Having seen this film only yesterday, I am really late with this review (more than a decade since it came out), but some films are truly timeless and worth the praise long after they are released.

Dev D is a masterpiece in all its glory without glorifying the protagonist. The movie is an grim reflection of a man spiralling into a sea of booze and drugs and repeated bender trips after a fallout with his childhood sweetheart. While on the surface the movie deals with issues of a break-up and the consequent self-deprecating addiction-fuelled journey, the larger issue of the movie deals with the protagonist's narcissistic personality. Throughout the movie this point is driven home repeatedly as we see that Dev spurning away people whenever his ego is threatened. There are many instances of Dev seeking to gratify himself through others, be it his family, or Paro, or even Chanda, which becomes evident when Chanda says to Dev, "You can't love anyone, just accept it."

The film was long yet it was beautifully woven together and struck the perfect balance between a gripping story without going overboard with the theatrics. Anurag Kashyap provides brilliant direction, coupled with a whacky soundtrack by Amit Trivedi and an absolutely fantastic acting by Abhay Deol. There is a lot of symbolism in the movie meshed along with the headlines prevalent during those days, yet the rendition of the movie remains relevant even after a decade since it was made, making it well-deserved to be a timeless masterpiece of Indian Cinema.

The only thing which was similar to a mainstream Bollywood movie was the ending, which was somewhat made to appeal to the larger audience and leave a more hopeful chance at redemption for what seems like a complete mayhem of a person. In real life though, that redemption is rarely found for people like Dev.