Devdas – who is he?
Devdas is a character in a novel of the same name written by Late Shri Sarat Chandra Chatterji.
The Devdas we are talking about is an adaption of Sarat Chandra’s novel. Devdas is a true example of immortal love story. This particular love story has been made and remade number of times in our Indian film history but still whenever we see it we feel the freshness in it.
Coming back to Devdas of SLB (Sanjay Leela Bhansali), he has recreated Devdas in such a magnificient scale which is a feast to the eyes of viewers.
Kaun tha yeh Devdas,
Kya woh ek aashiq tha,
Deewana tha yaa koi paagal tha.
Iska jawaab hai,
Devdas ek aashiq tha jise,
uski aashiqui ne deewana
aur paagal bana diya,
jab woh aashiq kisi ka na ban saka,
tab usne sharaab ko apna bana liya.
Devdas fondly called Deva (Shahrukh) is a son of a rich zaamindar who is in love with his childhood friend Parvati fondly called Paro (Aishwarya) who is the daughter of a middle class person whose earlier generations were courtesan. Deva because of his misbehaviour and proximity to Paro is sent to London for his education by his father. Paro eagerly waits for the return of her eternal love Deva. As per their traditional belief Paro lights a lamp and keeps it burning as it is believed if a lamp is lit for a person who has gone out he will return soon. Deva returns back only after 10 years.
Deva’s family members celebrate his return and his mom eagerly waits for his arrival. But on touching the home ground, Deva instead of coming home proceeds straight to meet his love Paaro. Deva’s mom is infuriated by his behaviour.
Deva’s mother invites Paro’s mother, who comes happily to discuss about the marriage proposal of Deva and Paro. But Deva’s mother insults and sends her back. Enraged with the insult Paro’s mother challenges that she will arrange Paro’s marriage to Bhuvan (Vijeyandra Ghatge) who is zamindar and is as rich as Deva’s family.
Deva tries to protest against the behaviour of his parents but his words are not heard by anyone and Deva is unable to take the hands of Paro against his parents wishes. So Deva leaves his house and goes to stay with his friend Chunnilal (Jackie). Deva writes a letter to Paro asking her to forget him and their love.
Paro’s marriage is arranged with a rich Zaamindar of other village who is very elder to her and has grown up kids.
Before the marriage Deva realises his mistake and tries to persuade Paro, but Paro is not in a position to stop the marriage and she gets married to the Zamindar. Unable to bear the separation Deva hits the bottle.
Chunnilal introduces Deva to Chandramukhi (Madhuri) who is a courtesan. On seeing Deva, Chandramukhi falls in love with him, but being a courtesan she is unable to express her love to him when she expresses her love Deva refuses to accept her as he still loves only one soul, Paro.
Day in and day out Deva keeps on drinking, when Paro comes to know of his condition she comes and meets Chandramukhi and asks her to leave him, but on learning the true love of Chandramukhi Paro asks her to take care of Deva.
Deva’s health condition becomes critical and at his last stage he comes to Paro’s house and breathes his last at her door step.
Devdas is a common love story which has been filmed a number of times, but on seeing Devdas the question which comes to mind is,
Is Devdas a lover or a loser.
Deva loved Paro but he could not oppose his family and society and this act of Deva resulted in ruining not only his life but also the lives of Paro and Chandramukhi.
The Devdas of SLB is just splendid. Each and every frame of it is full of richness. The sets created for this magnum opus is just astounding.
Performance wise each and every character in the movie has performed extremely well. Shahrukh as Deva has given his lifetime performance. Aish as Paro is gorgeous, Madhuri as Chandramukhi is just fantastic. The dance sequence of Paro and Chandramukhi (Dola re Dola re) is an added bonus to watch two beauties together. However, in many of the scenes age reflects in the face of Madhuri and she has also put on weight after marriage.
Kiron Kher as Paro’s mother has performed extremely well.
Each and every area of the movie like Art Direction, Choreography, Photography is just fantastic. Music and back ground score by Ismail Durbar is mesmerizing. Direction of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, wah unka kya kehana, phele Khaamoshi se aaye, phir logon ke dil mein aisa pyaar jagaya, ke log kehene lage Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, aur ab sab ko ek prem kahani mein Devdas bana diya.
Sanjay, inspite of a marvellous direction there is a small flaw. In the last scene, between Deva and Chandramukhi, Deva is shown wearing a short chain and on keen observation one can make out that the chain which is worn by Deva is a latest machine made chain. Were such fine machine made chains available during the era in which the movie is picturised?