Devdas (2002 film)

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Devdas

Movie poster
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Produced by Bharat Shah
Written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (novella)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali (screenplay)
Starring Shahrukh Khan
Madhuri Dixit
Aishwarya Rai
Music by Ismail Darbar
Cinematography Binod Pradhan
Editing by Bela Segal
Distributed by Eros International Ltd. (UK)
Release date(s) 23 May 2002 (Cannes)
12 July 2002 (India)
Running time 182 min.
Language Hindi/Urdu
Budget Rs 1,000,000,000
$22.3 Million (approximately)
IMDb profile

Devdas (Hindi: देवदास, Urdu: دیوداس) is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella, Devdas.

The third Bollywood (Hindi) version, first colour film version of the story, and the first film version since the previous Hindi version in 1955, it was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Shahrukh Khan played Devdas in this adaptation. His co-stars included Aishwarya Rai (Paro) and Madhuri Dixit (Chandramukhi).

It was the most expensive Bollywood movie of the time it was made; it had a lavish budget of Rs 1,000,000,000. When it was released in 2002, it was the most expensive Bollywood film ever produced, at a cost of approximately US$22.3 million. (Reportedly, this record has been surpassed by Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.) The film was made to the highest industry standards, and no costs were spared for sets or costumes. It was said that the jewelry and saris weighed the actors down so much that they needed to reorder with clothing and accessories of less weight.

The movie was the biggest box-office grosser of the year. Aishwarya Rai's performance as the sensitive yet haughty Paro, and Madhuri Dixit's as the dancer Chandramukhi were highly appreciated. Shahrukh Khan's performance as the sensitive yet rebellious alcoholic Devdas is often considered one of his best performances yet, and he won a Filmfare Award for his performance.

The song Dola re Dola became a hit because of the unique dance duet between Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, leading to the video receiving significant airplay on MTV Asia at the time.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sir Narayan Mukherjee, a zamindar who had been knighted by the British government, and his wife Kaushalya heard that their younger son, Devdas, would be coming back home from law school in England to their breathtaking mansion in Tal Sonapur, Bengal. On the day he was to return, Kaushalya told everyone in the family to close their eyes so that she would be the first to see him. Instead, the first person Devdas saw on his trip back to Calcutta was Paro, his neighbour and childhood sweetheart. Soon, their friendship turned to love. Jealousy over their relationship ignited in Kaushalya.

It seemed to everyone that Devdas and Paro should get married, but Devdas's troublemaking sister-in-law Kumud maliciously reminded Kaushalya of Paro's mother Sumitra's past, particularly how her ancestors were dancers. Kaushalya rejected and humiliated Sumitra in public after the latter announced her desire for the two lovebirds to marry. A vengeful Sumitra vowed, "If I don't find a groom richer than your son in one week, I will kill myself." Sumitra started arranging the marriage of Paro to Thakur Bhuvan Chaudhry, a forty-year-old widowed aristocrat.

Aisharya Rai's promotional shot as Paro in Devdas
Enlarge
Aisharya Rai's promotional shot as Paro in Devdas

Meanwhile, Paro went to Devdas in the safety of the night and was caught by Devdas' father as they spoke. In rage after a fight with his father, Devdas left Paro behind and went to a brothel with Chunni Babu, a friend of his from college, after having written Paro a letter saying that romance had never existed between them and that they were only friends. Once he arrived at the brothel he stayed for a brief moment before he realized his mistake, but not before the good-hearted dancing courtesan Chandramukhi fell for him.

Devdas went back to Paro at the time of her wedding to Bhuvan Chaudhry and asked her to elope with him. She angrily refused, citing his letter saying they were just friends; Devdas countered by accusing her of being vain. Paro said, "If you can be arrogant, so can I. You may be good-looking, but you have no virtues--I have both virtues and good looks. Your family may be wealthy, but my father is no beggar. Besides, right now, I will be richer than you." (This actual quote may not be in the movie, but it is in the book.) Devdas said, "So much beauty is not right for a person to have. Even the moon cannot be as vain as you," and Paro responded, "Ahh, but the moon is scarred, how could it dare have vanity?" Then Devdas whipped a pearl necklace at her forehead, scarring her. "You will have vanity no more," he said.

Having lost Paro and blaming his family for driving a wedge between them, Devdas left home, moving to Chandramukhi's brothel, and became addicted to alcohol. He eventually became so sick that the slightest overdose would kill him. Chandramukhi somehow got in touch with Paro and told her of Devdas' ill health; she met with him and tried to convince him to stop drinking, to no avail. However, he promised her that before his death, he would come to her doorstep. When Devdas' system could handle alcohol no more and he realized his days were numbered, he returned to Paro's doorstep. Paro realized it was Devdas who was outside dying; she ran, but her husband demanded all doors be locked. Then Paro sat crying, a few feet away from Devdas, with a huge door keeping them apart.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Awards

It won 10 awards at the Filmfare.

[edit] 2002 Filmfare Awards

[edit] Trivia

  • Normally, two or three generators would have been used for a film, but this production used 42. This disrupted the outdoor marriages in Bombay as all the generators were being used for the sets. The film also used up 2,500 lights, 700 lighting men and an large number of junior artistes. By the time Zamindar Bhuvan's haveli had to be designed, Bhansali's budget was eaten up.
  • Paro's delicate stained-glass house was erected from November to June - safe, non-monsoon months, Bhansali reckoned. During those months, there were four unprecedented rain showers, which caused the colors in the stained glass to run, and they had to be retouched regularly. Moreover, dollys were rolled over the floors of the house, which led to a lot of chipping.
Madhuri Dixit's promotional shot as Chandramukhi in Devdas
Enlarge
Madhuri Dixit's promotional shot as Chandramukhi in Devdas
  • The set of Chandramukhi's kotha was constructed around a lake. Consequently, the water in the lake kept drying up and gallons of water had to be regularly filled in. Moreover, the bridge built across the lake had a tendency to sink at all the wrong times.
  • In the introduction song, Madhuri's first costume was heavy so the crew remade a new costume which was less heavy.
  • Madhuri Dixit was pregnant when shooting began.
  • The role of Devdas was first offered to Salman Khan but he declined.
  • Sanjay Leela Bhansali initially considered Kareena Kapoor for role of Paro/Parvati, but he later realized she was too young and amateur to play the role opposite Madhuri Dixit.
  • The sequence where Paro's mother, Sumitra, is made to dance at a social gathering was inspired from a recurring nightmare of Sanjay Leela Bhansali - his mother's utter humiliation.
  • Devdas was the first recent Bollywood film to receive an invitation to Cannes.


  • Devdas was India's entry in the foreign film category for the 2003 Academy Awards
  • Ismail Darbar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali spent two and a half years to compose the music. Each song, being complexly structured, had to be mixed 8-9 times and the recording took ten days.

[edit] External links


The Films of Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Khamoshi • Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam • Devdas • Black • Saawariya
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