Director
Sudhir
Mishra,
the
latest
Bollywood
director
to
tackle
a
retelling
of
Sarat
Chandra
Chattopadhyay's
celebrated
novel
Devdas,
is
set
to
release
his
version
on
February
16.
Titled,
Daasdev,
the
film
gives
a
modern
twist
to
the
doomed
romance.
Mishra
has
set
the
story
in
the
present-day
India
against
the
backdrop
of
hinterland
politics.
It
features
Richa
Chadha
as
Paro,
Aditi
Rao
Hydari
as
Chandni
and
Rahul
Bhat
as
Dev.
"I
admit
that
I
took
Devdas,
I
took
the
three
characters
Dev,
Paro,
and
Chandramukhi.
As
I
was
working,
Shakespeare
intruded
and
I
allowed
him
to,
what
could
I
do?
"Ultimately,
it
became
a
film
about
power
as
it
gets
into
the
way
of
love.
It
became
a
reverse
journey
because
if
Devdas
is
a
journey
from
a
noble
person
to
a
'das',
this
is
a
journey
from
'das',
a
person
who
is
a
slave
to
his
addictions
and
the
dynastic
ambitions
of
his
family,
to
Dev," Mishra
said
in
a
statement.
The
"Hazaaron
Khwahishen
Aisi" director
said
his
Paro
is
"a
modern,
spunky,
interesting
woman"
who
fights
with
the
weapons
she
has
and
in
the
end,
confronts
Dev.
"That's
how
I've
seen
women
and
that's
how
I
see
Paro.
In
my
idea,
they
have
the
right
to
be
wrong
and
they
have
the
right
do
wrong
in
order
to
do
right.
For
me,
they
don't
need
to
apologise
for
betrayal
as
men
don't
require
to
apologise
for
betrayals,"
he
added.
Mishra
said
his
Chandni
is
as
close
as
she
could
get
to
Chandramukhi
in
present-day.
"She's
the
one
who
services
the
political
forces
of
our
time.
The
so-called
modern
semi-feudal
upper-class
families
and
the
patriarchal
world
don't
accept
women
like
her.
"Even
though
they
use
them,
they
pretend
not
to
know
this
very
real
money
handler,
fixer,
manipulator..."
The
movie
is
presented
by
Storm
Pictures
and
backed
by
Saptarishi
Cinevision
production.
Devdas
is
one
of
the
most
adapted
novels
in
Indian
cinema.
Pramathesh
Barua's
1936
adaptation,
starring
K
L
Saigal
in
the
title
role;
Bimal
Roy's
1955
take,
featuring
Dilip
Kumar
(in
one
of
his
most
famous
cinematic
outings),
Suchitra
Sen,
Vyjayanthimala
and
Motilal;
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali's
grand
adaptation
in
2002
with
Shahrukh
Khan,
Aishwarya
Rai
and
Madhuri
Dixit
and
Anurag
Kashyap's
2009
post-modern
take
in
Dev-D
are
the
most
known
adaptations
of
the
book.
PTI