Previously adapted for the screen by such revered filmmakers as P.C. Barua and Bimal Roy, Anurag Kashyap's Dev D is a contemporary take on author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's popular novel Devdas. Traditionally, the story of Devdas finds the eponymous character, a legendary lover, becoming so despaired at the loss of his true love that he begins to veer down a perilous path of self-destruction. Alternately, this version of the story paints Devdas as a self-pitying hypocrite whose will is so weak that he cannot even summon the fortitude to stand up for himself. The son of a zamindar (tax collector), Devdas longs to marry childhood sweetheart Paro. Unfortunately for the would-be couple, differences in status and caste make the prospect of marriage impossible. Sent to Calcutta as Paro is married off to a wealthy yet aged widower, Devdas meets the prostitute Chandramukhi (Kalki) and ultimately falls into a tragic cycle of excess due to an overpowering sense of remorse.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide