Not for the squeamish. Review on Dev

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that just gets to you, moves you, and makes you think -long and hard. You know the kind of movies I am talking about - Shool, Chandni Bar, Parinda, Zakhm, etc. Dev is one of those movies.

This is not your average good cop v/s The System movies. This is not your boy-turns-terrorist and kills evil politician movie. This is a dark, pessimistic and realistic look at communal riots. This is more like a commentary on the present state of things than a movie. In short it's a three hour long essay on ''The ends do not justify the means ''

In short if you did not like any of the above-mentioned movies, chances are that you will not like this either.

The Story

After a series of unfortunate accidents, Fardeen Khan decides to send DCP Dev to meet his maker, but fails in the attempt. Meanwhile the archetypical Evil Muslim leader and Archetypal Evil Hindu Leader are having their own ''tu-tu Main-Main '' which leads to Hindu-Muslim riots. In comes the CM, who along with ACP Tej Decide to fan the riots to achieve their own ends.

This is a character driven movie. All are well defined and have strong roles ( except maybe Kareena )

DCP Dev( Amitabh Bachan ) :Lost his sons Armaan in a terrorist attack. But he still believes in the system and constitution.

ACP Tej(om puri) : A godfather to Armaan, he is shattered by the loss and blames Muslims in general for terrorism and Armaans death in particular.

Farhan ( Fardeen Khan) :The archetypical Muslim youth. Tired of being labeled as a terrorist and Jehadi , he is pent up with rage and frustration.

Latif (Ehsaan Khan)& Manoj Rao (Milind Gunaji): Typical Evil Muslim and Hindu leaders.

Aliya ( Kareena Kapoor): Farhan?s love interest.

Special mention must go to Om Puri. He proves more than a match to Amitabh in terms of acting and dialogue delivery. You can almost feel pity for him as he expresses hid anger at the loss of Arman and how it shapes his thinking and ideologies. The subtle changes that come over him as His friendship with Dev breaks down and his extremist side comes into view is a treat to watch.

But amitabh is no less. He portrays to perfection his dilemma of trying to find a balance between friendship, duty and vengeance.

Especially worth watching are the confrontations between om puri and AB and how their friendship gradually breaks down to be replaced by animosity.

Though fardeen has an important role to play, he doesn?t leave as deep an impression as Om Puri and Amitabh Bachan. I especially l like the ''book-burning '' scene and some moments with Kareena.

This movie is DARK. People are shot, burnt, raped. The riot scenes are so intense and raw that hat you feel as if you are in the middle of one. Take for example, a scene in which Fardeen find refuge in a butcher's shop... only to find the dead butcher lying next to the animal carcasses.

There are several indirect references to the riots in Gujrat and elsewhere ..e.g. Tej watching on as rioters set fire to a building, or Tej giving orders to Dev not to fire at the rioters.

On the downside, there are the usual stereotypical scenes, characters and dialogues. Some of the behaviors of the characters are totally unexpected. And the ending is somewhat vague and abrupt. But these are mostly minor drawbacks.

To tell you the truth, this is one movie that left me shaken. It minces no words in blaming Hindus, Muslims, politicians and police for riots. It is brutal violent and pessimistic. And definitely worth watching.

But thanks to the Indian audience mindset, it will probably flop. So watch it on the big screen while you still have the chance.