Storm Pictures and Saptarishi Cinevision Production’s Daas Dev (UA) is a love story adapted from Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s Devdas and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Dev Pratap Chauhan (Rahul Bhat) hails from a family of politicians but he is not interested in politics. He is heavily in debts after his father, Vishambhar Pratap Chauhan’s (Anurag Kashyap) untimely demise years ago, even while he was a kid. Dev’s uncle, Awadesh Pratap Chauhan (Saurabh Shukla), is a shrewd politician. Not only does he care for his widowed sister-in-law, Sushila Devi (Sohaila Kapur), but also has physical relations with her. He is keen that Dev enters politics.
Dev loves his childhood friend, Paro (Richa Chadda). Chandni Mehra (Aditi Rao Hydari) is a fixer who sleeps around with politicians to get work done. She loves Dev although she is aware that he would never be hers. Paro has two more men salivating for her – politician Ramashray Shukla (Vipin Sharma) and Milan Shukla (Vineet Kumar Singh).
Dev is forced to throw his hat into the political ring when uncle Awadesh Pratap Chauhan is hospitalised. As the political game gets murkier, Paro’s father, Naval Singh (Anil George), is jailed for a crime which he hasn’t committed. Paro and her mother (Ekavali Khanna) plead before the Chauhan family but are unable to secure Naval Singh’s freedom. Rather, Naval Singh dies in jail. That’s the last straw on the camel’s back. A dejected Paro walks out on Dev despite being madly in love with him. Paro agrees to marry the widowed Ramashray Shukla. After Paro’s wedding with Ramashray Shukla, the political game becomes dirtier. Skeletons come tumbling out of different cupboards, leaving Dev as flabbergasted as Paro. It soon emerges that power corrupts and that there’s no room for principles in politics.
What happens thereafter?
Sudhir Mishra and Jaydeep Sarkar have penned a story inspired by Devdas and Hamlet. But the story is so complicated and confusing that it becomes difficult for the audience to fully comprehend it. That is the main reason why the viewers don’t feel completely engaged in the drama. The screenplay, written by the duo, with additional screenplay by Ravi S. Alok, is fast-paced but, like the story, it gets complicated every now and then. Although it is basically a love story set against the backdrop of politics, the political drama takes so much precedence over the love portions that the romance doesn’t remain heartwarming. The audiences do not feel for the two lovers, Dev and Paro – and that’s a major drawback of the love story.
Of course, the twists and turns revealed in the end do shock the viewers but the shock value comes so late that by then, the audience has quite given up. Dialogues, written by Sudhir Mishra and Tariq Naved Siddiqui, are reasonably effective.
Rahul Bhat may lack screen presence but he has performed ably in the role of Dev. As Paro, Richa Chadda is quite effective and impactful. Aditi Rao Hydari is earnest in the role of Chandni Mehra. Saurabh Shukla lends able support as Awadesh Pratap Chauhan. Vipin Sharma leaves a fine mark in the role of the wily Ramashray Shukla. Dalip Tahhil is stylish as Shrikant Sahay. Deepraj Rana stands his own as Prabhunath Singh. Anil George makes his presence felt as Naval Singh. Sohaila Kapur is natural as Sushila Devi. Vineet Kumar Singh has his definite moments in a friendly appearance as Milan Shukla. Anurag Kashyap is pretty good as Vishambhar Pratap Chauhan. Ekavali Khanna leaves a mark as Paro’s mother. Suryamohan Kulshreshta (as Badri Kaka), Anil Sharma (as chief minister Khatri) and the rest are adequate.
Sudhir Mishra’s direction is good insofar as the shot takings and making are concerned. But his narration is unable to do much about the complicated script, co-written by him. Music (Vipin Patwa, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Shamir Tandon, Sandesh Shandilya and Anupama Raag) is fair but the songs are not popular and that’s a big drawback. Lyrics (by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Bulley Shah, Munir Niazi, Dr. Sagar, Sameer Anjaan, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Deepak Ramola and Gaurav Solanki) are appropriate. Firoz A. Khan’s choreography is so-so. Background music (by Vipin Patwa and Karel Antonin; additional background score by Aditya N. and Nayantara Bhatkal) is alright. Sachin Krishn’s cinematography is of a very good standard. Prem Sharma’s action scenes are decent. Gautam Sen’s production designing is okay. Archit Damodar Rastogi’s editing could’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Daas Dev is too complicated to appeal to the public. It will, therefore, flop at the ticket windows.