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.
Country India
Language Hindi/Urdu
Budget Rs 500,000,000
$12.7 Million (approximately)
IMDb profile

Devdas (Hindi: देवदास, Urdu: دیوداس) is a 2002 Bollywood film based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Bollywood (Hindi) version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi. The film is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and stars Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit in the leading roles.

At the time of its release, it was the most expensive Bollywood film ever produced, with a reported budget of Rs 50 Crores

Aishwarya Rai's performance as the sensitive yet haughty Paro and Madhuri Dixit's as the dancer Chandramukhi were highly appreciated.[citation needed] Shahrukh Khan's performance as the rebellious alcoholic Devdas is often considered one of his best performances, garnering him a Filmfare Award. The song Dola re Dola became a hit with its unique dance duet between Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. The video received significant airplay on MTV Asia.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Sir Narayan Mukherjee (Vijay Crishna), a zamindar, and his wife Kaushalya (Smita Jaykar) have heard that their younger son, Devdas (Shahrukh Khan), is coming home from a law school in England to their mansion in Tal Sonapur, Bengal. On the day of his return, Kaushalya insists everyone in the family close their eyes so that she will be the first person to see him. Her plan backfires, however, when instead of coming straight home, Devdas goes to see Parvati "Paro" Chakraborty (Aishwarya Rai), his childhood sweetheart, first. This incident ignites Kaushalya's dislike of Paro.

Paro is Devdas's neighbour and childhood friend. The years apart turned their friendship into love. When he was sent to England at the age of ten, she (though a child herself) lit a lamp for him, which she carefully tended to over the years and never allowed to extinguish.

It seems to everyone, including Paro's mother Sumitra (Kirron Kher), that Devdas and Paro will get married, but Devdas's vindictive sister-in-law Kumud (Ananya Khare) reminds Kaushalya of Paro's maternal lineage, which consists of dancers. When Sumitra announces her desire for the lovebirds to marry, Kaushalya rejects and humiliates her in public. In retaliation, Sumitra vows to ensure that Paro will get an even better marriage, and soon arranges for Paro to marry Thakur Bhuvan Chaudhry (Vijayendra Ghatge), a forty-year-old widowed aristocrat with three grown children.

Paro still loves and wants to be with Devdas, but after he gets into a fight with his father, about marrying Paro, he flees to a brothel alongside his college friend Chunnibabu (Jackie Shroff) and leaves a letter for her stating that love had never existed between them. At the brothel Devdas meets a good-hearted (courtesan) named Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), who falls in love with him. After staying at the brothel for a while, however, Devdas realizes his error.

Devdas returns to Paro at the time of her wedding to Bhuvan Chaudhry and asks her to elope with him. Paro refuses, remembering the way he had discarded her so easily. Devdas is heartbroken from both losing Paro and his family's love, and he moves to Chandramukhi's brothel permanently and becomes an alcoholic. He eventually becomes so sick that the slightest dose of alcohol could kill him. Chandramukhi, who cares deeply for Devdas, tries to get Paro to convince him to stop drinking; Paro attempts to persuade him, but she does not succeed. However, Devdas promises Paro that before he dies, he will come to see her one last time and let her care for him.

Paro invites Chandramukhi, whom she has befriended, to a celebration at her husband's home and introduces Chandramukhi to her in-laws' house without revealing her profession. However, Bhuvan's ill-natured son-in-law Kalibabu (Milind Gunaji), who used to visit Chandramukhi's brothel on a regular basis, reveals her background and humiliates her in front of Bhuvan and the guests. He also tells Bhuvan of Paro's relationship with Devdas. As a result, Bhuvan punishes Paro by forbidding her from leaving the mansion permanently.

Meanwhile, Devdas tells Chandramukhi that he loves her, but that she must let him go. He decides to travel the country, and takes Dharamdas (Tiku Talsania), a trusted servant, with him. While on a train, he meets his old friend Chunnibabu, who offers him a glass of wine. Devdas accepts it deliberately, knowing that it will be fatal, and becomes desperately sick.

On the verge of death, Devdas remembers his promise to see Paro one last time and travels to her house, collapsing in front of the main gate. Paro learns of his presence, and, screaming his name, runs out of the house and attempts to reach him. Bhuvan sees this and orders the servants to close the gates. Devdas sees a blurred image of Paro running to him, but the gates close before she can reach him and Devdas dies. At the same time, the lamp that Paro had lit for him flickers out.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Soundtrack

Devdas
Devdas cover
Studio album by Ismail Darbar
Released 2002
Genre Soundtrack/Filmi
Ismail Darbar chronology
Deewangee
(2002)		 Devdas: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2002)		 Shakti: The Power
(2002)

The film soundtrack was predominately composed by Ismail Darbar and features playback singers Kavita Krishnamurthy (as Chandramukhi), Udit Narayan (as Devdas), and the debuting Shreya Ghoshal (as Parvati).

Composed by Ismail Darbar and lyrics by Nusrat Badr unless noted
  1. "Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka" – Shreya Ghoshal
  2. "Maar Dala" – Kavita Krishnamurthy,Kay Kay
    Lyrics: Prakash Kapadia & Nusrat Badr
  3. "Bairi Piya" – Udit Narayan, Shreya Ghoshal
  4. "Kaahe Chhed Mohe" – Pt. Birju Maharaj, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Madhuri Dixit
  5. "Chalak Chalak" – Udit Narayan,Vinod Rathod, Shreya Ghoshal
  6. "Hamesha Tumko Chaha" – Kavita Krishnamurthy, Udit Narayan
  7. "Woh Chand Jaisi Ladki" – Udit Narayan
  8. "Morey Piya" – Jaspinder Narula, Shreya Ghoshal
    Lyrics: Sameer
  9. "Dev's Last Journey - The Theme" – Rashmi Sharma, Supriya Raghav Chatterjee
    Music: Monty
  10. "Dola Re Dola" – Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shreya Ghoshal, Kay Kay

[edit] Awards

It won 10 awards at the 2002 Filmfare Awards:

[edit] Star Screen Awards

[edit] IIFA Awards

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • 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 2,500 lights, 700 lighting men and a 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 assumed. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 Chandramukhi, but he later realized she was too young and amateur to play the role of a courtesan.
  • 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's - 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 composing the music for the Devdas soundtrack. Each song, being complexly structured, had to be mixed 8-9 times and the recording took ten days.
  • In the song, Kahe Chhed Mohe, the outfit worn by Madhuri Dixit was 30 kg. She had lots of problems with the dance, but she eventually completed it.


  • Kathak master Birju Maharaj had composed and choreographed Kaahe Chedd Mohe for Madhuri Dixit.
  • The song, Dola Re Dola, took a week to write because Sanjay Leela Bhansali thought by uniting two of the biggest stars (Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai), the song had to be perfect.
Awards
Filmfare Award
Preceded by
Lagaan
लगान
لگان}		 Best Movie
2002		 Succeeded by
Koi... Mil Gaya
कोई मिल गया
کوئی مل گیا

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Khamoshi (1996) • Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) • Devdas (2002) • Black (2005) • Saawariya (2007)