29 November,2016 10:22 AM IST | | Dipanjan Sinha
A new web series by Ken Ghosh and Ekta Kapoor and will present a modern adaptation of Devdas with a female protagonist
A still from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2002 extravaganza
Indian cinema loves Devdas. Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 novel, hailed as a classic and dismissed as sappy in different quarters, was made into a film for the first time in 1928, in the silent era. Over the decades, it has been remade several times, with the latest one being a sensory extravaganza by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002.
A scene from Anurag Kashyap's DevD (2009)
Now, the novel from a hundred years ago will also enter a new world of the Indian web series, albeit with a twist. The passion-drunk protagonist here is a girl grappling with life and intense love in a modern world. The series, Dev DD traces the story of young and rebellious Devika, and her journey through life with love, sex, heartbreak, self-destruction and redemption.
Ken Ghosh
It will be produced by Ken Ghosh for Ekta Kapoor's upcoming app, ALT Balaji. The show will launch in early January with the app. This is the first venture into the web series domain by Ghosh, who has directed films like Ishq Vishq, and is aware of the differences of the medium. Possibly, for this reason instead of a larger than life or dark story, Ghosh has worked on a very realistic story of a girl with a small world building around her.
"It is a different medium, where the audience is usually following shows alone and is prone to distractions. The scenes thus need to be shorter, snappier and crisp," he explains. The director points out how that characters in this series will also be a lot more real and will speak in a way that the audience can relate to. "In that way, the format allows more freedom to push the boundaries," he signs off.
