Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

DEV D has released and fetched good audience for itself. Meanwhile as is expected from an Abhay Deol starrer, the man himself has been acknowledged once again for his bravura act. As the film continues to find audience for itself, Abhay Deol can't help but grin from ear to ear. He talks to Joginder Tuteja about working on the film, how he shared the idea about making it with Anurag Kashyap and whether he was disappointed when his last release OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE didn't quite perform at the box office as per the script.

One hears a lot about you being the originator of the project. True?

That's true, I had the idea for DEV D. I was the one who was looking around at the prospects of the film being made. I observed the urban drug culture of India and also wondered that how kids, who were just out of their teens, could loose their way in case they didn't have guidance. Then I saw Sanjay Leela Bhansali's DEVDAS and said to myself 'Yes, there it is, we can use the same plot and put a modern setting into the story.'

What happened next?

I narrated the idea to some more people in Mumbai as well as Los Angeles. I could observe that the reactions were quite positive and they were keen to something like that in the contemporary setting where drugs could substitute for alcohol. Then I took the film to Anurag Kashyap and the ball started rolling.

Anurag working on a subject like 'Devdas'? Didn't it sound strange considering he has made films like BLACK FRIDAY, NO SMOKING and HANUMAN RETURNS earlier?

[Laughs] There is a certain Kashyapism to DEV D. The idea was mine and Anurag went ahead and conceptualized the entire project. He has brought some intelligent tangible instances in the film. His film making style is different and the way he has used music is amazing. He has brought a lot to the project with some amazing casting [Mahi Gill and Kalki playing Paro and Chandramukhi respectively]. He has given an individualistic touch to the story.

Abhay, though your presence in a project automatically classifies it as a classy product, wasn't it disappointing when OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE didn't work?

On the contrary it did quite well given the terrible circumstances that the country found itself in. When we were being attacked by the terrorists, all of us associated with OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE were just thinking about people and not the movie. The shock was followed by anger because none of us could fathom that how could people walk into our city and hold it at ransom. Frankly, I stopped getting concerned about the box office performance of the film though I am aware that eventually it did settle down and turned out to be a break even preposition at the least.