Devdas (2002)

• Year: 2002
• Released: 12 Jul 2002
• Country: India
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award60 wins & 17 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238936/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devdas
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Hindi
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Drama, Musical, Romance
• Runtime: 185 min
• Writer: Saratchandra Chatterjee, Prakash Kapadia, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit
• Keywords: based on novel or book, remake, early 1900s, courtesan, calcutta,

7.5/10

Devdas Storyline

The son of Zamindar Narayan Mukherjee, Devdas (Shahrukh Khan) was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He grew up in the lush village of Taj Sonapur, where he spent his childhood, indulged by his lovely playmate Paro (Aishwarya). They grew up sharing a special relationship, in which they existed only to each other. Oblivious of all the differences in status and background, an unbreakable bond grew between them. It slowly changed to love–still unsaid. But the reverie was broken when his family sent Devdas to London for education. Paro’s world crashed knowing that her Devdas would be gone and she lit a diya, for it signified the fast return of her loved one. Years passed and Devdas returned. Devdas was besotted by her stunning beauty and longed to have her back. But Zamindar Narayan Mukherjee (Vijay Crishna), Devdas’ father, met Paro’s mother Sumitra’s (Kiran Kher) marriage proposal with condescending arrogance. It caused a rift between the families and although Devdas tried to convince his father, only antagonism came his way. Finally, he moved away from Paro and wrote her a letter asking her to forget him. Only, he didn’t realize that he would never be able to forget her ever. And much later, when he reached out to her, it was too late as she was far too humiliated. She scorned him for not standing by her and they parted forever with a heart-broken Paro entering into a chaste marriage with a wealthy, much older man, Zamindar Bhuvan (Vijayendra Ghagte), while a shattered Devdas walked towards anguish, alcoholism, and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit). Chandramukhi, a stunning courtesan instantly lost her heart to Devdas. A unique bond was formed between both as he could share with her the intense pain of his unfulfilled love for Paro. Meanwhile, Paro performed her worldly duties sincerely, but inside her heart, she could never forget Devdas for a moment. Strange was the fate of Devdas. Intensely loved by two women, who were never meant to be his. One whom he could never love and one whom he could never stop loving.

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Devdas Movie Reviews

Lush, lavish, lovely – but ….

I owned this film for 8 months but did not see it because of all the negative hype on the board. Then I took the plunge. First off let me say that I was not a great Saratchandra admirer. His stories (except SWAMI) mostly portrayed women as weak minded, subservient (maybe true to the time, but not to be admired), and men as weak and mostly well bred but not well educated. I had no real recollection of the story as written. And, not being a great Dilip Kumar fan, I never watched the old version. So, I have no comparisons to draw, no plot line differences to talk about.

I came away moved by the tragic love story that unfolded. It was not flawless, most Bollywood movies are not.

Negatives – the sets were beautiful but over the top, ditto for the costumes. The duo dance was a great way to compare Aish vs Madhuri dancing skills (both were pretty even matched for me) but in the story line it was quite silly and should not have been there. There was no real need for the the two to meet, but this was Mr, Bhansali’s directorial license. Chandramukhi’s kotha and environs were lifted straight from Pakeezah, which was a very stylized movie and not authentic.

Positives: Shahrukh Khan gave a very restrained performance, the silent tears accompanied with an anguish that only his eyes portrayed was a real departure from the screwed-up face crying. He was very very good in the drunk bits, very good in the anguished bits. It is remarkable how much this actor is accused of being typecast when every other year he pulls out an amazing performance – Dil Se (1998), Asoka (2001) and Devdas (2002) are all departures from his usual typecast romantic hero image. Recent roles in Swades and KANK are even more varied. The detractors will keep saying he overacted, or he portrayed no emotions, for me this was a truly great role as an anguished lover. Mr. Khan – your best actor award for this role in Devdas was well deserved.

Madhuri – what can one say about this truly great icon? She was amazing, you felt her pain, her caring, her selfless love, the moments between her and Shahrukh sizzled. And her dancing was brilliant.

Aish – was a bit wooden at times, but not always. She had a chemistry with Shahrukh that was understated until she was beyond his reach, but come on – the woman looks amazing, is there any doubt that a hundred Devdas types are dying for her?? She was better as the movie progressed to the more serious part.

The movie went into an emotional downward spiral a third of the way in and I sat there moved and almost crying for these tortured souls the rest of the two hours.

The movie was eye candy in the sets and costumes department. The two leading ladies were stunning, Shahrukh was easy on the eye, yet there was something that did detract from this being a great film. Upon much thinking I have come to the conclusion that it was the over the top beauty of everything that really made everything a little unreal for me. How could such perfect people have such imperfect lives? In essence the little black mark on the lip was missing and that left me a little dissatisfied.

If Mr. Bhansali had stated that this was an adaptation from the original novel, people would forgive him the fact that Devdas in his version is a mature man and knows his mind (although fails to act decisively on it), and the fact that an aristocratic lady visits a courtesan’s establishment and the two dance together.

If you do not compare with what did or did not come before, this was an intense emotional experience, anchored by great performances from Shahrukh, Madhuri and yes, even Aish.

Forget the haters! This is an awesome film!

Coming off a film like ‘Albela’, it was very important for Aishwarya Rai to do a film like this! A lot of people had been speculating about her beauty, charm, acting and dancing skills etc. etc. and I think this was the film that shut them all up. I can’t imagine that so many people think this film is crap, yet there are 92 reviews and comments before mine. I think that’s saying something. Anyhow, in this Epic of Titanic proportions, Aishwarya Rai plays Paro, a lovely young woman coming of age, whose sole purpose in life is to worship her childhood friendship and friend Devdas (played by Shah Rukh Khan), just one look at her and you can tell that Paro/Pavrati is one half of a two part series of star-crossed lovers. It’s Romeo and Juliet meets Titanic meet Tuck everlasting meets every colourful bollywood picture you have ever seen all rolled into one magnificent masterpiece! While they are preteens, Devdas is sent away by his family to go study in England and this devastates Paro who is chastised by her mother for over-reacting during the boy’s departure. As she blossoms into a teenager, Paro’s love for Devdas only grows and one day she is told that Devdas is to return home to India. Naturally, she is beyond overjoyed and prepares herself for his arrival, only to develop an inexplicable fright when he finally comes to her house to see her. A game of cat and mouse ensues but the two would-be lovers finally come face to face and find that their attraction has grown. Enter the evil conniving family feuds, the caste systems and surely you know that all this takes a toll on this everlasting friendship. Somehow, Paro’s love eludes Devdas and he winds up with a gypsy’s curse looming over his head until the final moment of the film when Paro’s husband executes his own curse on his wife, while Devdas’s curse finally catches up with him. A devastating and earth shattering blow that ends their friendship and love forever! This of course, is only part of the story, there are lots of twists and turns and while it is a remake of the 1950s classic of the same name, this version is a unique must see of its own. Don’t miss the show-stopping song and dance numbers especially ‘Sisila ye’ and ‘Dola re Dola’ which teams up the dancing queens (Ash and Madhuri Dixit) in a dance-floor showdown! A+

For me, it was like eating an enormous bowl of whipped cream!]\

Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) has been abroad getting educated for ten years. Now, he’s finally returning and his beloved Parvati (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) awaits him and hopes they’ll marry. However, although the two are in love, his mother and sister-in-law decide rather coldly that he should marry someone even richer than Parvati. Now Parvati is NOT poor–just not quite as fantastically rich as Devdas’ family. So, when her family rejects this union, Devdas stomps off BUT he does NOT take Parvati with him. She is naturally hurt but reluctantly agrees to marry a super-wealthy guy (who, sadly, is a total jerk). Devdas finally decides to defy his family and comes for her–but it’s too late. For the rest of the film, Devdas whines and whines and whines–and drinks LOTS of wine. During this time, oddly, a courtesan, Chandramukhi, Madhuri Dixit loves Devdas and cares for him but he refuses to marry her or accept her into his heart. Ultimately, Devdas drinks himself to death and the film ends…after almost three hours of Devdas’ whining and mooning about and drinking.

I am probably NOT the best person to be reviewing “Devdas”. While I have probably seen more international films than anyone NOT currently undergoing psychiatric care, I have only seen a few dozen Indian films and am by no means an expert. And, certain clichés might be adored by fans of the Indian cinema, but as a bit of an outsider, I see them a bit differently. Now I am NOT saying I dislike Indian movies or their unusual style. I have adored and praised films such as “Three Idiots”, “Kandukondain Kandukondain” and “Aparahito” in my reviews, I just did not enjoy “Devdas” and I’ll try to explain why.

As I sat and watched “Devdas”, I thought of an appropriate metaphor for this film. It was like giving me a gigantic bowl of whipped cream to eat. Now I like whipped cream–but after eating gallons and gallons of it, I want some substance. “Devdas” is full of sumptuous sets, gorgeous actors (particular Aishwarya Rai Bachchan—who, apart from my wife, is probably the most beautiful woman on the planet). It has lovely camera-work and singing. However, the story itself seemed like a collection of children’s “Disney Princess” fairy tales that most guys cannot relate to. Now it is NOT because I am not a romantic–I love a good romance. But, I also want one with depth. And, sadly, “Devdas” is sadly lacking depth and too often I just wanted to slap the title character and tell him to ‘stop whining and man up!’. After all, although he lost his childhood sweetheart, he was incredibly rich and well-educated–unlike 95% of his countrymen. I am sure a lot of folks in Mumbai would have a hard time feeling all that sorry for this guy! I just thought the story looked great and gave me characters I really didn’t care for or like.