesson learned from this is boarding school will not fix your kids.
Weird. We keep trying that one.
Yeah, I think while that was happening.

(01:03:01):
The poor grandson built on the sympathy ground that his father died.
Maybe that's why he was going to the hospital.
I love that shit. Hey, we're so sorry.
You ran over seven people in your Beamer, but you were on drugs and your father's dead.
So, you know, no biggie. Just don't do it again. Hey, poor person that stole an apple. We're going to kill you.
I don't even think that was all the end of it.
Like he attended his father's funeral and then his brother says you're not he's not going to get the inheritance money or something.

(01:03:28):
Like he's getting cut off.
Here is the money for your court.
It was like a partial money.
And then and he asked for like, what about me? And his brother is like, just fuck off.
You are done with him. Done with this family. He totally cuts.
So his life is in shambles. He just uses like whatever little money he has to like travel around the country.

(01:03:54):
He asked. He asked. He asked. No, before that he asked.
He's about finding your true calling as a momo cook. Yeah.
Oh, I love he he he he goes on a trip. He asked the taxi driver whose name is also the same as his father's name.

(01:04:15):
Oh, yeah, that's it. I don't know about that.
What? OK. Yeah.
So also he's going to take a break. We need to see a bunch of momos.
We're back. Yeah. I mean, he he goes on this with the taxi.
It's a car car driver like goes on a trip where the driver drugs him up and then like throws him in a forest and then takes all his money and runs away.

(01:04:43):
And then now he actually is like has nothing apart from anything.
And then I think he hikes with with a motorbike rider like who was traveling in Kashmir, maybe some kind of some mountains in near Delhi.
And he gets he brings him back to Delhi as well. He does a short detour trip over a music video.

(01:05:05):
Yeah. So he comes back and then he miraculously find the exact car parked parked by the street.
And then he just takes his bag like a small sachet bag back.
He doesn't even take any money back like the money that the taxi driver stole from him.
No, he gets robbed at some point. Right. Yeah.

(01:05:28):
That's that's the driver robbed him, like drugged him at the dhaba, like at the place where they were drinking and then throws him in the forest and then takes all his money because he was having the whole cash for the lawyer.
Right. So he doesn't take the money back from the taxi anymore.
He just takes his bag back and goes to drink again.

(01:05:50):
Can we just talk about how this guy just ran over seven people because he did an insane amount of drugs and alcohol.
And when he gets four days free, he decides to just continue drinking and taking drugs.
Well, that's what the lenient punishment would do to you.
Nothing bad will happen.
Yeah, you can always follow the safety net of momos.

(01:06:14):
Momos the best. Yeah.
I want momo. So yeah, so he's making momos because he's like down on his luck.
And then I think he just wants to find Chanda again. He goes to drink to like a country liquor shop and then he cannot pay, gets beaten, thrown out.
And then next thing next thing is like the so there was a scene where he went to go eat momo with Chandu Chanda.

(01:06:44):
And then he pays the momo seller the his money.
And then when he gives his change back, which was so we can see like he paid a lot of money to the momo seller, which was not supposed to be two plates.
And then whenever he is about to bring the change, he's like, no, keep it. So he gave a huge money to the momo.

(01:07:05):
So he kind of liked the guy. So who doesn't like the guy that gives you momo?
No, no, no, no. He kind of like the guy as in the momo seller liked him because he gave a huge tip, like which is not the normal tip to give to a street vendor.
So he sees him like lying on the street like like a hobo and then like homeless person. And then he just gives him a job to the you gave me a lot of money.

(01:07:31):
You must need a job now because you gave me all of your money.
Yeah, he was just wandering around the country aimlessly. And then he just experiences this car like a literal car just drives towards him and crashes into the wall next to us.
And we get this really cool slow mo shot of this car.
And it's a very significant scene because I think this is where he starts to realize that like, oh, he's almost he almost died in this in that moment.

(01:08:01):
And that's when you know, this is the moment, the character development moment where he's going to turn his leaf around, turn his turn.
We all turn our leaves around.
Turn your leaf around.

(01:08:29):
Turn your leaf around.
Turn around and you leave. He just turned around and you leave. And then I can't because he was almost like he almost died like he killed other people like like he was almost the poor person that he killed in the car.
Right. So he finally for once experiences, you know, a near death experience like the one that he caused everyone else.

(01:08:56):
And it probably makes him, you know, be self reflective and hungry for momos. Yeah, like he was he realizes what he has been doing to people.
I think that's that's kind of like like the emblematic of that thing that they are.
That's what I've been like. I've been an asshole. I've killed seven people.
Apparently he didn't process the fact that he killed seven people until that very moment.

(01:09:17):
All that narcissistic. Because he was supposed to go back to Delhi and report it to report the police station and everything. He didn't do anything. He was just drinking.
And then for some reason Chanda appears. And he finds Chanda.
That's what the momo seller told her told him that she she was here. She comes here. So he couldn't find her in the same brothel.

(01:09:39):
The brothel owner said that she left the brothel after Dave was gone. That's how he cannot find Chanda anymore.
So he the momo momo finds him and momo momo seller tells him that Chanda will come here.
Like she comes sometimes here. So he started he gives him a job as well. Oh my God. Jesus Christ.

(01:10:01):
I'm cutting all that part. So whatever. Please go.
We're almost at the end right. Yeah Chanda picks him up.
She takes Dave to her place and showers him up cleans him up.
And that's when Chandra that's when Dave says Chandra that OK I see now I never loved Paro.

(01:10:24):
I never even looked at her properly like who she was.
So that's when Dave realizes he only he was a narcissistic asshole who only thought about himself.
He never even so all his rage all his anger drinking issue is not out of love for Paro.

(01:10:45):
It was his ego being bruised. So that's when that's what the last statement he gives to Chanda.
After that I think they go. I mean he has to go to jail anyway.
Which was pretty sudden right. Like I thought I actually thought he was going to die.
Like I thought this we were it felt like the movie.

(01:11:06):
I've seen a lot of movies where you have this protagonist that he's like an asshole and we learn we get to know it.
We get to expect that this this asshole is going to get what's coming to him.
Yeah he does a lot of bad bad. A lot of his actions have consequences and it would ultimately lead to his downfall.
And from what I was watching I actually thought he was going to die.

(01:11:31):
But then Chanda saves him. And I think that I think the movie kind of ends in a more in a very upbeat way which kind of took me by surprise.
Like he was just like OK I'm going to start my life anew or whatever.
Like yeah with like I'm a new man now. What do you feel about that.
How was how was that how the original story.

(01:11:53):
No that's the thing. The original Devdas dies. He does die.
He's supposed to die. Because he becomes miserable. He never changes.
He just drinks drinks drinks and he just dies at the end.
So here I think the filmmaker took it up to say that oh no even even someone like Devdas can like really try to redeem himself.

(01:12:16):
Like after all this crime and everything.
I don't know how you can get back after killing seven people.
I think he has to. I mean who hasn't. Oh you haven't.
I think he has to go to jail. That's it. I don't know.
I mean considering like what in reality didn't happen.
So yeah it didn't really. The guys got away with it.

(01:12:39):
So I think in the original film A he doesn't kill anyone.
B he dies from his heavy drinking.
So I think it's very interesting that for this film the director decided to make him so guilty of a crime where he killed seven people and then at the same time decided to kind of show this happy ending where he does not die and he still has a second chance.

(01:13:00):
What do you think of that Adam.
Yeah I mean it seems like sure it's a gritty retelling but the thing is the ending is happier than the original story.
If the original story he's dead in this version everyone's happy.
Like honestly like parallel like has a nice life and a good family Shonda and Dev you know get together and you know right away.

(01:13:21):
And you know so I do think maybe the original story had some perhaps like again like Dickensian British Victorian influence on like when you have bad endings like it's just really bad like everyone dies or the character kills himself.
So I think as far as this goes it doesn't have to go to those like depths to you know like people can change.

(01:13:47):
You know hopefully you know you find some life after hurting yourself and other people and I think that's nice.
I think it you know resonates.
I'm not against like bad endings or sad endings but I don't think it was like undeserved and I think don't think it was like a surprise happy ending I think it was earned.
So you know I'm chill with it.
I just thought it was a wrap. I thought I literally.
Yeah it was kind of abrupt.

(01:14:09):
I mean the time the film's paint showing his spiralling down the change was like so sudden.
I mean I can understand it's a near-death experience when you experience your death.
It's like it can be a life changing moment like you were about to die and then you realize oh fuck I would have died.

(01:14:32):
But in a cinematic language it was not emphasized enough.
We only get that one line where he recognizes that he didn't love Haru.
He just has a monologue in his head like oh boy they get better like just get better otherwise you'd have been the same.
It would have been just dead like those people that I killed.
But yeah but yeah so that that kind of takes away a bit of the gravity the film was carrying on throughout.

(01:15:02):
I mean that moment yeah exactly the time it spent on like how much how serious it took everything.
The change at the end was very abrupt.
You're right. Yeah I felt that too.
But from the point of view of whether he got what he deserved or not I'm like what he deserves is a trial and punishment by law.

(01:15:24):
He's still gonna get hopefully he's gonna get that's outside of the scope of the film.
But what he by himself does is like he gets out of his this that nature.
He changes his nature that's what the redeeming quality in a person.
Yeah I think like so when he almost dies from the car at the end I think you know you could see that as like that's the scene where he dies.

(01:15:51):
And the rest is an alternative path of what happens you know if you if you do try to change right.
And that you should try to do that before you die.
So like if you can you know successfully you know work on yourself and improve yourself before you die that's great because you never know when that's going to happen.
Right. So hopefully you know you're in a state where people do come to your funeral.

(01:16:13):
But at any moment if you don't do that and you'll die randomly from a car no one comes to your funeral like that's on you.
I think that's a very interesting character because usually when you're watching a film like this as an audience you kind of don't sympathize with them but you still root for them.
Right. Like everything before before him killing seven people you're just kind of like still hoping that he finds his way out.
He becomes a better person. Yeah. But then when he kills seven people and then he still has that character development that's all growth at the end.

(01:16:38):
I almost found it difficult as like an audience to kind of you know feel good for him.
Had that not happened I would have been like yeah yeah good you go you know like you found your way out.
But I almost feel like it was not redeeming enough personally like to me for him to just have that realization that he had been narcissistic.
He didn't really love power or you know like great good for you.

(01:16:59):
But seven people are still dead. So I think maybe it was a problem like what you said Nikki.
But I think the film didn't navigate that as well as I would have liked it to for us to kind of get back to feeling like yes this is well deserved at the end.
But what are your thoughts on it. Yeah I thought I feel like he should have died.
I think he should die. But what's your take on like the redeeming quality of a murderer.

(01:17:23):
I mean that's a tough question. I just I don't know man. I don't know if anyone's seen Succession. It was very similar to what happened.
What would a murderer do like after he murders and realizes that he committed a crime which he shouldn't have done.
I just saw it more as like a tragic story like you don't get what you want. You don't get you deserve to be homeless.

(01:17:48):
You deserve to just be deserve to be homeless and deserve a punishment by the law.
You should be punished for the severity of your actions by the law.
But like by the movie the way it ends it's just like you know it's like.
But you have a point right. He's like you can start anew no matter what happens.
Yeah if you can spend 14 years in jail but that's still a new life because you came out of your your thing.

(01:18:12):
But this this this director is a very cynical director and he makes always flashes the bad thing of the world a lot.
His focus is always on that. So I think any other filmmaker might have like even if they want to keep Dave alive might have like you know showed that.
Oh the trial happened and he went on jail and maybe after coming out of jail like he had a life with Chandu or something like that.

(01:18:39):
But this director most probably knew that someone as rich as Dave wouldn't go to jail because he's a very cynical director.
Most of his films people die like you know and he ends with always like a bad note like you know sad note.
I mean I think in that way like he ends it in a good ending for Dave but as a watcher as a viewer if you don't empathize with Dave at math you you get angry at the thing that's happening like Winnie what Winnie felt.

(01:19:11):
Most of the film I watched from this guy I felt angry at the end because people who did the bad things didn't deserve didn't get what they deserve.
Yeah and I think your definition of class versus cast is really good for this too even because he's completely broke but still because of his cast.
Yes he gets to basically walk away and that then those people died.

(01:19:36):
Yeah. Yeah.
So he really enrages people with his movie so I think yeah what Winnie said was like it's most they might have been like its director wanted you to be angry at the situation like why the fuck is this stupid asshole the murderer got away and he's smiling at the end.

(01:19:57):
Yeah.
Yeah there you have it.
That's that's that's Dev Dee.
Yeah I don't know how it's like with other adaptations but Keeley as you know as a person that is very familiar with the story what do you think overall like this adaptation do you think it stands the test of time do you think that this is a one adaptation that people should watch or.

(01:20:18):
Of course I think if you have read Devdas you should watch this film and if you I mean it doesn't matter if you have watched or not but this is the best adaptation according to me.
But that's according to me.
That's a lot of yeah.
That's according to me.
High praise.
But but the Dilip Kumar once like the 1950s one was also very acclaimed film Shah Rukh Khan's one was I like it to be honest it's very gaudy that's good because of the filmmaker but it doesn't go into the characters of the people much it's more of a dialogue and theatrics of it.

(01:20:53):
It doesn't analyze the character well it's more of like spectacles of like him breaking glass and like throwing burning stuff because he's angry so he's like who dreams to enjoy I drink to like just wash away pain and there's very famous dialogue that has been that was actually the older film dialogue and he

(01:21:20):
they just did it again with Shah Rukh Khan and that was very popular.
So anyway like not going into comparison of each of them but as this film will stand the taste of time for sure.
I mean it's been like 15 years 15 year old film right.
So even if even if even when people watch this now it is like what do you think like does it look like.

(01:21:43):
Could you accept this film that just come out last year.
Yeah I think it holds up I think the cinematography is good the acting is good.
I think if you're looking for a good film it's great if you're looking for like big musical numbers no.
But as a film I think it's good.
So thanks Killy for introducing this to us.
I don't know whether we'll come back to this with another adaptation.

(01:22:06):
We'll eventually get to it.
We'll all be Debbed like historians by the end of this.
And shout out to Abidio's great acting. I think this was his acting was brilliant.
He really convinced all of us.
But also the fact that this movie really focused on character growth like having the scene where they showed.
But they showed us all how like each character developed and became a person.

(01:22:29):
It created that feelings of empathy and sympathy for each character that I think was missing from a lot of previous adaptations.
So it was a very balanced representation.
And even the ending even though I'm not quite for it I think it's the sign of a good film when it leaves you questioning things when it stirs up like mixed feelings.
You're not really sure how to feel.
And I think that's kind of the beauty of this film. It's really raw.
You guys want to eat momos and play Tekken now?

(01:22:50):
Yep. Momos. Momos saves time.
Alright we'll see you guys next week.
Appreciate it.
Bye.
Bye bye.
Really empty.

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