The best way to understand passion is to experience it. Sometimes it takes the passion in watching the film to get the passion of making the film. I watched Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas over ten times (on television channels) and then went to buy the VCD for my collection.
SARATCHANDRA’S NOVEL:
Devdas is the not the story of a man whose questions are convincing in terms of contemporary sensibilities, but that of a man whose answers are maudlin and fatalistic. It is more the story of a loser in a man, than the story of a strong hero. It is exactly the story of a man who possessed nothing, except for the pure love of two wonderful women.
He was madly loved by his childhood playmate, when he never realized that. And when he began to realize, situations turned against him. Grief-stricken, he runs himself into self-destruction. When he expected nothing more from life, he was devotedly loved by a perfect woman: a prostitute.
In the epilogue, the author requests the readers to feel for Devdas, who died a death so gruesome: No one was with him when he took his last breath, except for the stark pain of death.
BHANSALI’S FILM:
Devdas-Paro: Devdas and Paro are perfect lovers. His handsomeness and her beauty, his arrogance and her sensitivity, his foolishness and her self-dignity, his repentance and her maturity are in perfect sync like two stacked spoons. The imperfectness of the society shatters their Fate mercilessly.
Story of a Curse: Paro’s mother, Sumitra, is mad with happiness on comparing the love between Paro and Devdas to the love between Radha and Krishna. She often dreams of Paro’s marriage with Devdas. And then, one day, her dream is shattered with an insult. In the rage of being insulted, she Curses the Mukherji household (Devdas’ surname is Mukherji).
Devdas-Chandramukhi: Chandramukhi is a courtesan; she is disliked by him; she is hurted by his words; but she could not stop her unflinching love for him. Devdas loves only Paro; he can never forget her; he is guilty of losing her; but he could not stop himself from realizing Chandramukhi’s love for him.
Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’ is the combination of the two Love Stories separated by the Story of a Curse.
THE PASSION OF FILM-MAKING:
This is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s best film. Devdas, being a slow-paced story set in 1920’s, is a challenge for any film-maker of today’s times where the audience are more demanding in terms of quality and appeal. Bhansali’s vision of cinema is like a thick cocktail of sensitive melodrama and visual richness. Every scene depicts his deep vision of the story. Unlike his other films, whose themes have not been dealt earlier, Devdas poses another challenge of meeting the high expectations, due to the success of previous versions of the same film. And the high budget warns him to keep in mind, the reach of the film to a wider range of audience. So he surely can’t risk making an off-beat film out of Devdas.
On the other side, this is Bhansali’s worst film. Devdas requires more subtleness in handling some situations, which go overboard because of the exaggerated infusion of melodrama and romance. Unlike Bhansali’s other films, where all the characters are nurtured to give fine-tuned performances, Devdas includes some unnecessary characters going overboard. And Bhansali could have avoided some unwanted scenes, like Devdas leaving off Paro to her marriage-ceremony, Chandramukhi lecturing about ‘thakurs’ and ‘prostitutes’, the song ‘Chalak Chalak’, etc.
The next in the list of importance, is art-director Nitin Chandrakant Desai. His opulent sets are examples of artistic brilliance. Sheer vision of fine arts and design give the film a grand appeal. And grandeur is one way for a film to reach a wider ranger of audience.
Binod Pradhan’s camera was at its best when he captured the opulent sets. The glitter of the lamps in the mansions was comparable to the glamour of the star-cast. Whether it was Aishwarya Rai with her ‘jiya’ or Madhuri Dixit before the mirror or Shah Rukh Khan with the liquor bottle, every frame has the genius touch.
A Passionate Melody is what one will hear in every tune that flows along the stretch of the film. Every song is a melody-treat to people of all ages. The background score is magical. Devdas Theme keeps haunting me whenever I hear a trace about the film. Ismail Darbar and Monty have given their best for this film.
The choreographers from Saroj Khan to Birju Maharaj have taken good care to keep the dance sequences in sync with the music.
When there is passion in every segment of the film, why not it be present in the acting department. But it is only Shah Rukh Khan as Devdas and Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi who live their characters. Despite weak characterization, Shah Rukh has given a metaphorical performance. Though all the opulence has over-shadowed the characters, Shah Rukh’s performance was the gem in the film. Coming to Madhuri, I wouldn’t say this is her best, but this is surely the most appealing role she has ever played. Thanks to Binod Pradhan for capturing Madhuri’s killer smile so subtly that it touches the audiences at deep corners.
On the other side, Aishwarya Rai was good-looking as Paro, but she looked like a patient woman as ‘zamindarini’. She has got the least in terms of script; so the blame cannot be fully hers. Jackie Shroff has got the best lines in the film; and he has unfortunately given his most unimpressive performance. Except for the last scene in the train with Shah Rukh, he can hardly be noticed.
Kiron Kher as Paro’s mother was loud; but that was what the script demanded.
The costumes for Shah Rukh and Madhuri were good and neat; but that for Aishwarya were over-worked on. Her costumes in the ‘zamindarini’ attire looked too heavy on her.
Now, it is Prakash Kapadia’s script and screenplay which should be the foremost reason for all the hard work to drown in drain. The dialogues were good, but the characterization of key characters is where the script falters. What is the use of nice poetry when the necessarily strong characterizations are missing’ Devdas is weak, but it is the writer’s (script and screenplay) duty to make it a strong characterization for the audience to identify. If it wasn’t for Shah Rukh Khan’s brilliant performance, Devdas could have hardly been pronounced.
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